Olive Plants

2011: A Year in Review

2011-12-27T15:47:00.003-05:00

2011 began with Baby Steps, literally and figuratively. I had injured my foot a month earlier and was still recovering from a broken toe and accompanying puncture wounds- baby steps were literally all I could take. Our family also began a process of discovery- a process that would be the focus of the entire year and would involve many examinations, counseling sessions, and medical treatments. Our Visual-Spacial Learner was experiencing severe headaches, almost daily, as well as difficulty learning, and we were desperate to find answers.

In February, I began to read more about how to teach our VSL in hopes of finding ways to make school less stressful for him. These modifications helped in many ways, yet the headaches persisted as did high levels of perceived stress. When he wasn't melting down over everyday, commonplace situations, he was in the bathroom kneeling at the toilet, sick from yet another headache. I was one worried momma.

In March, we began to see the fruit of having introduced IEW into our homeschool a few months previously. Our VSL was taking to this curriculum like a duck to water, and he was writing again- something he had stopped doing about a year previously. This son, who had won a writing contest in 1st grade, had grown to hate writing so much that he would nearly drown himself in a pool of his own tears when asked to write a single sentence. I was so thankful that IEW had him writing again that I blogged all about it, and then shared the Exciting News that the IEW blog had done a short write-up about us and linked to Olive Plants and The Write Brothers. Enough progress was being made that I felt justified in sweeping the existing problems under the rug.

In April, we did what our VSL most likes to do- competed in a Science Fair. Then, due to my own carelessness, I suffered an Eye, Eye, Eye injury. I praised God for sparing me blindness, a possible result of a severe chemical burn to the eye, in the post The Eyes Have It. Looking back my injury seems like foreshadowing of events to come. I know it gave me increased empathy for my VSL and brought me to a breaking point- one in which I knew that if my son was suffering even a small fraction as much as I was, we had to find help for him. I put away the broom, and that's when testing for learning disabilities, autism, psychological disorders, and medical problems began. I was on my knees hourly pleading for answers, scared more than I wanted to admit that he might have something serious. Visions of brain tumors and surgery and chemotherapy plagued me. I guess that's why I had been so busy sweeping. But denial does not make problems go away.

I was happy to spend May Archiving School Plans. School was done for the year, and I so needed the break. Michael and I celebrated our 16th anniversary with some Seoul Food, a night that brought a needed break from the stress of parenting through health problems and waiting for test results.

By June, we had been told by our pediatrician that the headaches were solely migraines. There were no other symptoms for anything more serious, like the brain tumor that I just knew was there. We also received the results from a full academic and developmental evaluation.  The psychologist had ruled out learning disabilities and autism. In fact, on VSL's academic testing, he scored higher than he should have for his IQ. He was diagnosed, however, with generalized anxiety disorder. In hopes of alleviating some of his school-related anxiety, I implemented the use of Circle the Date Planners and sought out curriculum that I hoped would continue to help me meet his learning needs. I revealed these plans in the Great Curriculum Reveal, co-hosted with my friend, Heather.

I received a huge surprise when I went to the mailbox one day in July. The cash inside an unmarked envelope was a Providential blessing, providing for a particular financial need while also providing a powerful reminder of how God always provides for all the needs of His children. And as I was going through a stage of parenting in which I had to examine every little aspect of our home, school, and life in order to find what was causing my VSL so much anxiety, I had to take a little time to laugh at myself and introduce the That's So Dawn segments- in the wrong order, of course.

School resumed in August, and VSL seemed to be making huge steps in learning to cope with anxiety. We started an art program together and recreated Van Gogh's masterpiece Starry Night. However, blogging took a back seat because I was having to maintain a very specific schedule to help keep anxiety at bay.

In September, I only wrote one post and even forgot to give it a title! It was a review of our first month of school, and things were going really well...

...until something major happened in October.

Orville turned 12, and Wilbur got braces. Those were both pretty major events, but aren't the really big event. One day, while trying to complete a science activity using a microscope, VSL pulled away from the view finder, blinked his eyes rapidly, and proclaimed with confidence (not anxiety), "This microscope is making my eyes hurt!"

This was a break-through moment, and I began to ask him a bunch of probing questions- something he would have responded to with a meltdown just a few weeks earlier. Instead of melting down, though, he began to describe in detail the vision problems he was experiencing. Problems that have been present for a long time but that he had been unable to explain.  The poor vision made him feel so anxious that he didn't know exactly what he was feeling/experiencing or how to ask for help.

At that moment, the Lord brought to mind something a friend had told me about her daughter's vision problems, her vision therapy, and developmental optometrists, so I did a quick web search and found this checklist. As I read down the list, all I could say was "yes, yes, YES! That is my child." I also showed this webpage to VSL, and he said that one of the samples was exactly what he was experiencing. I wanted to jump up and down and dance in the streets. I believed with all my heart that the Lord had given us wisdom and was sending us to a place where my sweet VSL could finally get the help he needed. I immediately picked up the phone and called the nearest developmental optometrist. Three days later, he was examined and diagnosed with multiple visual disabilities. Vision therapy began that week.

During the last two months of this difficult year, we have had some good times: A Chatty Birthday, Leafing Out, a Merry Christmas, and a Whirlwind Trip to Memphis (our former hometown). Most important to all of us here at Olive Plants Academy, though, is that our dear VSL is finding relief. His vision is improving, school work is becoming more do-able, he has had a reduction in headaches- from one almost daily to one about once per month- and things that were very difficult for him to accomplish are becoming easier. He has a long way to go, but the baby steps that began this year are leading us to a better place as it ends.

Looking back on it all, I feel like Peter must have felt once the Lord led him back into the boat safely. He had stepped out upon Christ's call and was walking by faith on the water toward the Lord in the midst of a terrible storm. Doubt set in, and he began to sink. The storm could have overwhelmed him, pulled him under to a watery grave, but Jesus, with mercy and tenderness, took hold of Peter and kept him from perishing.  Once in the boat, the Creator of the heavens and the earth demonstrated his power by calming the seas and stopping the winds. As the storm ended, He gently rebuked His servant- Why did you doubt? (Matt 14)

Many years ago, the Lord called me and I stepped out in faith onto the turbulent waters of parenting and homeschooling. This year the winds have certainly howled and the waves have crashed. At times I have felt myself sinking amidst them. It is easier to doubt than to trust.

The Lord has faithfully rebuked my doubt and made my weaknesses evident. It is not by my strength that I can parent or homeschool or do anything really.

However, when Christ called Peter, the storm was raging. He had instructed Peter and the others in the boat to "be of good cheer" and "to fear not for it is I."

As faithful as He has been to rebuke, he has also given His grace abundantly.  Even in the midst of the storm, there is reason to be of good cheer, for it is not the ending of the storm that demonstrates God's faithfulness to us but His grace in the midst of it.  Fear not, it is I has been the theme of 2011, and we will move forward into whatever the Lord has ordained for 2012 believing that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)

The storms will come, but God has said to those of us who are in Christ Jesus, Never will I leave you nor forsake you. (Heb 13:5)

Be of good cheer!
Dawn

A Somewhat Brief History of the Absolute Best Sandwich in the World (and eventually a recipe)

2011-12-26T12:58:00.001-05:00

During our whirlwind trip to Memphis, we decided to go downtown to ride the trolley, mostly for the experience of riding the trolley, but also to get to the Peabody Hotel to see their world-famous ducks without having to find a place to park or needing to walk a long distance. It was really important to me that we get to the Peabody in time for the ducks' waddle along the red carpet to their fountain in the lobby. Even though birds in captivity don't count on one's life list, imho, avid birders should see the world's most famous ducks at least once, particularly birders who were born in the city where said ducks reside.

Well, the trolley, which was supposed to be a quick, direct way to get from a parking area on the north end of downtown to the Peabody, turned into nothing short of a fiasco. After moving one block, we were stopped and unable to move further because fire trucks, parked in front of the convention center, were blocking the tracks. Hundreds of people were exiting the building, so there was no way we were going to exit the trolley and fight that crowd. We sat there for what seemed like an eternity (it was probably about 5 mins, but we were running late and tensions were mounting). Eventually, our trolley was redirected and, instead of moving south on Main, as planned, it had to travel north, then turn west and loop around to go south on Riverside Dr. We followed Riverside as far south as the trolley can travel and then turned east to rejoin the Main St. tracks and head north again.

Orville enjoyed the detour
since it allowed him to see the Pyramid,
where I graduated,
up-close and personal.

Wilbur was less interested in the sights
but he thought the strapy things
on the trolley were pretty cool.

We were back in the right part of downtown but were totally turned around mentally and could not getting our bearings long enough to find the Peabody. We hadn't been downtown Memphis in over twelve years and were experiencing that I-should-know-where-I-am-but-don't-and-feel-totally-disoriented-and-a-bit-foolish phenomenon. So we rode the trolley around the loop once more...and again...and AGAIN!

Michael wondered if we would be stuck
on Riverside Dr. for the rest of our lives.

We had missed seeing the ducks march and were getting really hungry and wanted to get off the trolley- just about the time it broke down in front of ...

The Arcade Restaurant!

It is the oldest cafe in Memphis, founded about 100 years ago. So, yes, it was in Memphis when we lived there, but neither Michael nor I had even HEARD OF IT! Granted, he rarely went downtown, and I only went there when on a teaching assignment. Whatever the case, it was new-to-us and, more importantly, right there in front of us (and that trolley wasn't going anywhere any time soon), so we stopped in for lunch.

Now, we're not Elvis fans. In fact, the boys had no idea who he was before our Memphis trip. But we sat at the Elvis table...

He's not mad, y'all.
That's how he normally looks
when his wife is snapping his picture over and over again
while saying (in her best Elvis voice)
Thank ya, thank ya very much
after each click.

...because it was the only table available. HA!

Hey! I know who Elvis is now...
sort of.

But also because this school...

...the one where I taught before the boys were born, served the housing project where Elvis had lived before stardom. In fact, after completing 6th grade, my students went to Humes Middle School, which used to be Humes High School, which was where Elvis attended high school.

This was my classroom the last year I taught.
My first room no longer exists
because the building was remodeled
and the 3rd floor was removed
during the years I taught there.

So Elvis's history has intersected with our family's history and since our family history was the whole point of the trip we told the boys the story I just told you as we sat at Elvis's table and ate THE ABSOLUTE BEST SANDWICH IN THE WORLD!

No joke.

It was so good that I had to recreate it at home.

The World's Best Sandwich (Absolutely)

1. Spread about 1 tsp each of pesto and Dijon mustard on freshly baked rolls.
2. Add ham- real, home-baked, glazed, yummy-rific, ham. Add as much as you want. I won't tell.
3. Thinly slice a pear and layer 2-4 slices over the ham. They used Bartlets at The Arcade, I think. I used Asian pears at home- mmm, yummy, nummy.
4. Spread cream cheese on the other half of the roll. The Arcade used melted Brie, which was divine. However, I planned to use cream cheese since Brie is pricey. Instead, I spread on some of this cheese ball.

My family referred to this as the cheese BOULDER
when I placed it on our Christmas table.
It is a cross between spinach dip
and a traditional cheese ball.
There's at least 50 servings of veggies in there,
so go ahead and spread away!

I guess it goes without saying there was A LOT of cheese leftover and I had to use it on my sandwich!

5. When everything is on, close the sandwich and eat up. Oh.so.good.

Sorry Elvis fans, but it totally beats fried PB and Banana hands down.

In fact, it's so yummy that I totally forgot to take a picture of the sandwich before ~~scarfing it down~~ enjoying it. (I was hungry, people!) To make up for my faux pas, please let me end with a picture of the World's Best Ducks instead. After lunch that day, we finally made our way to the Peabody, and birders met birdies.

We didn't get to see them march
but did get to see them swim!

Happy Eating (sandwiches, y'all, not world-famous ducks)!
Dawn

What are you baking for Christmas?

2011-12-16T08:49:00.007-05:00

I plan to have a Christmas baking day next week. Here is what I plan to make...

Christmas Petit Fours from Molly at Mentoring Moments for Christian Women: When I saw this recipe, I knew instantly I had to make a batch. Those of you who read regularly may recall that I studied French in school for a variety of, ahem, ~~weird~~ unorthodox reasons. Petit Fours would be one of those reasons. The boys will get these as a special pre-Christmas treat. After I let them grab a few each, I will quickly take the remainder to neighbors so I will not eat them all! :)

Molly recently posted another great recipe at MMCW, German Apple Strudel. I won't be baking this one this year. However, Molly has brought this to our church's fellowship meal, and I have tasted the results. YUMMO! I hope Molly brings some to church again.

*HINT, HINT*

*WINK, WINK*

Alright, IRLs, it's time to look away!

And NO peeking!

ARE YOU PEEKING?!?

Snickers Surprise Cookies, found at Taste of Home: I am making these to give to friends. Shhh...it's a surprise. That's why I told them to look away! They better not be peeking. :)

Okay, IRLs, you may join us again.

Although I seriously doubt they ever looked away.

Cheaters! ;)

Red Velvet Trifle from the Food Network: This one has toasted coconut in it! My boys are salivating at the thought of it. We will enjoy this after our Christmas Eve meal...if I can keep my children from eating all the coconut first!

