My morning...

To Isaac (my almost 2 yr old): No, you may not have ice cream for breakfast. No, you may not stand on the edge of the bathtub, turn on the sink, and brush your teeth with my makeup brush. No, you may not drink water from the sink out of my contact case. No, you may not decorate your legs, shirt, and carpet with the black dry erase marker. No, you may not swing the kitten around by her tail. 

New Writing Book

I just started reading a new book entitled "Any Child Can Write" by Harvey S. Wiener.  It is such a good resource for teaching your children writing skills.  It isn't a textbook...he gives games and ideas to reinforce and strengthen writing in elementary aged children.  I am loving it!  I can't wait to implement some of his ideas with my children!!!

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers

I picked two bushels of beans today and a bushel of assorted peppers!  Guess ya'll know what I'm going to be busy with tonight!  The kids are stringing and breaking for me - that helps out alot!  :)
Found some recipes for sweet pickled peppers and hot pickled peppers...I am beginning to feel like Peter Piper...h@!  
Oh well, I suppose I should be off to preserve our fresh veggies!  

Have I shared a most lovely quote with you??  "Procrastinators:  Leaders of Tomorrow"...how funny is that???  I tend to procrastinate quite frequently...I cannot remember now but it was someone well-known who said "Why put off till tomorrow what you can put off till day after tomorrow?"  H@!  Only problem is...you just can't put off fresh veggies...they don't stay that way....

Adios ....

Grace and Mercy

We had such sweet services at church yesterday...it was those kind that convict you, fill you, awe you....

I was reminded of the grace and mercy of God....reminded that not only did He, in one act of dying on the cross, forgive us and offer salvation...but He forgives us daily.  It amazes me that the God who created the universe, and the God who offered His only Son to die for my sins, and the Son who did die for me....that He could continue to love me.  I've had issues with that over the years...I have felt like when I've sinned that it was like stealing a cookie from the cookie jar...well, if you do that, I've reasoned, you have no right to ask anything of God ....I have felt that in order to feel free to talk to Him, I must be perfect.  I've experienced much angst in that...no one on earth has the capacity for perfection...it will drive you nuts to try to attain it.  You end up feeling defeated and decide to try to wing it on your own....which never, never works.  I was reminded yesterday that God loves me...it is unconditional.  If and when I mess up, He doesn't look at me and say "You're not perfect...I don't love you anymore."  He forgives me and loves me...that amazes me.  I have been reminded to not judge others harshly...to not pick at their sins and think I'm above it.  No one is truly above any sin...just given the right opportunity and a moment of weakness and you're as game as the next person.  We're all human...all made of the same flesh...all striving daily to live in a world so saturated with sin it seems to drip on us ...  but we also serve a God who is able, capable, willing, wanting to rescue us...He does want us to see our sin and run from it.  He wants to forgive us when we veer too far...He wants us to be in communication with Him.  Allow me to remind you as I remind myself that His mercy and grace are far-reaching...He isn't waiting to slap you with the cuffs and condemn you to solitary confinement....He is waiting with out-stretched arms, to forgive you, comfort you, love you....no matter what you've done...His mercy is everlasting.....

Looking Back...

Well, I feel a wee bit guilty for unloading the other day...I was slightly irritated.  :D

Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of work sometimes...but there is depth and goodness to it.  It is good to be able to feed your kids wholesome farm-raised food....it's nice to see an 18 month old go outside and get excited picking off snap peas and grape tomatoes and pop them in his mouth.  It's great to go out and gather fresh eggs ...hormone free.  It makes you feel good knowing the milk your family is drinking is "fresh squeezed" (hehe) and is free from any additives, antibiotics, etc.  It is nice to eat fresh and cook with veggies that you know have not seen a chemical.  It is truly a good thing.  

Some days get to me...I'll admit.  Some days I want a break...I want things that make it easier.  I want stuff....I want to bust outta my box and jump on the fast train.  But that saying about the "grass being greener on the other side"....well, it still has to be mowed, as the saying goes.  There'd be things on that side of the fence I'd be aggravated at too.  You make sacrifices in life no matter which you choose.....

Lapbook Info

I was just sitting here working on our Ancient Greece unit study and lapbook and thought I'd share some great resources (free!!) with you...

www.homeschoolshare.com
www.homeschoolhelperonline.com
www.lapbooklessons.com

....just a few excellent sites for the beginner or the experienced....
Enjoy!! :)

The "Simple" Life

Okay, darn it...it's time for some transparent (am I ever anything else?) venting...