So, now it's your turn. What do you plan to bake for Christmas, New Year's, or just because? I'm not going to meme this, so please comment and feel free to copy and paste URLs in there that will take us to related posts at your blog or recipes at reputable sites. Thanks and Merry Christmas!

Happy Baking!
Dawn

Thank you to Molly and MMCW for granting me permission to post their petit four picture!

The 12 Days of Homeschool

2011-12-13T13:43:00.000-05:00

This homeschool mom rendition of the tune, The 12 Days of Christmas, provided a much-needed laugh! I hope you enjoy the video as much as I do.

Need a Gift Idea?

2011-12-10T17:18:00.000-05:00

I just found oneverse through the Duggars' blog and wanted to share with my readers. Right now, a $26 dollar donation will fund the translation of one verse of Scripture into the language of an unreached people group. For each $26 donation, you will receive a Christmas card with information about the translated verse and the region of the world you select. You may then gift this card and translation work to someone on your Christmas list.

I think this would make a particularly great gift for our pastors or other church leaders...thank them for their faithfulness to the Word of God by helping to distribute Bibles translated into the native languages of others around the world.

Click the icon above to be redirected to give the gift of God's Word.

Disclosure: I have not been compensated for publishing this post. If you click through and donate to oneverse, I will not receive a commission.

Merry Christmas (and a bit of family history)

2011-12-09T12:30:00.003-05:00

Seasonal Stripes Christmas

Shutterfly Christmas cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Twenty years ago, Michael and I met in Memphis, Tennessee,

not far from Overton Park- pictured in our Christmas card above.

Because this spot was one of our favorite hang-outs,

I dressed the boys up and took them there

for a photo day with Mommy in November 2001.

At the time, Orville was 2 and Wilbur was 1.

Last month (exactly 10 years after I took the original pictures),

we were blessed with a whirlwind trip to Memphis.

We spent one day driving around town,

showing the boys all the spots important to our family history.

I made sure to take the boys back to the gazebo

for updated pictures so we can share

a little of our family history with you.

Merry Christmas!

All About Reading- Great News!

2011-11-29T09:33:00.000-05:00

The new All About Reading Level 1 program is now available!

To celebrate, the good folks at All About Learning are offering a great deal!

The new All About Reading Level 1 products are 10% off through December 6, plus all Level 1 orders will receive their fun Taste of Outer Space product for FREE!

Although I have not had a chance to try All About Reading Level 1 for myself, my son's spelling and my ESL tutoring students' spelling, reading and conversational abilities have all improved greatly from completing All About Spelling. The success they have experienced makes me feel confident about highly recommending AAS, All About Reading, and anything offered by All About Learning Press.

Good stuff. Great deal. Check it out.
Happy Learning!
Dawn

Disclosure: I am an All About Learning affiliate. I have not been compensated for writing this post and have offered my honest evaluation of the product. If you click any of the links within this post and complete a purchase, I will receive a commission. Thank you!

Leafing Out

2011-11-26T16:29:00.001-05:00

Ten years ago, the boys "helped" Dad rake the yard

for the first time, and afterward,

enjoyed their first game of leaf jumping.

How quickly time has passed.

*sniff, sniff*

Today, leaf-chore time quickly evolved

into an exercise in long jumping.

As Orville crashed into the leaf pile,

this is what my mind's eye saw...

...so I'm sure glad my camera caught this....

Then Wilbur took off like the wind...

...and I recalled the days

when all he could do was sit among the leaves

and clap and gurgle.

He's not so little any more.

In fact, the King of the Mountain

challenged the men

to a jump off.

Oh yeah!

(Boys will be boys, after all!)

BRONzE!

SILVER!

GOLD!!!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Dawn

Preparing Tables, Preparing Hearts

2011-11-22T10:08:00.001-05:00

Dear Readers,
I searched through my archives last night in hopes of finding something I could republish as a holiday greeting. I am thankful for you and that you are keeping this blog alive even though I cannot give it much attention right now. The post below is what I found to share, and it really set me thinking. I was searching for something for you to enjoy but found a ~~kick in the hiney~~ word of encouragement that I needed instead.

Admittedly, I'm not feeling particularly festive this year. I am feeling the burn from a few rough months and am more inclined to collapse face down onto my bed than to scrub and polish my house, plan a menu, gather supplies, decorate, and cook. Thanks to my wonderful mother, who is cooking our Thanksgiving meal this year, I have much, much less to do than normal.

However, even though I won't be preparing the table this week, I am not off the hook. I can't just collapse. That would be giving up on the most important job a mom has...leading her little ones to worship God. My little ones aren't as little as when I originally wrote this piece, but they need me to do my job just the same. So, though I won't be preparing a table, by God's grace, I need to persevere in preparing hearts (including my own)....

What a very busy week! The holiday rush has begun. I have scrubbed and polished my home from ceiling to floor. I have planned the menu and gathered supplies for decorating. I have supervised and edited as the boys have finished their "Merry Thanksbirthsary" projects. Everything is nearly in place, and I am close to being ready to receive my guests and fill their plates.

However, I hope to accomplish more. I hope that as I open the doors to my home and receive my family and friends that they will feel love and warmth. I pray that they will truly celebrate and that the sights, smells, flavors and experiences of the day will remain in their memories for years to come.

More importantly, I pray that Thanksgiving will be a day of reflection and genuine thanks in our home. I pray for true contentment and grateful hearts as we acknowledge that all we have is from God. I pray also we will recognize and give thanks for more than temporal things. I long for my family to rejoice and say, O death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory? Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! From the time we carve the turkey until we slice the pumpkin pie, may we rejoice in Christ and celebrate what He has accomplished. (1 Cor 15:55-57)

So ladies, scrub, polish, plan, prepare, cook and bake.

And as we clean the house, let us pray for those who will fill our homes with the sounds of celebration.

As we plan our menu, let us pray for those who will gather around our table.

As we stir, mix, slice, and chop, let us be thankful to God for all He has provided.

As we set the table and open our doors, let us do our part to make our Thanksgiving feasts a time of speaking to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and praising in our hearts to the Lord, giving thanks at all times for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, even to God the Father. (Eph 5:19-20)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey Howdy Hey!

2011-11-11T13:07:00.000-05:00

It's time for the Homeschool Blog Awards again. Olive Plants has been nominated in the Best Variety Blog category! I actually know the three people who nominated me and am happy to be included in the voting again this year.

If you would like to vote for Olive Plants, just click the above button, and you will be redirected to the correct web page.

To be honest, I'm not really interested in winning. (Previous experience has taught me that ain't gonna happen.) However, my favorite part of these awards is how a nomination brings in new readers who often become new members of the OP community and friends of mine.

I just wanted to take a minute to say hey and welcome to those of you visiting for the first time. I really am glad you are here and hope you will take a minute to look around. I have not had much time to blog in recent months because of irl circumstances (boy, are there a bunch of posts in the queue and the recesses of my mind!). However, I have a lot of teaching ideas and homeschooling content that I posted before I went into semi-retirement. (For regular readers who are wondering where I am and what has happened, I hope to post about it soon- if life will slow down just long enough for me type my heart out. I do intend to return to the blogosphere one day soon, Lord willing.)

Thanks to those who nominated me and who will be sending votes my way!

Thanks also for visiting. I hope to see you around often!

Happy Voting!
Dawn

A Chatty Birthday

2011-11-02T13:59:00.000-04:00

Since our fall break falls between the boys' birthdays,

we took them to Chattanooga as a late-for-one,

early-for-the-other present.

Such a beautiful city!

Their favorite part was getting to meet up with the Kingdom Arrows!
Here, they are outside the Scopes Trial Museum.

Michael and I enjoyed the extra day off
and the cool fall weather!
Ahhh...so refreshing!

They also got to see the Chattanooga Choo Choo!
left to right: Orville, Gracie Girl, Joy Bug, and Wilbur

The boys requested a double-decker bus tour of the city
as part of their birthday present.
Wilbur, whose birthday is today,
enjoyed sharing a seat with Joy Bug.
(He liked the free Moon Pie and
Double Cola that came with the tour, too!)

Happy 11th birthday, Wilbur!

I love you!!

Brace Face

2011-10-24T16:13:00.001-04:00

Someone has braces!

He chose yellow ones, of course!

Review: NOVICA and NOVICA Live!

2011-10-10T08:00:00.002-04:00

With the holidays approaching, it is time to start making a list and checking it twice. I know where I plan to do some of my shopping:

The Andes*

Bali and Java*

Brazil*

Central America*

India*

Mexico*

Thailand*

and
West Africa!*

No, I am not going to trek the globe. Instead, I can purchase quality, hand-crafted jewelry and accessories, apparel, cufflinks, men's accessories, ceramics, paintings and SO MUCH MORE from the world's best artisans via NOVICA!

Recently, NOVICA gave me $100 to spend at their site in exchange for this review. I was impressed from the get-go. Actually, when I arrived at their website, I was like a kid in a candy store. I thought I would never decide how to spend my money because everything is so unique and beautiful. And the $100 afforded me many choices because the prices are so reasonable.

Finally, the work of Nestor Yana, an artisan of the Andes, caught my eye, and I bought one of his alpaca wool ponchos. Here is the description, from the NOVICA website, of his "Warm Earth" poncho:

A vision of elegance and cozy warmth, this cloak is imbued with Peruvian chic. Nestor Yana designs this piece based upon the traditional cloak of the Andean highlands. The cloak features a delicate floral border crocheted by hand. A matching scarf is sewn to the cloak, which fastens with four ornate buttons.

I love the feminine details.

It is so soft, warm...

...and comfortable.

Not only do I LOVE my poncho, but my overall experience with NOVICA rated high as well. Shopping at their site was a breeze. Shipping charges were reasonable, and I received my poncho quickly. It even came gift-wrapped, for no extra charge, in packaging that made me feel as if I had received a gift from my best Peruvian friend.

Shopping with NOVICA is more than a pleasure...
it's a cultural experience!**

Would you like to shop the world, too? Click on over to NOVICA where the world's finest artisans await!

Or better yet...

...bring the artisans' work to your community by hosting a home party through NOVICA Live!

Hosting a NOVICA Live party is fun, fast and easy. Get FREE NOVICA gift certificates, jewelry and half priced gifts as you indulge your friends with fun, guilt-free shopping. Here are some other great hosting benefits:

It's easy - send invites, provide refreshments, and your NOVICA Live Home Party Consultant does the rest!
Give guests an armchair travel experience with our regional explorer DVD.
Get handcrafted treasures shipped direct from global artisans to your door.
Benefit artisans through each party with a microcredit loan to the artisan of your choice. ***

Interested? Click here for more details or to book your party! Remember, not only do you earn reduced-priced or free items for hosting, but your party may benefit at least one artisan, possibly two! It's ALL GOOD!

If you decide to host a NOVICA Live! party, pretty please, invite me!!

Happy Shopping!
Dawn

Disclosure: I was given a $100 NOVICA gift certificate in exchange for this review. I have not been otherwise compensated. All opinions are my own.

*Thank you to NOVICA for providing photos from http://www.novica.com/.

**Photos of the Warm Earth poncho and gift wrapping are the property of Olive Plants (http:homeschooldawn.blogspot.com). I would like to send a very special thank you to my sweet and lovely (inside and out) friend, Chloe P., for modeling!

*** from http://www.novicalive.com/host.cfm

Happy 12th Birthday Orville!

2011-10-06T10:28:00.001-04:00

Someone is 12 today! We celebrated a dozen years with a dozen doughnuts.

No, we didn't eat them all.

Well, almost.

The birthday boy enjoys his favorite:
vanilla frosted with sprinkles!

Wilbur wants it to be some one's birthday everyday!

Happy birthday, Orville!

I love you more than you love doughnuts! :)

2011-09-03T16:40:00.001-04:00

We've completed one month of school here at Olive Plants Academy! That was one fast month!! Here is a summary of what happened....

The Good

Wilbur completed Level 4 of AAS. We had planned to finish it over the summer which should have been easy to accomplish since he only had a few lessons remaining from last year. However, a certain teacher, who shall remain nameless, just couldn't get it together over the summer. It's not his fault. That same teacher also thought she already owned level 5, but doesn't. She put in a rush order yesterday and hopes it will arrive soon. Wilbur will get a little break thanks to her.

Orville completed Eusebius's Church History, St. Augustine's Confessions, and On the Incarnation (Athanasius) in Omnibus II. I almost put this in my bad section as it nearly drove him and me up a wall during the first week. We have found our groove, though, and he earned an A on the exam for On the Incarnation! Woot!!

Wilbur completed Singapore 4B and has begun work on 5A. He's flying through the first unit (mostly review). Way to go Mathman!

Orville started his first high school class. Yes, you read that right. High. School. Spanish. The boy takes after his dad and is passionate about foreign language. He made an A on his first test! Super, dude!

Orville headed to Spanish class!

I am teaching an IEW class for Wilbur and three of his best friends one day each week. Our first class met earlier this week, and we had a good time writing together. Wilbur enjoyed getting to work with his friends, too.

Disclaimer: This picture has nothing to do with our writing class
or school this month.
I was too busy to take many pictures
and wanted to include this cute shot of Wilbur giving a weather report
while at the Coca Cola Space Science Center!

My English tutoring is going great. I am currently teaching 3 women, 3 second grade boys, and 1 seventh grade boy, all Korean. The kids have lived in America for 3-4 years and speak English fluently. My job is to keep them ahead of the curve in reading and writing. I am teaching the women conversational English, each at a different level. It's a challenging schedule to keep. However, three of my students return to Korea in a few months. I covet your prayers as I am working so hard to homeschool and to teach English for the sake of the Gospel.

The Bad

The cold season started early and with a bang! Two rounds of sickness made their way through the house in four weeks. I'm glad I had our planners to fall back on. They certainly made the sick days easier because the boys were able to keep themselves moving while I was delirious with fever and in a fog from sleep deprivation. By God's grace, we have been able to stay mostly on schedule. Praise the Lord for His presence and help!

If you have noticed the new look on the blog, that is because OP was hit by spyware (or something like that). I had to take off all my gadgets and erase links and pages and all kinds of stuff until I found the culprit that was redirecting my blog readers to another site. Now, I'm rebuilding everything. Thanks for your patience as get all my affiliate links and goodies back up! Let me know what you think of the new design.

The Kooky

998,000 ants invaded our home. 2,000 invaded the outside trash container. The things were EVERYWHERE! We have sprayed indoors and out multiple times and think they are finally gone. Phew! The magnolia tree that Michael removed from our backyard a few weeks ago must have been their home. We let them know real fast that they could not have ours.

That has absolutely nothing to do with homeschool, I realize.

Although, if the boys were younger, I could have turned it into a thematic unit with the Ants Go Marching 2 by 2 song, an estimation activity, an art collage made entirely of dead ants, ants on a log for snack, and a poetry exercise in which we lament over the infestation.

See, you never know what you'll get when you visit me!

You're welcome.

Well, I'm sure about a thousand other things happened last month, but you don't want to read a War-and-Peace-sized post. I don't have time to write it, either! :) That'll have to do for now.

I may make this a regular gig, perhaps even a meme. Would you be interested in joining me?

Happy Teaching!

Dawn

Starry, starry night....

2011-08-20T16:13:00.001-04:00

I've wanted to join Heather for Drawing with Children for many months now. Alas, I've been so busy that I haven't had time to wrap my head around the lessons. I'm pretty busy right now, and brain cells are at a premium. I was ready to hand off art to another teacher when Kathleen recommended Meet the Masters, a scripted, online art program.

You have to understand something to get the real beauty of my decision. When I was a young, upstart teacher in inner-city Memphis, I was a creative whiz kid. My classroom was like a little Disneyland, and I almost always had fun, hands-on, whoop-dee-doo stuff going ALL.THE.TIME.

Then our school adopted a reading program that was SCRIPTED.

I was not happy 'bout that, folks.

There was huffing.

There was puffing.

There were numerous comments about not needing a college degree if all they wanted me to do was read a script.

Trained monkeys, you know... yada, yada, yada....

Well, here I am 15 years later. I'm older and slower. The creativity of youth is making way for the exhaustion of middle age, and I happen to like reading a script now. It hurts a lot less than thinking.

This week Wilbur and I started our scripted lessons with Meet the Masters.

Love it. Love it. Love it.

The script isn't dry or insulting to the teacher. It follows a nice slide-show of art, and afterwards, there are instructions on implementing the techniques of the master of the week. All of which is very easy to implement for a much-too-busy homeschool mom like me.

Our master this week was VanGogh, and here are our replications of his work, Starry Night.

Wilbur's Art

Dawn's Art
Kinda looks like a Tim Burton movie, doesn't it?!?

It ain't Disneyland but it's getting the job done, and that's better than wishing on a starry, starry night for some young, creative teacher to come and rescue me. I'm too old for fairy godmothers.

Happy Teaching!
Dawn

Please consider contributing to Albina's adoption....

2011-08-02T14:43:00.000-04:00

Called You by Name is hosting an incredible giveaway. The prizes are amazing: an Apple iPad 2, Kindle 3G, $100 Target Gift Card and a $50 amazon.com gift card, just to name a few.

But the real winners are the Jollys, the authors of Called You by Name and hosts of the giveaway. They are running this amazing giveaway to raise some of the funds needed to adopt a precious, special needs child, Albina. For every $10 you contribute to their adoption fund, you will receive one entry in their giveaway. You can read more details about the giveaway, their adoption story and Albina at their blog.

Please consider contributing and helping to spread the word.

Blessings,
Dawn

Simon Says Verbs

2011-07-11T06:57:00.000-04:00

A favorite little game of ours is Simon Says Verbs. I use it to teach my children and English students how to recognize an action verb.

The teacher plays the part of Simon and tells the students to...

DANCE!

KICK!

SING!

or SLEEP, shhhh....
How long you wait before giving the next verb
after this one is entirely up to you!

As you play, mix in words from other parts of speech, like nouns, adjectives, and prepositions (it is advisable to avoid linking verbs like am, is and are). Tell them, "Simon says to beautiful" or up or apple.

Invariably, when you say apple, some too-smart-for-his-own-good person will do this...

Politely remind Mr. Smarty that he is eating and not "appling". Then give him the stink eye.

That should take care of it.

As you work your way through the list of words, have them yell "ACTION VERB" if they are able to do what Simon has commanded or "something else" if they cannot do it. Alternately, they can cheer and sing the Schoolhouse Rock classic That's What's Happenin' for the verbs or boo and hiss at the impostors.

Adding culture and class to your school day...you're welcome.

As you progress through the game, write each true action verb on an index card and tape it to a wall or pin it to a bulletin board. For a few days after your game, have your children remain on the look-out for action verbs. If they recognize one in everyday conversation, let them write it on an index card and add it to the verb wall.

Simon says...
Happy Learning!
Dawn

Classzone: Additional Help

2011-07-08T14:24:00.000-04:00

In my last post on Classzone, I linked directly to the world languages page. I was trying to make things easy for my husband's students. :) If you are the parent of one of his students, you will find lots of study helps for Spanish I there.

For those of you who are more interested in math or language arts, click here. You will be taken directly to Classzone's home page.

Once there, you will see a chart on the left side of the screen with subject and grade level options. Select the the subject you want at the grade level most appropriate for your child. Then click your state (if you're outside the US, you can pick GA). Then click "go."

This will bring up all the Holt McDougal text books adopted by your state's public schools. Click the book for your child's grade level and the page with games, tutors, and other helps will come up.

The downside to this site is that the content is arranged to correspond with each text. That's actually a plus if you're using the text. However, I doubt most of you are, so you won't be able to select an exact skill to work on. You'll have to do some clicking to find what you want. I have found the "animations" and vocabulary flip cards most helpful.

Happy Learning!
Dawn

My Favorite Resource This Week: Classzone

2011-07-08T08:00:00.003-04:00

Visit Learning ALL the Time
for more links to resources!

Classzone is a free website to accompany Holt McDougal publications.

My husband will teach Spanish from one of their publications, Avancemos, in the up-coming school year. At classzone, students can practice Spanish grammar and vocabulary. If your child is registered for Michael's class, you will find this site very helpful this year and can get a head start by working through the vocabulary games now. You can also use the animated grammar, flashcards (what Michael recommends for summer prep), self-check quizzes, and the home tutor.

You don't have to be registered for my husband's class to find this site helpful, though. There are pages for other world languages, like French and German, as well as English and math games. You don't need a code or have to purchase one of their texts to use the site, either.

Happy Learning!
Dawn

That's So Dawn: Episode One

2011-07-07T08:00:00.171-04:00

You may remember reading Episode Two several months ago after I injured my toe.

Why did she start with Episode Two and is just now getting to Episode One, you rightly wonder? Well, because that is Just. So. Dawn.

This episode has been in the queue, also known as the recesses of my mind, for almost a year now. It all started in 2010 when Michael and I headed for Atlanta to shop for a new mattress during the big 4th of July sale and got lost in downtown for several hours!

Getting lost in Atlanta...also so Dawn. But not the point of this post either, so let's move along, shall we?

We finally made our way out of downtown that day and to the store where we bought a great mattress at a great price! Two weeks later, the store delivered it.

Now, I have some kind of a hang-up regarding home deliveries (and repairs). I don't like strangers coming into my house and messing with my stuff. Maybe it's because I'm an only child. Maybe a delivery/repair man scared me in my childhood. I don't know, but for some odd reason, when they come, I have to leave.

I spent the day running errands and visiting people while Michael waited for the scheduled 8 a.m.-5 p.m. delivery. Throughout the day, I called and called and called and called Michael, hoping the guys would have finally shown up and gone so I could return home.

When I checked in at 5 p.m., they had just left the store in ATL and would be at our house in an about hour. Finally, at 7 p.m., Michael called to say the mattress was in place and the delivery guys were gone. I came home, exhausted from running around town all day, and plopped down on the new, cushy, cloud-like piece of heaven where I remained in a comfort-induced pseudo-coma until Michael pried me from the bed two hours later so it could be made.

I fumbled through the linen closet until I found a clean set of sheets. Still in a daze, I stretched out the fitted sheet and tucked it around the corners on my side of the bed. Then I plodded over to Michael's side and tugged. It wouldn't reach, so I tugged harder.

Pop...came loose on my side, so I sauntered back over to tuck it back in.

Tug...tug...YANK...POP!

It came loose on Michael's side now.

Back and forth I went, tugging and yanking, until Michael walked in and stopped me.

Um, Dawn dear, this mattress is deeper than the old one.  I think we need new sheets.

I'm glad he's smart like that. Otherwise, I might still be tugging away at the old ones.

I grabbed my measuring tape...

Okay, you got me! Actually, I grabbed a piece of notebook paper because I could not find my measuring tape or ruler ~~and carefully measured~~ estimated the depth of the new mattress. Then I took off for Wal Mart to find sheets that would fit so I could go. to. sleep.

After walking the bedding aisles for what seemed an eternity, I finally found the right depth sheets but could not find the right color. Because the predominant color in our quilt and curtains is country blue, I wanted white. I feared any color other than blue would clash and blue would just be too much, well, blue.

I had to get some sheets that night, though, so we could go to sleep. I kept looking and found a nice pink set that would have coordinated with the quilt. Alas, they didn't have any in the right size. I'm not too sure Michael would have been thrilled about sleeping in pink, either. My other options were black, chocolate brown, red, purple, and gold. Ugh...none of those would work.

Determined to get to sleep, I did what any rational person would do. I pulled out all the gold and black sets and stacked them on the floor around me. Finally, way in the back, there they were.

One king set in a really lovely shade of blue.

Blue.

*sigh*

They weren't country blue like my quilt and really were a pretty shade. I hoped they would compliment the existing blue nicely without making my room look like a piece from Picasso's blue period. However, at this point, I really didn't care. They weren't gold or black and would cover the bed so I could get to sleep. So I bought them.

Now, Michael cannot sleep on anything scratchy and I have a thing about germs, so I threw them in the wash as soon as I was home. An hour later, the sheets were dry. It was way past bed time at this point, so I made the bed at record speed and hopped in.  The new mattress was so NICE! I slept like a queen for three nights...

...until I noticed something.

This....

Um, hello, Dawn!

Those "lovely BLUE sheets" are SAGE GREEN!!

Seeing how I had washed them and slept on them for 3 nights, it was too late to do a return. I've had a 1970's two-tone bed for a year now.

*sigh*

I'm planning on buying new curtains soon. I hope to buy some in a neutral tone, like beige. Perhaps I'll come home with fuchsia instead.

:) Dawn

What would you do?

2011-07-05T09:05:00.000-04:00

Imagine that late one Saturday afternoon you realize no one had checked the mail for two days.

You slip on your Crocs (the only shoes that provide comfort and keep your sciatica under control) and walk down to the mailbox.

You flip down the door and fumble around inside until you're able to grab hold of the massive contents and pull the big bunch of envelopes and fliers out.

You turn and head back to the house and as you walk you begin to sort.

There's a movie from Netflix.

An appointment reminder card from the dentist.

A credit card offer.

And an envelope that looks like an invitation. Excitedly, you rip the invitation open.

But, it's no invitation!

Inside, this is what you find....

What would you do?

Exclaim, "What in the world?!?" loud enough for the neighbors down the street to take notice?

Stand frozen on the sidewalk in front of your house for 3.4 minutes while your friends drive by and honk (and wonder what is wrong with you)??

React in such a way that your eyes nearly pop out of your head and your jaw nearly hits the ground???

Well, yes, I did a little of all that.

After I snapped to, I switched into Nancy Drew mode and inspected the envelopes very carefully. There were lots of clues! My little magnifying glass was lighting up red all over the place. (If you play the PC games, you know what I mean!)

First, the three one-hundred dollar bills had been neatly tucked into a cream envelope and addressed to "Mike-Dawn Our Last Name". It was stamped but did not have a postmark. Our last name was misspelled, too. Ours is a common American surname that is spelled uncommonly; most people spell it the common way.

Second, the envelope had been wrapped inside a piece of notebook paper with such precision that the paper edges lined up perfectly and then it had been placed in a larger outer envelope. It was addressed exactly as the inner envelope, like it had been copied directly from it.

Third, the outer envelope had been postmarked in Spakane, Washington.

What a mystery! Because...

...one, my husband never goes by Mike. The only people who call him that are those who presume that because his name is Michael he must go by Mike. This is something we always politely correct. He's not a fan of the shorter version of his name (nor am I).