You know I am attracted to the "simple" life...let's clarify "simple" first...that by no means has anything at all to do with simple as in ....no worries, no work, laid back, take a break, shoot the breeze simple....it means simple as in nothing fancy, okay?  Now that we have that cleared up....

My summer has consisted of work.  The garden, the chores, the animals, the furniture finishing, the yearbook, the household chores, child rearing, etc. ....  There has been no break.  We have not taken a vacation.  We haven't even taken a weekend off.  And I'm telling you...you get lots of "wow, I really admire what ya'll are doing"...especially from the older generation.  They seem to think it's wonderful that you know how to garden, can, milk a goat, stay out of debt...etc.  And that feels good...only it occurs to you as you go back to your chores that these same older people have newer vehicles, technology, and debt than you do.  What's wrong with that picture?  Now I know you could make the argument that they've worked their whole lives to get to where they are but if the simple life is all that great, why aren't they still living it?  And I read things all the time about people who are loving the simple life and living in "simple" grandeur.  Now either they've figured out something I haven't or they just aren't being transparent.  This life is work, darn it.  And at the moment, I'm tired of it.  And that's all I have for ya at the moment....

Oldie (from about 16 years ago....)

Some of my poetry was not quite so....light....

Confused, tormented, hurting,
I close my eyes
and drift into a state of mere oblivion
a state of nothingness, total darkness.

I begin to feel the sense 
of a deep settled peace
sweeping over me, compassing me, and enclosing me
 in the arms of a man, a man called Death.

I feel the tightening grip
clutching me,
taking me down
into the whirlpool of darkness

Swirling winds, cold rains, and frightening thunder
surround me, engulf me
until suddenly it passes
gone as quickly as it came.


And I am left standing
alone and unaided.


Darkness surrounds me
I am forgotten
left trembling in the terror
and fright of the night


Its screaming winds pound in my ears
I run....only to fall
to be consumed
by its cruelty...


Michelle Fox


*****See....not light...by any stretch of the imagination...

Another Poem....

A little background...I use to LOVE to go sit on a pier at the river alone and write poetry...there were trees all around...the sound of the water lapping against the wood...the sky above...perfect backdrop for a girl who enjoyed(s) thinking and writing...don't get around to doing that much nowadays with a family but I do remember those times with the upmost fondness....

the water ripples softly
almost seductively
as the gentle breeze blows
   like kisses on my neck....
the guarding arm of the oak
hovers above me
   promising safety in its strength
as i lie in this perfect nature
    my soul knows peace
it is here, in heaven's waiting room
that i look up and see the azure sky
blending into a brilliant swirl 
    of white and crimson
the beauty that surrounds me
offers a haven
  sheltering me
from the hands of man....


Michelle Fox

My Poem...

Okay, with some prompting from my mom, I have decided to post a poem that I wrote....it has no title...

As dusk secretly slips in,
catching the last of the sun's glory
the day slowly turns away
and sulks off into twilight.

Darkness itself saunters forward
blanketing all earth in a unique
quilt of shining, sparkling stars
only then - the world softly hushes.


Man's toys and industries 
are gradually put at ease
as Mother Nature
introduces a tale she calls her own.


From the silence arises
the first subtle hint of life
as the wind whispers secrets 
known only by the moon.


Increasing audibly in sheer harmony
comes the gentle singing of the brook
as over pebbles worn
tells of fairytale serenity.


The sensual melody of lovers
is heard by one and all
as the fair maiden of beauty
awaits her honored prince.


Their eager kisses fall like dew
as tiny cymbals on the grass
they embrace so readily 
all nature feels their passion.  


Young, tender petals shyly look upon
and giggle at the scene
as crickets softly murmur
in knowledge of this love.


Moonbeams lightly dance upon
and caress the dreaming lovers
so caught up in each other
all the world is but a cover.

The melancholy swaying of the trees
adds but a low and distant rythm
as the beat of tender drops 
fall in patterns from the sky.


The prince eventually arises
as dawn is creeping in
but the maiden worries never
for twilight always comes....


Michelle Fox

Favorite Poem of all Time....

Daffodils

by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle in the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of the bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company;

I gazed-and gazed- and little thought

What wealth to me the show had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

Pretty Little Donkey

Cool Black Bovine

Such a beautiful day ;)

Love this old barn and flowers