Two, why the hyphen between our names? Why the matching envelopes with the stamp on the inner one?

Three, why Spokane? We know absolutely no one in that part of the country. NO ONE!

Nancy Drew has a few hypotheses. Would you like to hear them? (insert Nancy Drew PC game theme music here)

One of the Korean families I tutor wanted to give me a bonus but didn't want to give it to me in person. Perhaps they hyphenate husband-wife names like that in their culture??? They mailed it to an acquaintance in Washington who was to put the stamped envelope in the mail, but misunderstood them and put it in a second envelope. It was wrapped in the paper with such precision because Koreans are, generally speaking, conscientious, precise people.
Local friends wanted to do something nice for us anonymously. They wrote the hyphenated names, used "Mike", and misspelled our last name to throw us off their trail. They sent it to family or friends in Washington so it would not have an Atlanta postmark. I don't know why a second envelope was used or why the first was wrapped in paper in this scenario. Perhaps those are red herrings intended to keep us confused, too. We have also considered a family member could have done the same.
International terrorists have devised a scheme to weaken the American economy. They have printed huge quantities of counterfeit money and are mailing it to unsuspecting citizens. As the funny money circulates, the American dollar will be further devalued, leading to the collapse of Western society. (This is also when I began to worry about it being laced with Anthrax.)
A blog reader from the Spokane area, who has been blessed by my work, decided to bless me in return. She found my address and used two envelopes just to make it more interesting (because she reads my blog, she knows how overactive my imagination is and knew it would lead to a somewhat humorous post).

I've gone round and round on this, trying to figure it out but can't come to a definitive answer. I did take the money to the bank to have it tested. Fortunately, theory number three has been disproved. I guess I've watched one too many espionage movies. :)

Nancy Drew can't figure this one out, folks. However, I have decided that I am not supposed to. Instead I recognize this as a provision from God. (It just-so-happens that we spent $400 on an unexpected repair the day before this money arrived in the mail. If we had remembered to check the mail the day before, we would have had it the exact day of the repair. There was no way anyone could have known we were going to spend the money in that way.)

If you are the one who sent the money, we understand your desire to remain anonymous. We want you to know, however, how much we appreciate what you did. It was so very nice of you, and we are grateful.

Nancy Drew wants to say thanks for the mystery, too! Although there is no final scene to this one where I connect the dots and say, "Ah HA! It was you!!" I have had fun trying to figure it out. :)

Thank you.

Blessings,
Dawn

Strange Things are Afoot at Blogger

2011-07-02T09:20:00.001-04:00

I was surprised to open my inbox this morning and find an email from Olive Plants. It was a post I published way back in February.

I did not pull it from the archives yesterday. I did not set it to republish. I didn't even look at it.

If you received it too, please accept my apologies. I don't have a ghost blogger, so I'm not sure what's up.

I've had a lot of blogging trouble in recent months and am now concerned that someone has hacked into my account and may be having some fun at my expense.

If you receive anything unusual in your inbox from Homeschool Dawn, Olive Plants, or Birders for Life, see anything unusual on this blog or Birders, or receive a blog comment from me (Homeschool Dawn) that seems not-like-me, please contact me about it. homeschooldawn (at) gmail (dot) com.

What I really did publish (over at Birders for Life) yesterday was my Tweet and See list (which incidentally has not emailed out to subscribers). We had a great birding month and took lots of pictures. If you like birds, it's worth the click.

Once there, you can subscribe to B4L so you can (hopefully) receive all my bird lists, pictures, and bird-watching tips. I've published about half of a series on teaching children how to bird watch. My fellow Birding Chick, Heather, has also published some great tips for attracting birds to your yard.

One of the many birds we saw last month: the Killdeer!

If you have any ideas on why my blog is publishing for me, please comment. Otherwise, I'm off to change my security settings!
Dawn

Nathalie Van Giveaway

2011-06-21T12:40:00.000-04:00

I am absolutely in love with this love bird painting by Nathlie Van and am hoping to win it in a giveaway. You can enter to win this (or any other beautiful piece in Nathalie's Etsy shop valued at $250 or less) by hopping over to She Wears Flowers. The entry is simple- visit the shop, like your fave, and comment. The winner receives a $250 credit toward the painting of his/her choice. There are chances for bonus entries, too! Fly over for details.

Blessings,
Dawn

My Favorite Resource This Week: Circle the Date Planner

2011-06-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

Please visit Learning ALL the Time
for links to more favorite resources!

My favorite resource this week is the simplest, yet most effective, organizational tool I have ever used with my children. It is the Mead Circle the Date Planning Notebook.

I bought one notebook for each boy at Wal Mart. I cannot remember the price I paid but feel certain it was less than $10 per notebook.

Here's how we use them:

On Fridays, I collect the notebooks and fill in the pages for the up-coming week. I circle the date on each needed page. This is normally five pages (one each for Monday-Friday); however, if we plan to take a day off, I will only circle the date on the number of pages needed for active school days.
I write in specific page numbers and specific instructions for independent work and a note that says, "See Mom" for lessons we need to complete together.
I write in daily chores.
When I have filled in all the assignments, the boys place their planners in a "special spot" on their desks and work down their to-do lists each day.
Before I declare each school day finished, I read down each list, make sure I have graded all independent work, that all together work is complete, and inspect the quality of their completed chores. If everything is done well, they are FREE!
When they have finished their Friday work, they bring their planners to me for a conference during which we finish step 5 for that day and restart the cycle with step 1, preparation for the next week.

Here's what I like about these planners:

They are available in different colors, so each boy has his own. I know the red one belongs to Wilbur and the black one belongs to Orville (as do they).
The pages are large with lots of room to write...cause I always have lots to say (and write)!
It is spiral bound so we can easily keep the notebook open to the page for the day and keep all the old pages as records of what we have done. (Can anyone say easy end-of-the-year record?)
The circle-the-date feature means that we don't "lose" any pages because they are date specific. I don't need to write in instructions for Saturdays and Sundays or days that we are on a school break. All those pages would go unused in a date-specific planner.
It has made the school day run MUCH MORE SMOOTHLY! Really!!

Here is the best deal I could find online. It is not the exact same planner that we use, and I don't think they are available in different colors. I suggest checking your local Wal Mart or office supply store before buying online, however, should you buy through the link above, Amazon will pay me a small commission. Thanks! (I have not received any other compensation.)

Happy Date Circling!
Dawn

My Audio School Giveaway Winner

2011-06-14T12:32:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the My Audio School giveaway and the Great Curriculum Reveal!

There were five entrants with 17 total entries (a LOT of bonus entries!). This morning I assigned a number to each entry and used random.org to select the winner. It chose #2 which was assigned to Heather of Kingdom Arrows! Congrats, Heather! I know your family will enjoy and benefit from all that My Audio School offers.

I also want to say thank you to Molly of My Audio School and Counter-cultural School for offering such a great prize for my readers! MAS is great, and so are you!!

Happy Listening!
Dawn

The Great Curriculum Reveal 2011

2011-06-06T07:53:00.002-04:00

GIVEAWAY!
Details to follow,
so please,
read to the end. :)

Hip, hip, hooray!

It's time for the the Great Curriculum Reveal!

Clicking here will redirect you to Our Academy page

where you can read all about our plans

for the 2011-2012 school year!

I want to also tell you a little about my

Favorite Resource This Week!

Join Learning All the Time
for links to more great resources!

One of our most-valued resources is the website

My Audio School.

MAS is a paid membership site. The cost is incredibly reasonable, only $15 per year, per family. With a paid membership, you have full access to a large, and growing, collection of free downloadable audio content.

I plan to download several audio books available at MAS to my boys' iPod. Then they can listen to their school work while I tutor, while we grocery shop, while we're traveling to all our different out-of-school activities, or when we need a quiet time. You can read more about my MAS plans on Our Academy page.

The site creator, Molly, the Counter-cultural Mom, has poured hours (and I do mean HOURS) into this labor of love. Initially, Molly set out to find quality audio content for her dyslexic son, and in the process, created a place for families to access free downloads without having to search the world wide web over. She has done the hard work for us, and the time it saves me to have what I need at my fingertips is well worth the $15 subscription cost.

However, you may not have to pay for full-access this year! Molly has decided to celebrate the Great Curriculum Reveal with us by giving one Olive Plants reader a free one-year subscription to My Audio School!

To enter, visit MAS. Some of the content is available to non-members, so take a minute to peruse the free collection. Then return to Olive Plants and comment on this post about which audio book your child would most enjoy. While you're there, make sure you take a few minutes to look around. You will be amazed at all the titles Molly has compiled and the care she has taken to ensure quality content.

For additional entries you can do any or all of the following

(please leave a separate comment for each):

Follow Olive Plants.
Tweet about this giveaway (@Homeschooldawn).
Become a fan of My Audio School on Facebook.
Participate in The Great Curriculum Reveal. You will need to link in at Kingdom Arrows. This is worth 3 additional entries!!!

I will accept entries until Monday, June 13, 2011 at 11:59 p.m. I will select a winner using random.com on Tues., June 14 and announce the winner that day.

Make sure you visit Kingdom Arrows, too, and check out all the other participating blogs!

Happy Curriculum Revealing!

Dawn

Coming soon to a blog near you...

2011-05-31T13:56:00.000-04:00

Take one last look at my broken down, magnolia-leaf-covered, sorry backyard. It is getting a face lift as I type. Michael is cutting down trees, pulling down fences, and making our backyard a place we can enjoy this summer.

You can read more about his plans as well as our May Tweet and See birding list over at Birders for Life. It's a small list this month. The birds are not as happy about my hub's project as I am.

Be on the lookout for the great reveal of our updated backyard soon!

Speaking of reveals...Heather, of Kingdom Arrows, and I have teamed up to bring you...

The Great Curriculum Reveal 2011!

Please join us on June 6th as we reveal our school plans for next year. You can post your plans on your blog and link in at Kingdom Arrows.

Make sure you visit me here at Olive Plants that day, too, because I will be offering a great giveaway!

Click here to read more about how to participate in the meme and visit Olive Plants on June 6th for all the details on the giveaway. I do hope you will join us. It's sure to be great fun, and the giveaway is a good one!! Help us spread the word, too, by grabbing the button from my sidebar. Thanks!

Hope to see you around for all the fun,
Dawn

Seoul Food

2011-05-28T16:18:00.000-04:00

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people. ~Orson Welles

You may have noticed I haven't written a Wednesday Weigh-in for several weeks.

Well, folks, that has been totally on purpose and with good cause. The end of the school year brought a few challenges my way, like organizing a science fair, completing my term as support group president, and nearly blinding myself.

Something had to give, and that, my friends, was counting calories.

The good news is I weighed today for the first time in weeks and have only gained a few pounds. Even though I have not recorded my caloric intake daily, I have tried to stay away from sweets and munchies while watching my portion sizes.

Well, that is until last week....

Michael and I celebrated our sixteenth anniversary! Actually, we didn't really celebrate on the day of our anniversary. He had to serve as the high school's graduation announcer and was gone until 10:30 that night.

What did I do, you ask?

I had a party of my own.

I cleaned the bathroom.

Party animals, we are. Animals....

Roar...cough...cough...hack...wheeze.

Anyhoo, a few days after our actual anniversary, we decided to celebrate properly by going out to eat at a local Korean restaurant. One night many months ago, we had popped in, glanced at the menu, and made a mad dash for the door before anyone could notice we were there. In that quick glance, we determined we would have to take out a small loan to pay for the four of us to eat. On the night of our celebration, however, the kids were with Nohnie and Papaw, so we decided to live it up and splurge.

We weren't leaving that restaurant unless we had spent at least $50, people.

Like I said... party animals.

We entered the lobby, and this time, actually waited to be seated.  A lovely Korean hostess led us to a private room with a drawn curtain...very Asian, very private, and well, very romantic. I was liking our choice already! The hostess exited, and the waitress entered and handed us each a menu. We were shocked by the prices!

I'm not sure what we had seen the night we went with the kids. Maybe the prices were listed in Korean. Some of the dishes did cost $30 or more, but many were very reasonable. In fact, the two we wanted cost $12 each.

This presented a bit of a dilemma because we were not leaving that restaurant unless we had spent the budgeted $50!

So what did we do? Splurged for sweet tea and two appetizers.

TWO appetizers.

You have to understand.  For us, ordering one appetizer is radical. Two is verging on absurd.

The waitress must have thought so, too. As we ordered a SMALL potato pancake appetizer, a SMALL order of dumplings (our 2nd appetizer), a plate of spicy pork stir fry, and a plate of chicken stir fry, she gave us an are you sure about that look. (a look that knows no cultural or language barriers) We brushed it off, thinking she probably thought we boring Americans would not like our food selections. Pancakes, dumplings, and stir fry didn't seem that adventurous, so we went with the $50 plan.

Well, we soon understood her look.

First, she brought us each a bowl of soup and a salad. These were not listed on the menu as part of the meal, and we were pleasantly surprised. It was yummy, and we both lapped it up.

Then she walked in with the SMALL potato pancake.

Obviously, in Korean SMALL means platter-sized.

Then came the SMALL order of dumplings. I could barely see Michael over the mound of food between us.

Next the waitress entered with a large tray filled with bowls of Korean delicacies. We had not ordered what she was setting before us but they also came with the meal although not listed on the menu. We decided to be good sports and try a little of it all. Evidently, this was another manifestation of Korean generosity and hospitality. So how could we say no?

After sampling, we knew one side dish was broccoli with hot sauce, one was some variety of greens, and another looked like cabbage. We thought one contained sprouts and corn, another hot dogs, and another maybe had sea weed. We were clueless about one bowl but ate some anyway. It was crunchy and sticky but lacking in flavor, at least any recognizable flavor.

Soon she served each of us a bowl of rice and followed with large platters of chicken and pork. It was kind of like when you get fajitas at a Mexican restaurant- sizzling on an iron platter that is set inside a wooden tray to keep you from burning your fingers off and heaped up so high you have to dig for a week to find the center.

We were sooooo full from all the soup, salad, pancake, dumplings, rice, and assorted side dishes that we did not need our main dishes at all. However, we were not going to offend any of our Korean friends by leaving untouched food on the table. As we were picking at our stir fry, trying to eat as much as we could force down, the hostess walked in to talk to us about our experience.

I think it was all she could do not to burst into hysterical laughter as she saw two wacky Americans seated at a table for six completely covered in dishes, enough for twelve. I'm sure we looked a bit odd, too. The food was delicious, but we were growing miserable with each bite, and it showed. We continued to shovel the food to our mouths, chew, gulp, and then, through forced smiles, make yummy noises and give thumbs up.

She eventually regained her composure and suggested next time we order less food. Korean meals, she explained, offer a lot of variety. She also decided to help us out by explaining what each side dish was. She taught Michael how to wrap his pork in Kim Chi (the cabbage dish) and top it with tofu. Surprisingly, he thought the pork-cabbage-tofu combo was good which motivated him to eat a little more....until he started feeling a bit woozy.

He thought this was because he was so full he was borderline comatose.

We later learned the Kim Chi he had been scarfing down is no ordinary cabbage...it's fermented cabbage! I guess he stopped eating just in time to avoid trouble.

We cheered as she revealed what was in each side dish bowl. We were right! There were sprouts, sea weed, broccoli, spinach, hot dogs, and (fermented) cabbage. We thought this was incredibly fun...

...until she told us what was in the mystery dish.

Wanna know?

I know you do, but brace yourselves. It's not pretty.

SQUID!

Yes, folks, we ate squid.

Maybe we are party animals after all....

Well, just when we thought no more food could possibly fit on the table, she brought us a platter of melon for dessert. We took it, along with two-thirds of the pancake, several dumplings, well over half of our main courses, and a mountain of rice home.

We left the uneaten squid there.

Turns out we CAN afford to feed the whole family at the Korean restaurant. If you ever want to join us, we can go halvsies. It will only cost $50, and...

...I'll even let you have ALL the squid!

Happy Eating!
Dawn

P.S.  As long as no one serves me any more surprise, mystery dishes between now and then, I plan to publish Wednesday Weigh-ins again starting June 15. :)

Cannot compute...cannot compute....

2011-05-25T07:55:00.000-04:00

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!

Would you like to play a nice game of thermonuclear war??!

Need...more...input...need...more...input....

*R2D2 shrill, whistle, beep, beep, beep...collapses onto "face"*

That's just a little sampling of how my blog currently sounds. Something strange is afoot at Blogger, and I'm having a hard time fixing it.

Okay, really, I haven't even tried to fix it. I've just looked at it, sighed, and refreshed my home page about 100 times in hopes it will just magically fix itself.

Alas, despite my tech-savvy ways, all of the gadgets that are supposed to be in my right sidebar are in the left sidebar. My blog looks hideous, and I do apologize.

The funny thing is everything looks as it should on my design page. I have no idea what to do to fix it other than copy all codes to docs and save, then delete the gadgets and start over again.

Please excuse the mess while I clean it. It may take me a few days to get things back in order again.

If you have any solutions, please drop me a comment. Muchas gracias!

*smoke puff from CPU as monitor blinks then fades to black*
Dawn

The Great Curriculum Reveal Blog Hop

2011-05-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

I think the whole reason I became a homeschool mom is so I could justify my book-buying habits! ;)

Of course, my reasons for homeschooling my children are much better than that. However, I am absolutely giddy this time of year as the boxes of books, teaching materials, and learning gizmo's arrive at my house in anticipation of the start of a whole new school year.

My fellow curriculum ~~junkie~~ connoisseur, Heather of Kingdom Arrows, and I are teaming up to host a blog hop in which we all have a chance to take a peek at each other's materials for next year.

It's like a virtual Tupperware party! We can all take our stuff, pass it around, and ooh and aah! Only, you don't have to buy anything... just share what you have already bought!!

To participate, write a post or create a page on your blog telling us all about your curricular plans for next year, 2011-2012. You can add pictures and links to products if you like. Then link in your post at Kingdom Arrows on Monday, June 6.

In return, we ask that you do three things:

Display our picture header in your post or post the button in your side bar. You can grab the picture from above or the button code over in my sidebar.
Link to Kingdom Arrows. If you display the button, that's already done for you!
Link to Olive Plants somewhere in your post. You can mention that I am the co-hostess if that helps.

That's it! Easy-peasy, and it should be a lot of fun to take a look at all the plans.

Happy Planning!

Dawn

Archiving School Plans

2011-05-14T10:58:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

I am getting ready to post the plans for next school year on Our Academy page and wanted to archive last year's plans. So this post is a cut and paste of that page for my personal records. If you are new to Olive Plants, feel free to scan this post at your leisure. I wrote a mini-review of each program we used at the conclusion of the year because I like to know the thoughts of other mom's concerning a curriculum before I buy. I hope you find it helpful.

If you're an Olive Plants regular, thanks for sticking around! This post is old news for you, so please, feel free to skip it. But, please do return soon because I can't wait to tell you about our plans for next year! It's my favorite time of the year!!

Blessings,
Dawn

Oh yeah, here are the completed plans and reviews.

*smacking forehead*

My comments and reviews are typed in red.

Bible

We plan to follow the New Testament portion of the Bible in one year plan. Our History curriculum and Orville's Omnibus studies include large portions of the Old Testament which we will read as well.

The boys will also continue to memorize the Westminster Shorter Catechism for training in doctrine.

This plan worked really well. It took some tweaking, particularly because Orville's Bible reading schedule in Omnibus was tough. He and I completed each of the following books of the Bible this year: Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Minor Prophets, all four Gospels, Acts, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, James and the Revelation.

Wilbur read all four Gospels, Acts, Galatians, James, and the Revelation.

We plan to read Romans over summer break and memorization of the Shorter Catechism is on-going.

History

Diana Waring's revised curriculum, History Revealed: Ancient Civilizations and the Bible.

I think this is a GREAT history program! We had to tweak it to fit our needs (isn't that what we homeschoolers are all about?!). Each boy only read a few of the supplemental recommendations because their regular reading list was weighty this year, particularly Orville who was also completing Omnibus I.

The boys really enjoyed Mrs. Waring's CD's and listened to them many nights while in bed before falling asleep. Overall, I think the worldview and Biblical content on them is great. However, I did disagree with some of the content (doctrinal issues). The differences were slight, and I was able to use those sections as teachable moments by presenting what we believe and by "showing proper respect to everyone and loving the brotherhood of believers." (1Pet 2:17). We disagree with Mrs. Waring on some points, but we do not discredit her Christian testimony or all of her teaching.

I did add in Story of the World Book 1 because History Revealed focuses so heavily on worldview that it does not present as much historical content as I would like.

Language Arts

I am teaching both boys from the Institute for Excellence in Writing's Student Writing Intensive course.

To better understand the methods of IEW, I am also watching their Teaching Writing Structure and Style.

All I can say is "Best Decision I EVER Made!" You can read more about our experience here if you would like.

Both boys will complete Daily Grammar Practice. Wilbur will complete the 4th grade book, and Orville will complete the 2nd 1/2 of the 6th grade book and the 1st 1/2 of the 7th grade book.

We have used this curriculum for several years now and love it. Orville completed the 6th grade book and has completed about half of the 7th grade book. Wilbur finished the 4th grade book and has begun work on the 5th grade! It took plugging away at it for a couple years, but it finally "clicked" this year for him!

Wilbur will complete All About Spelling, Level 3.

He finished level 3 and is almost half-way through level 4! We are going to keep working on it over the summer! Second Best Decision I Ever Made!

Orville will complete Omnibus I from Veritas Press.

Wowzers! What a program!! Okay, I'm not going to gloss anything over here. This is one tough study, and Orville hated it at times and loved it at others. He completed all the primary reading selections and thought it was great for the first two studies: Genesis and Exodus. We have studied these two books of the Bible so frequently in the past that he basically has them memorized, so they were easy to read and it was easy to transition into the higher-order writing and discussion activities.

Then he had to read an edited version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Not a fun week at our house! Michael and I had to do that thing that parents do and nudge him along by encouraging and rebuking, and he survived.

After jumping that hurdle, he went on to enjoy the subsequent studies (excluding Last Days of Socrates). His legal mind sprang into action as he analyzed the Code of Hammurabi and his knowledge of history from having read works like The Last Days of Rome, The Twelve Caesars, and Herodotus leaves me dumbfounded (and feeling a bit ignorant).

The results? We have seen huge growth in his thinking and reasoning and his ability to write a thorough response. This was something we had to work on CONSTANTLY throughout the year. He wanted to give simple answers (ones that could be written quickly), but we required him to do rewrites, and he is maturing as a scholar.

We decided, however, that reading the secondaries was requiring too much of him. He did complete Chosen by God and the Holiness of God (both by Sproul), but at a very slow pace. We did not require him to complete the questions in the Omnibus text for these works. Instead, I also read each book and took notes. We discussed these works chapter-by-chapter and compared our notes.

We dropped all other secondaries except for...

We will read each of the seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia series and use the Narnia Comprehension Guide from Veritas Press as a discussion guide. This will be a time that the boys and I switch turns reading aloud.

LOVED IT! It took a concerted effort on our part to make time for reading as a family; however, we all think it was time well-spent and are so glad we did. The Narnia Series was a perfect read, and the Comprehension Guide gave us a good resource for quickly and easily checking their understanding. We also used the book Roar! as a companion to The Silver Chair and Last Battle and wished we had had it from the start. Doug Wilson's What I Learned in Narnia is on their summer reading list.

By March, we had finished Narnia and moved on to Shakespeare. We read Julius Caesar, also an Omnibus I secondary reading assignment. It was a tough read, but can you guess who understood the plot better than any of us??? Wilbur, the youngest of us!!! We were really proud of him and had a lot of fun assigning roles and having our own little reader's theater!

Wilbur will complete Rod and Staff's Pathway reader for 4th grade with accompanying workbook for his independent reading work.

Readers and workbooks do not fit my homeschool philosophy, AT ALL! However, going into this school year, we had some concerns about Wilbur's progress in Language Arts and decided to take a more traditional route. We hoped it would give us more insight into which skills were causing him trouble.

It did not take him long to complete each daily assignment and it gave him something to complete independently when I could not work directly with him. It also eased many of my fears as he completed the skills-based activities with ease. It did allow us to isolate a few trouble spots and work on them. He finished the 4th grade set and has moved on to the 5th. We are going to keep this study going over the summer.

Math

Orville will complete Singapore Math, Levels 6 A and 6 B.

He is almost done! This is the only curriculum that we have used from the 1st to the last level. It makes me feel simultaneously proud of him and sad. Where did that little boy go who was learning to count and add? Emotional mommy issues aside, this has been a great elementary math curriculum.

Wilbur will complete Singapore Math, Levels 4B and 5A.

He is almost finished, too, and about to start level 5! My BABY!!!

Science

Orville will complete Apologia's General Science course.

If there is one area where I get a big ol' fat F for the year, it is science. (Although I think coordinating a science fair should give me enough extra credit just to pass!) Orville finished five modules before Christmas break, and I decided for the sake of my sanity to drop the study altogether after the break.

I know this is a highly revered curriculum within the greater homeschool community; however, I found the format frustrating. No supplemental work is included. The hands-on activities are excellent, but I never felt like setting them up because I was too exhausted from finding ways to help him retain the content. I felt like the module review basically gave the test answers to him, so then I felt uncertain about how much he was really learning as opposed to just parroting back to me. I don't like being the one Apologia naysayer, but it just did NOT work for us.

Wilbur will study Zoology III through Apologia's Young Explorer Series.

Wilbur loves these books and has almost completed this study. Nonetheless, I have decided to take a new approach to science for next year. What is it? Well, you'll just have to wait and see! :)

Foreign Language

Both boys will complete Lively Latin's Big Book I (the second 1/2).

We're done with Latin!!! We're done with Latin!!! I really do like Lively Latin, but we have new plans for foreign language/word study next year. Again, you'll just have to wait and see! :)

Orville will continue to study Japanese with Rosetta Stone. He is taking a leisurely pace with this study as it is a delight-directed study for him.

Orville did not complete much of his Japanese study this year. We were just too busy with other things and we bought this for him three years ago to complete as there is time. He will keep working on it as he wants.

Fine Arts

Both boys will complete Harmony Fine Arts for 5th grade and The Violin Book, Books 1 and 2 by Eden Vaning-Rosen.

I really like HFA! The boys do, too!! This study was particularly good for my VSL. The author, Barb (Harmony Art Mom), really understands right-brained children. From this curriculum, Wilbur gained an appreciation for history (through art history) which increased his interest in our regular history studies. He also decided he might want to be an architect when he grows up! In a nutshell, HFA opened his eyes to a world of possibilities.

The Violin Book, however, did not work so great. I do not think the fault lies with the program. Rather, I bought very cheap, very poor quality violins. I spent more time tuning the things than they did practicing. I even lost a toenail because of them. Well, that was the straw, folks. After my injury, I couldn't look at those violins without shuddering and because they would not stay in tune for more than 3.8 seconds, we dropped violin.

Moral of this story?

Don't be cheap like me. Buy a good violin!

Orville has become very serious about his piano studies and really does not want to study violin anyway, and Wilbur wants to focus on art and architecture. So I guess we learned this year that we are not violinists.

Wilbur will complete Artistic Pursuits 1st book for grades 4-6.

He has almost completed it and really enjoys the assignments. He has grown as an artist this year!

P.E.

Both boys will take tennis lessons and go swimming twice per week. They go for a morning run with Michael twice per week, too.

After the toe injury, swimming was out. I had to keep my foot bandaged and dry for almost two months. They took tennis lessons every week until Christmas break during which time Orville broke his arm. They rejoined the class just last week. (Orville's arm has completely mended, like new!)

Extra-curricular Activities

Both boys participate in our local Mathletes team. The group competes in the National Math Olympiads.

Orville was the second-highest scorer on the team! He earned a patch this year and missed earning a silver pin for the top 10% by one question! Wilbur's total score improved from last year and he missed the patch by 1 question! Both are great accomplishments...good job, guys!

We are active members of our local homeschool association. Our group holds an annual International Festival, Spotlight Night, and Field Day. We also take 4-6 field trips per year. The boys' favorite event of the year is the annual skating party!

Ay, ay, ay...it's like a blur! I know they had fun, and all the activities added so much to their educational and social experience this year. I am thankful for SDHSA and all it affords our family!

All plans listed on this blog assume "Lord willing".

Some of our plans for the year panned out. Some things did not work out as we hoped while other happenings completely took us by surprise. Through it all God has been teaching us how to live abound by praising Him and receiving His blessings with appreciation and to live abased by being content whatever the circumstances and resting in and trusting His Providence. We can do all things through Christ Jesus who is our strength. (Phil 4:12-13)

Our plans for 2011-2012 are in place, and I will share them here soon. Thank you for reading and may God bless you as you homeschool your children!

31 Days to Clean: Week One

2011-05-05T09:23:00.001-04:00

I have joined the Homemaker's challenge at Joyful Mothering and am supposed to report in on Fridays. However, tomorrow I will be off to the Big City for the Big Homeschool Conference and won't have time to post.

Those of us participating in the meme are following the advice in the new ebook, 31 Days to Clean by Sarah Mae.

I'm being a tad-bit ~~stubborn~~ ~~independent~~ Dawn-like in my approach and am not following the plan exactly as it is written. Each chapter offers good suggestions on how to break cleaning into smaller, more manageable chunks and also offers a 31-day plan for giving your house a good thorough cleaning by completing one "Martha" task per day. A "Mary" task is also included each day which challenges me to reflect on the whys of my cleaning and home management.

This week we are supposed to start with the kitchen, and that just does not work for me. I needed to get ready for the curriculum fair and we are finishing school TODAY! (except some subjects carry over into the summer but that's only about an hour of school each day rather than 6-8) YIPPEE!

So I have flipped over to the chapters on home office and am working through them as I clear and sort curriculum from the classroom and office to make room for the goodies I will bring home Saturday (and for the mounds of books that have arrived via snail mail and are stacked in towers around my office and living room).

I don't have pictures to share yet. It's not that I'm being prideful about the state of my office, rather I don't want to scare anyone!  :) However, I would like to share my answer to one of the Mary tasks for the week. We were asked to complete a mission statement detailing why we want to maintain a clean home.

I have to admit that I have been very affected by the Korean community as I have tutored their children this year. Hospitality is central to their culture. I am a paid employee coming into their homes, yet they do not treat me as such. They greet me at the door with smiles. They have a special place set up for me to teach with all the supplies I need laid out and ready.  They always have a snack and drink at my spot at the table, waiting on me. And it is always something thoughtful...fresh fruit, homemade waffles with homemade syrup, Korean pancakes with syrup and nuts in the center, and even sushi! (Can you believe I lost weight this year?)  Their food is always served on a special plate. Each family has a different one- a wedding plate, a flowered piece of china, hand-painted glassware. These special touches are never ostentatious. Instead they create an atmosphere where I know I am welcomed and appreciated.

I could say much more about the hospitality of the Korean community and about how they have cared for me this year, treating me not like an employee but a friend or a sister.  They have given me a real vision for hospitality which is at the core of my mission in completing this challenge. I plan to simplify and purge things from my home which are weighing me down and hindering me in the area of hospitality. I want anyone who comes to my door to feel like I do when I enter the home of my Korean friends.

I may have to march to the beat of my own drum when it comes to this meme, switching around chapters and challenges and posting late or early. However, I look forward to participating and reporting the results.

Happy Cleaning!
Dawn

Oh Happy Day!

2011-05-04T09:14:00.001-04:00

Could it be?

Is it really, really true?

Someone pinch me because I think I'm dreaming...

Orville is completing his Omnibus I final
as I type!

I'm not sure who is happier, Orville or me!

The 2010-2011 school year is almost complete at Olive Plants Academy. You can read about how our curricular plans worked for us here.

Return soon for The Plan for Next Year!

Happy, Happy Day!
Dawn

Tweet and See: April 2011

2011-05-02T09:00:00.001-04:00

Visit Heather at Kingdom Arrows
for links to other birding reports!

Hi all.

We saw a good variety this month, mostly at a state park in our area. The first week of April was our spring break, and since my husband, a public school teacher, had six days off from work, we spent a couple of them bird watching. The weather was lovely, and most of the birds on our list were found during these outings.

The Georgia Youth Birding Competition was held in April, too. My boys usually compete, but we decided not to participate this year because it was held on a Saturday/Sunday. We held what we called the "HBC". H for our last name Birding Celebration. Although we did not bird watch for a straight 24 hours, we had fun trying to find as many birds as possible around our town. It was very windy that weekend and difficult to hear anything other than the wind. Not many birds were visible either. The second day was very hot, and there was very little bird activity.

The end of the month brought an eye injury for me and tornadoes! Therefore, I do not have much to report for the end of the month.

Here is our April list...

Osprey
Killdeer
Chipping Sparrow
Ring-billed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Bluebird
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Tufted Titmouse
Eastern Meadowlark
Yellow Warbler
Belted Kingfisher
Carolina Chickadee
American Crow
Prairie Warbler
Blue Jay
Pileated Woodpecker
Golden-winged Warbler
Chimney Swift
Brown Thrasher
Mourning Dove
Northern Mockingbird
Fish Crow
Canada Goose
Barn Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
European Starling
Wood Thrush
Whip-poor-will
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Northern Parula
Hermit Thrush
Worm-eating Warbler
Bobwhite
Orange-crowned Warbler
Northern Cardinal
American Robin
House Sparrow
Eastern Kingbird
Black Vulture
House Finch
Bobolink
Carolina Wren
Mallard
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Cowbird
Summer Tanager
Rock Pigeon

Join the birding fun by listing what you see on your blog and linking in to Kingdom Arrows at the end of each month for Tweet and See. It is a lot of fun to read the other posts and find out what birders from across the country (and maybe one day world!) are finding. Thanks, Heather!

Happy Birding!
Dawn

Edit: I must not be seeing as well as I thought. This post was supposed to be published to Birders for Life. Hello...bird brain! Please forgive my faux pas and feel free to fly on over and check out some of my birding content. :)

My Readers' Choice: 38 Posts

2011-04-30T12:50:00.002-04:00

Today is my birthday, and I am 38 which completely blows my mind.

Wasn't I just 29 a few days ago? Can 20 years really have passed since my high school graduation? And 22 years since I got my driver's license? And a quarter of a century since I turned 13 and got braces?

I actually have a scar on my knee that is 35 years old.

And what an interesting pre-bday week I have had! It is a truly rare and special occasion when one nearly blinds herself and then almost gets blown away by a tornado all in one week.

You already know about the accident that had me yelling EYE Carumba! (My husband comes up with these, folks.)

Well, the tornadoes that ravaged the South hit our home county hard between midnight and 2 a.m. Thursday. By morning we were on our state's disaster area list. Public schools were closed because of extensive damage and power outages.

We watched the Weather Channel all day Wednesday as the tornadoes and storms moved across Alabama. As the worst was about to reach Georgia, it seemed our home was going to take a direct hit.

We decided to go to my parents' house because it looked like the storms were going to be less severe there. However, minutes before the worst should have hit our home, it changed direction and basically missed us. There were strong winds and heavy rain but nothing strong enough to cause damage.

A different front, however, later travelled directly over my parents' house, and a tornado touched down in the woods directly behind us. It ripped the roof off a house in an adjoining neighborhood and caused two huge oak trees to fall squarely on the house next to it, completely crushing the entire house.

Then it moved toward my parents' subdivision but lifted just before it plowed over the house next door to them. We heard it swirl over our roof as we hid in the closet. We thought hail was pounding the roof but later realized branches and debris being swept away by the twister were slamming into it as they flew over.

Trees in the neighbor's yard were cracked in half. There was a huge mess to clean up, but neither my parents' house nor the one next door were damaged. Incroyable! I apologize for the lack of photos but using a camera was outside my range of abilities this week. :)

I considered writing a post listing 38 things for which I am thankful in honor of my 38th birthday. I am truly thankful for God's protection this week. It was a difficult one, but we were spared the worst outcomes in both situations. My heart aches for those of you who suffered substantial losses, and you are all in my prayers.

Because a very popular meme dedicated to the topic already exists, I decided against the thankfulness post. Instead, I have decided to share the many ideas that have bounced around in my brain this week as I have been unable to do little more than talk to myself. Each conversation turned into a blog post that I could not write.

What is it they say about genius and insanity?!

I did manage to scribble each title down on a sheet of paper, and, coincidentally, there are 38 of them!
In celebration of growing older, regaining my vision, restored electricity and being able to use the computer again, I took the time to decode my scribbles. Here are 38 Posts I Will Write One Day.

*hack, hack, cough, cough*

Drum roll, please....

Give your kids the best YOU can give.
A Gracious Teacher
Drawing Your Children Near
Delegate! (Yes, home managers can do this, too!)
A Supportive Church
Supportive Homeschool Friends
Loaded Questions, Gentle Answers
Curricular Choices for Kids
Don't be kid-centric...
...but don't forget you're teaching kids.
Homeschooling and the Gospel
My Homeschool Philosophy: A Peaceful Home is More Important than Methodology
When the enemy suggests you're not qualified to homeschool...
Avoiding Cabin Fever
Overcommitment Sucks...the life out of you and your family.
One Day at a Time
Taking Care of Mom
Homeschooling Essential: A Good Day Planner
Scheduling Your Day according to Priorities
Can you really perfect your kids?
Can you really make the world a perfect place for your kids?
Creating a Print-rich Environment
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
Employ Your Strengths
Know Your Child(ren)'s Strengths
Compiling Work Samples
Simplifying Record Keeping
The grass is NOT always greener.
Don't take a failed lesson personally.
Independent Learning
Pour Yourself into Your Mothering and Teaching
Introducing Children to Different Cultures
Immediate Feedback
Real-world Experience
Teaching History Chronologically
Teaching Math Conceptually
Stretching Their Brains: Make Your Children Justify Their Answers
Essential Questions

So, what do you think? Take a minute to vote for your favorite by leaving a comment. I will write the winning post by... this time next year! :) Seriously, I will write it asap!

Happy Birthday to me!
Dawn

The Eyes Have It

2011-04-27T09:56:00.000-04:00

Actually, it's just one eye that has it, and according to the ophthalmologist, it won't have it permanently.

All damage is on the surface of the eye and the eyelid. There was hemorrhaging which is a good sign. If there had been no internal bleeding, it would have indicated damage to the interior eye, meaning dead cells and irreparable damage.

He prescribed a steroid eye drop to be taken in addition to two other drops given to me at the ER. He also prescribed a topical cream for my eye lid. Ah...heavenly relief!

There is one minor concern. There is "fluid" under the cornea which is causing my vision to be a bit hazy. He said it will most likely clear up on its own but could take as long as two months. If it does not clear within two to three months, we will have to talk about further treatment. This could involve surgery, so please pray for my vision to return to normal soon.

The good news is that the swelling and redness has decreased significantly. My eye is starting to look normal again. The eyelid feels better and the redness and scaring is clearing. My vision is still a little blurry but improved.

Overall, I am rejoicing and know that God has been merciful! When I felt the soap hit my eye, I immediately cried out to Him. I had done my homework before I began soaping so I knew the possible ramifications, among them blindness. As I flushed my eye with water, I asked the Lord to make it effective and to remove the chemical quickly before it could "burn through" the cornea. He was pleased to do so, and I give Him praise.

I was not able to attend worship on Easter Sunday; however, while at home doctoring my wounds, I had plenty of time to contemplate the wounds of Jesus by which I am healed (Isaiah 53:5). I am thankful that this perishable body of mine has been clothed with the imperishable. (1Cor 15:53)

Thank you for your continued prayers. Hopefully I will return to regularly scheduled programming soon!

Blessings,
Dawn

Eye, eye, eye...

2011-04-25T07:56:00.001-04:00

So I had an interesting Easter weekend.

My dining room has been a disaster area ever since the science fair. The table is our work space for projects and soap making, and the boys have had a lot of projects to complete in the last month or so. We've been eating in the office which actually suits us all just fine. There are two rockers and t.v. trays and two computer desks. It's actually a comfortable set up and makes for a nice place to eat and chat.

I decided on Saturday, however, that it was time for me to reclaim the dining room. Project season is over, and well, the dining table needed to be restored to its original purpose. Wilbur signed on as my helper, and we decided to tackle the soap supplies while we were at it, too. I have two wire racks in the dining area dedicated to my soaping supplies, and it was, ahem, in need of a little attention.

It didn't take long to restore order, and we got all of the soapy gadgets neatly arranged in baskets. I even alphabetized my fragrances! It looked so wonderful that I felt inspired and decided to whip up a batch of cold process soap. I had given bars from my last batch to the ladies on the science fair committee as thank you gifts, and they liked it so much that they bought more for themselves and to give to others. I was sold-out and needed to restock!

Now, I am a safety-minded person. You already know I am not a risk-taker because I am accident-prone. I put on my rubber gloves and goggles and carefully began the process.

Measured the lye. No problem.

Mixed the lye and water together. No problem.

Melted the oils. No problem.

Poured the lye solution into the oils. No problemo!

I had the batch almost completely done and was ready to pour it into the mold when I noticed a little glob of colorant. Being the perfectionist that I am, I had to smooth it out. I put the stick blender into the "batter" and switched it on.

I missed one little detail, though.

I had taken my goggles off.

Why?

I don't know.

I leaned over the pot to get a good look at that clump and...

...you guessed it.

A blob of soap jumped out of the pot and landed squarely in my eye.

I bolted to the sink and started dousing my eye with water. Wilbur ran outside to get Dad who immediately called poison control. They told me to continue to flush the affected area with water for thirty minutes and then go to the ER.

Once at the ER, my eye was numbed and they put this plastic contraption under my eyelid. It was like the biggest contact lens in the world through which saline solution passed and washed my eye (and my hair and neck and shirt and bedsheets...brrr...it was cold!).

People, I have a thing about my eyes. I have never worn contacts because I just cannot stand the thought of putting something in my eye on purpose. I struggle to use eye drops, too. I cringe any time a dropper comes near me, so every time someone came within two feet of me (and that was frequently), I jumped like a startled cat. I think I may have karate chopped my doctor once.

Not really. But I thought about it.

After testing my eye with litmus paper (there's something I never imagined in my wildest dreams would one day happen to me), the doctor determined that the lye was out. He diagnosed a minor chemical burn and corneal abrasion and said that it would all heal on its own. I will see an opthamologist today for a follow-up and continued treatment.

I'm feeling okay. My vision is still affected (though there does not seem to be any permanent damage) so I apologize for any typos. :) Basically, it feels like a really bad case of pink eye...uncomfortable but not painful. I appreciate your prayers as I recover and will keep you posted.

Oh, and pray for Michael, too. He is the one who has to administer my eye drops.

Hei-ya!
Dawn

Closing Out the 2010-2011 School Year

2011-04-20T12:12:00.000-04:00

At the Olive Plants Academy, we are just a few weeks from the end of the 2010-2011 school year!
Unbelievable!

Before school began, I created a page on which I listed our plans for the year. I just updated the page so you can read an overview of our year and how our curricular plans panned out.

Click here to be redirected to the updated Our Academy page and read all about it.

I will reveal our plans for 2011-2012 very soon!

Happy Planning!
Dawn

Science Fair 2011

2011-04-04T22:18:00.001-04:00

Question: Where has Dawn been lately?

Research: Sources indicate that Dawn has a tendency to ~~overcommit~~ get really involved in her community and to ~~tell people what to do~~ organize large events. Satellites have tracked increased science activity in her hometown in recent weeks.

Hypothesis: Dawn led her homeschool group's science fair committee this year.

There is no need to test this hypothesis because I have photographic evidence to verify its validity!

Okay, so I'm not in this picture of all the science fair participants.
I could not find a picture of me anywhere!
I guess I was too busy
~~giving orders~~
serving the group
to pose!

I worked with six other terrific moms to organize the first annual Super Duper Home School Association (SDHSA) Science Fair! (FYI, that's what I will be calling my local support group from here on out. I am tired of typing "local support group" over and over again!)

The SDHSA ladies and I started working on the fair in August. There was a lot to accomplish: writing rules, holding registration, finding judges, gathering prizes, creating a judging rubric, providing a training session, etc., etc., etc. However, from the start, we divided the work, and I cannot believe how well everything came together!

The competition was tight, and there were soooo many fabulous projects. Take a look at these incredible boards!

On the home front, I had two participants of my own to manage. ~~I demanded~~ the boys decided that they should work together on just one project since I had my hands full leading the committee. Of course, the one topic the boys ~~could agree on~~ felt enthusiasm for was bird watching.

Here is their project...

Question: What color feeder will attract the most birds?

Orville (left) and Wilbur (right)
in front of their feeders of different colors.
Which one do you think will attract the most birds?

Research: Their research indicated that birds' eyes contain "more cone cells" than humans'. For this reason, scientists believe birds see colors in saturated tones.

This picture shows the cages in a saturated hue,
a guess as to what
they look like to song birds.

Hypothesis: The boys believed their research indicated more birds would be drawn to the brighter colored feeders, particularly yellow and red.

Are the boys correct?

Will yellow and red win?

The Experiment: Dad spray painted four suet cage feeders in four different colors: yellow, red, blue and black. The boys decided to leave one cage in the original green color as a control. They also hung the cages on the same tree to prevent environmental factors, like temperature, from skewing the outcome. They also used the same brand of suet feed for each cage and filled each with the same weight of feed.

The Control Cage

They frequently observed the cages for one week and took note of how many birds of which species visited each color. At the end of the week, they took the cages down and weighed the amount of uneaten suet.

They repeated the test on a different tree in a different part of the yard, keeping the controls in place from the first test. Again, they observed for one week, took notes, and then weighed the remaining contents.

Data and Results:

Test One (from lightest to heaviest): yellow, black, green, red and blue.
Test Two (from lightest to heaviest): yellow, red, green, blue, and black.
Total Ranking (calculated by adding the weights from each test): yellow, black, red, green, and blue

Conclusions: Because yellow ranked first (meaning the most was eaten from it) in both tests, the boys believe yellow is a good color for feeders. However, because red was 2nd in one test and 4th in the other, they cannot say with certainty that their hypothesis is correct.

Orville (right) is disturbed their hypothesis was not valid.
Wilbur (left) is just happy he participated in the science fair!

While collecting data, they also noticed that more birds ate from a feeder similar in color to its body than at a feeder of a different color. They want to do more research and testing to see if there is a correlation between body color and desired feeder color.

SDHSA awarded participants medals based on their judges' rubric score. Everyone who participated received at least a bronze science medal. Those whose judges' scores were between 80 and 89% of the total possible score received silver medals, and those who received scores of 90% and higher earned gold medals. Local restaurants donated coupons for free pizza, ice cream and sandwiches, too!

Orville and Wilbur (far right) won gold medals
and took first place in their division!

Good job, Orville and Wilbur!

Bronze and Silver Medalists

Good job, science fair participants!

If you are interested in starting a science fair in your area, I would be happy to offer support. I learned a lot the hard way this year! Just drop me a line, and I will get back to you soon.

Happy Experimenting!

Dawn

Exciting News!

2011-03-25T00:37:00.001-04:00

Something I forgot to mention in my post about IEW is that I had not contacted IEW about promoting their materials and I did not receive any compensation. I was merely sharing my unbiased opinion because I care.

Well, Jamie, who blogs for IEW, found my mini-review and posted about it on the IEW website blog. She even linked to the Write Brothers and called us "famous".

I am trying really hard not to get a big head!

The boys are thrilled and working double time on their next assignment. They are hoping Mr. Pudewa will read it and award it two thumbs up. :)

Thank you, Jamie.

And thank you again, IEW. We think you rock.

Another exciting development is that I am once again the owner of a camera!!!

This one to be exact....

FYI, I am not trying to sell you a camera but wanted you to see which one I bought. Putting in an Amazon link was the easiest way to facilitate that. I realized once I started typing this post that I was not going to be able to take a picture of it myself.

Duh!

However, I was able to use it to take some pictures by the lake today. I hope you enjoy the return of photos to my blog.

I have pictures of my children again!
See how they've grown!!

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 25

2011-03-23T06:55:00.001-04:00

25 weeks...that is unbelievable.

I have never stuck with a diet and exercise program for that long and feel like I should hold a celebration. It's my silver diet-versary, y'all! :)

I couldn't have done it without your support. Thank you.

However, I have two kiddos with colds and am coordinating a science fair to be held Friday while preparing the boys for another big event on Saturday. In other words, I have to keep this short.

So...let's get to it, shall we?

I lost 1.6 pounds,

bringing my weight-loss total to 27.8 pounds!

Woo Hoo!

The ball is rolling in the right direction again. My Fitness Pal has a lot to do with that. It just works for me.

I think I found another critical element this week, too. I had started exercising during the day because it is hard to find the energy for it in the evening as I had been doing for the first few months. I switched back to exercise before bed and have found that a) I sleep better and b) the pounds shed more easily. Perhaps it gives my metabolism a boost so that I lose while I sleep.

Not sure. I'm not a health professional so I can't begin to say that with any confidence.

It would make a neat science fair experiment, though.

Oh yeah...science fair. That reminds me of 3,593 other things I need to do.

I will see y'all later!

Please pray for the following:

Continued weight loss and energy to exercise at night.
The Science Fair and my sanity (there seems to be a correlation between the two)
My loved ones facing legal situations- One has been resolved in his favor, praise the Lord!
Friends and missionaries in Japan- all are safe but facing difficult situations.
Decisions M and I are making about next school year. We need wisdom.

Happy Healthy Living!

Dawn

Disclosure: I have not been compensated for linking to My Fitness Pal. I just find it helpful and wanted to share my unbiased opinion.

Disclaimer: I am not a health science expert. Truth be known, I'm quite the opposite. However, I am hosting the Wednesday Weigh-in challenge to encourage Christian dieters to pray for each other. Please do not expect your results to be exactly like mine or any other participant's.

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 24

2011-03-16T09:59:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back.

I continued my diet as best as I could while my computers were in the shop.

It's amazing how much of my life is inside my computer. I couldn't grade several of the boys' school assignments because the teacher's editions are on CD. I couldn't check my email on a regular basis and had to sort through almost 200 of them when I was finally back online. I didn't know what was going on in the world, and we were dressed in the wrong sort of clothes almost every day because I couldn't check the weather report.

After a week of freezing in shorts and tees or burning up in jeans and long-sleeves, we I finally realized that one of the boys could step outside in his PJ's BEFORE we dressed for a temperature check.

Wow, technologically-impaired brain cells, y'all- I've got them! :)

And, most tragic of all (tongue in cheek), I could not calculate calories on My Fitness Pal.

MFP really does make things easier. After two days of living in the dark ages and flipping through a print calorie counter to find out how many calories are in a banana (because for some reason I cannot remember this info from day-to-day), I gave up. It was too much.

I continued to eat "right" and exercise but I could not keep an accurate count and am not sure if I kept to my calorie goal or not. I did weigh daily and it went up, up, up and then down, down, down. Then back up. Then back down....

Finally last Thursday, I was able to track calories again and after six consistent days, I am happy to report

I lost 0.6 of a pound,

bringing my total weight loss to 26.4 pounds!

And I would like to point out that after three very stressful weeks (not having a computer was just a hiccup; much more was going on which I cannot share at this time), I decided to sleep in this morning. If I had weighed at 6:30 a.m. like I normally do, I may have seen a full pound difference (like I did yesterday morning)! I was exhausted and stressed when I went to bed last night, so I will trade 0.4 of a pound for a little extra and much-needed shut eye.

Thank you to those who have continued to pray while I have been unavailable. I have been praying for you, too. Please pray this week as follows:

For wisdom- Michael and I are praying about several issues in which we need to make wise decisions for next year. Ask the Lord to show us His will.
For protection- Two people I love dearly are in the middle of difficult legal situations. Neither are in the wrong and we are praying for the Lord to hear our prayers and bring them relief.
For extra energy, perseverance and extra measures of grace: I have a lot of "things" to take care of in the next two weeks. I want to serve my family and community graciously while not neglecting my health. Now that I can use MFP again, I want to keep the ball rolling in the right direction.

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement! Let me know how you are doing.

Blessings,

Dawn

IEW

2011-03-09T16:46:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of this school year, I bought IEW's Student Intensive for both of my boys with some hesitancy. However, many of my friends raved about the program and highly recommended it to me, so I took the plunge.

Boy, am I glad I listened. The boys have finished most of the student intensive, and I am now teaching them from the Ancient History-Based Writing unit. They completed their first two assignments this week, and I have posted the finished works over at The Write Brothers.

If you are considering what to buy for writing next year, please allow me to make a suggestion! IEW has been a huge blessing for us. One of my boys is a reluctant writer. He used to cry when I handed him paper and pencil. The other has loved to "write" since he was little and words flow from him naturally. If you have a minute, hop on over and see if you can tell the difference. It will be difficult!

Thanks, IEW!

Happy Writing!
Dawn

Hanging by a Thread

2011-02-25T21:24:00.000-05:00

Those were the best words I could find to describe the current condition of my laptop.

I have the power cord "attached" to the port by packaging tape. I am typing very carefully. I know at any second I will knock it loose and have to start over for the 8,439th time.

Our desk top that was running at a snail's pace earlier this week is no longer running.

All of our computers are going to the doctor on Monday, and I don't know when I will be back online. I will probably miss my weigh-in but will catch you up asap.

Please enjoy some of my reader faves from the archives while my computers take a brief sick leave.

Blessings,
Dawn

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 21

2011-02-23T08:23:00.000-05:00

Click the Wednesday Weigh-in tab
at the top of my home page
to join the weigh-in ~~torture~~ FUN!

I lost 0.7 of a pound,

bringing my weight-loss total (back) to 25.6 pounds!

That means I lost about half of what I gained last week which is really good considering I did not exercise this week at all. I have been fighting a really bad cold for a week now. Persistent coughing has kept me from sleeping well. I averaged 3 hours sleep per night and I could barely talk without coughing. I just didn't have the energy for the Gazelle and felt like deep breathing would cause me to cough so hard a lung might truly come up.

So it's slow going right now and will probably take me a full month to get back to where I was. But no one said this was going to be easy or that in order to keep my commitment things have to go well and be rosy.

But that's where I'll stop today because

I'm still coughing profusely.
My computer is running at a snail's pace.
The boys need to practice their speeches for tomorrow's 4-H Project Achievement, and I need to listen and give feedback.
I have been verging on a bad mood all week and am really not in a place to be a motivational writer.

Because it is taking me about 5 minutes to type every few lines, I won't type a list of prayer requests either. Please pray for my typical requests.

Let me know how you're doing!

Happy Healthy Living!

Dawn

Great Backyard Bird Count Summary

2011-02-21T20:28:00.000-05:00

I started the new blog so I could take up less air time over here about birding.

I promise.

However, just once more, I wanted to let those of you who follow Olive Plants for the birding content know you can read all about our birding adventures at Birders for Life.

We participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend and saw a lot of interesting birds.

We saw 35 species on Friday, 35 species on Saturday (although there was a lot of overlap), and only 14 different species on Monday. However, we counted nearly 1,000 birds on Monday and almost 1,500 birds in all!

Fly on over to read all about it!
Dawn

Birding 101 has moved....

2011-02-17T09:55:00.001-05:00

If you have been following Olive Plants for my bird watching content, please check out my new blog that I coauthor with my fellow birding enthusiast, Heather. Together we are The Birding Chicks, and our blog is Birders for Life.

I have moved Birding 101 to B4L and am adding in several new posts and updating the old ones to include even more tips! I have feedburner set up now so that you can have our posts delivered directly to your inbox. Please subscribe so you won't miss any of our tips and tweets!

Also, don't forget the Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend. It only takes fifteen minutes to participate; however, like eating a bag of Lay's potato chips, once you start, I'm sure you'll want to keep going!

Click here for more info.

Lay's Potato Chips?!? Why did I mention those?? If, like me, you are trying to rid your life of unneeded calories, join me for Wednesday Weigh-ins!

Read about how to join the weigh-in
~~torture~~ FUN under my Wednesday Weigh-in tab!

And Heather is hosting a meme on her blog called Tweet and See. To participate, keep a record of the birds you see and hear during the month then record your list on your blog on the last day of the month and link in at Kingdom Arrows.

Heather and Barb, the Harmony Art Mom, are also hosting a new meme, Drawing with Children, Nature-Style. Barb has written lesson plans to accompany the book, Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks, and has made them available for free on Squidoo. I am going to use these plans with my VSL. They look great. Thanks Barb! Thanks Heather!

Happy Birding and watch out for those potato chips!
Dawn

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 20

2011-02-16T09:17:00.002-05:00

Click here to join in on the weigh-in ~~torture~~ fun!

For those of you wanting to join the weigh-in, please leave a link to your post in comments. I have not had time to find a solution for Linky this week.

Today is a day when I would like to put my hand up toward the computer screen, shake my head and say, "I don't want to talk about it."

*sigh*

However, I made a commitment to do this. To be real. To tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So here goes...

I gained 1.5 pounds this week

which lowers my weight-loss total to 25 pounds.

This is the first week I have gained in 20 weeks, and there is a simple reason why.

I did not follow my own advice. I only made it to MFP once this week and did not carry my food journal with me.

I was way too busy this week, too. In the mere seven days since I last reported, I have done the following:

Lead a monthly mom's meeting
Take Orville to the orthopedist
Attend the circus
Coordinate a Valentine's Day skating party for over 100 people
Attend a second Vday party
Lead a science fair committee meeting and finalize registration
Add a new flute student to my schedule
Assist the boys in setting up their science fair projects
Start a new blog and post 3 articles
Have an article published at MMCW
Prepare an extra-special Valentine's Day meal for my family
Tutor or teach flute every week day due to make-up lessons and rearranged schedules for all those meetings and parties!

Oh yeah...

... and there was this thing called homeschool, too. And somewhere in the midst of all that, I cleaned the house, put together curricular plans for next year, and began registration for classes my husband and I will teach next fall.

And did I mention that THERE WAS CHOCOLATE EVERYWHERE I WENT?!

Valentine's Day was much more difficult to navigate than Thanksgiving and Christmas were. All of my students gave me boxes of chocolates and they served me chocolate cake while I tutored them. When a precious child hands you a big red heart filled with chocolate goodness and tells you they love you while smiling from ear-to-ear, you just have to eat some chocolate.

I gained that weight for the cause of love.

That makes it sound much more noble, doesn't it?

*sigh*

Well anyway, today begins a new weight-loss week for me, and I am thankful for a fresh start. It is a reminder of God's grace and how totally dependent upon and indebted to Him I am. If I had to earn favor with Him, I would be doomed. However...

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,

of whom I am the foremost.

But I received mercy for this reason,

that in me, as the foremost,

Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience

as an example to those

who were to believe in him for eternal life.

To the King of ages, immortal, invisible,

the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.

Amen.

1Tim 1:15-17

How thankful I am for His perfect patience toward me, that He loves me and I have favor with Him as imperfect as I am. I can't even stick to a diet perfectly when losing weight is what I most desire for myself. My weakness causes me to stand in awe of the greatness and perfection of Christ. Only He is worthy of our praise.

So this week I will seek the grace to start anew. The house has been purged of chocolate (I let the boys eat the rest!), and I have my journal close at hand. I will be seeking extra measures of grace daily, more likely moment-by-moment, to get back on track and do what I know needs to be done.

Please pray for me this week as follows:

For perseverance. I don't want discouragement to creep in and defeat me. Pray for God's protection on my thought-life, that I won't "beat myself up" but will just get back to doing what works.
For rest. This week really was too much, and most of it was my doing, meaning there were things on my schedule that did not have to be there. We have a nice weekend planned to enjoy the Great Backyard Bird Count as a family. M has Monday off from work, and it looks like the weather is going to be lovely. I think a few slow days of bird watching will do me some real good. Pray that I will be refreshed.
For wisdom. Most weeks are not as busy as this past week; however, there are a few things on my schedule that have to go. The tutoring business is growing for both M and me, and this is something that we have a family vision for doing. We are praying about what existing commitments have to be removed to make that possible.
For a replacement. I have asked someone to serve as the support group president next year. I have served for almost 2 years and have thoroughly enjoyed it, but it seems this is one of the things that has to go for the sake of the family business. I am asking the Lord to send someone to replace me.
For good health. Strep and stomach viruses are moving through our community. Orville is in bed today sick. Pray that this will pass through our house quickly and won't keep anyone from enjoying our bird watching weekend. Pray also that fevers will break and Orville will be able to keep down some food and liquid.
For my friends. I look forward to reading their reports; however, a couple of them are going through rough patches with issues facing their families far more serious than my busy schedule and our viruses. Pray for them to receive extra measures of grace and that their faith would be increased through these circumstances.
For this blog. Though my blog may just seem like a weight-loss blog as of late, it is really about me learning to enjoy God while glorifying Him, even in the mundane, even when things don't go my way, like this week's weigh-in. I pray that all who read and participate in this meme will taste and see that the Lord is good.

Happy Healthy Living!

Dawn

Managing a Calorie Budget

2011-02-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

Mentoring Moments for Christian Women published my article on weight-loss strategies today.

You can read it here.

Thank you to Kellie and everyone at MMCW for including me in your great publication!

If you are an Olive Planter, please check out their wonderful site dedicated to mentoring and encouraging Christian women in their roles as wives and mothers.

If you are visiting from MMCW, thank you for stopping in! Please pull up a cyber chair and make yourself comfortable. I hope I will see you around often!

If you are interested in joining me for Wednesday Weigh-ins, please click here for info on how to get in on the ~~torture~~ fun!

I mean FUN!

Really, I do!

Blessings,

Dawn

I just blogged to say...

2011-02-14T09:51:00.002-05:00

On Feb. 14th each year, I turn into a sappy sentimentalist.

Nineteen years ago today, my husband, who was my guy friend whom I thought was really cool at the time, gave me two roses and an original poem. He couldn't quite get the words out as he handed me the flowers but later "just called to say 'I love you'".

He's called me just to say those three words regularly since then.

Yesterday we celebrated Valentine's Day early with our traditional steak and shrimp dinner. While we ate, we told the boys stories of our relationship and let them know how much we love each other and them. I played an old mixed tape that Michael made for me when we were courting, and we all giggled at the sound of Daddy's 20-something voice. I got teary-eyed as the young man on the tape talked about how he could love me because of God's love for us.

This morning I played my favorite love song on YouTube and danced with my two little Valentines, Orville and Wilbur. I let them know that I could love them because of God's love for us.

They laughed at Stevie Wonder's corded telephone.

Ah...isn't love grand?!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! I just blogged to say "I LOVE YOU!"

Teaching a VSL: Tip Number 2

2011-02-12T10:05:00.001-05:00

What is a VSL? That's a complicated question to answer, but here's a start: A right-brained, highly creative learner who thinks in pictures rather than words. You can read more about them here.

Usually, my VSL dreads the study of history about as much as any rational person would dread a root canal.

And his handwriting assures me that he is destined to be a doctor.

A REALLY good doctor.

While perusing the offerings of one of the vendors at GHEA's conference last year, I stumbled upon this little gem...

I was looking for resources to add more artwork into our school day. One of my VSL's more obvious traits is his need to draw or doodle. You can find his work in a variety of places around our home (including walls and furniture when he was younger; truth be known, I still have to keep an eye on him).

When I first saw Draw and Write through History, my first thought/hope was that it would motivate him to improve his handwriting. It is not a handwriting program per se; however, it includes copy work assignments. I wondered if the marriage of art and writing would help him.

In short, it has. He is beginning to see that writing is like drawing. In the same way he has to use certain strokes of the pencil to sketch a pyramid, he must use particular strokes to form letters.

Over the years, I have used a variety of handwriting programs with him, all of which teach those exact procedures. However, there is something special about VSL thinking. Step-by-step procedure often creates stress and difficulty, at least it does with my VSL. However, a creative environment decreases stress and increases productivity. The way Draw and Write through History inserts copy work between several pages of art instruction has caused something to click in his brain and his handwriting has improved more than it ever did with any procedural handwriting program. It may be that the application created a place for the previous instruction to finally click, but whatever the case, there is improvement and I give Draw and Write two big thumbs up!

The second benefit of this book is that he now has a form of communicating his history knowledge other than speaking and writing, both of which require the use of lots of words and frustrate him. He can draw intricate pictures that show me just how much he knows about a topic. He is beginning to see history as less of a chore and more of an enjoyment which has increased his desire to read more and even to try his hand at writing about history topics.

He completed the first Draw and Write book, Creation through Jonah, this week and is EXCITED to begin the second on Greeks and Romans. And he has asked me questions like...

Will I get to draw the Trojan Horse?

Do you think it will show me how to draw the Parthenon?

I really want to draw the Colosseum; will it show me how?

There is historical knowledge in that brilliant mind of his! It has been avoiding the light of day for a long time, and I am so happy to have found a resource that brings it out so readily!

Happy Teaching!
Dawn

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 19

2011-02-09T07:02:00.002-05:00

Join in on the weigh-in ~~torture~~ fun!
Click here for more info on how to participate.

I lost 1.4 pounds this week,

bringing my weight-loss total to 26.4 pounds!

I went to the doctor for an annual check-up yesterday and I weighed two pounds less than I had been registering at home.

ON A DOCTOR'S SCALE!

Seeing how losing two pounds between breakfast and lunchtime is almost impossible and my scale was registering a little bit of a gain, I realized something had to be amiss at home. It took some pondering but I finally realized that my digital scale probably needed a battery change.

I put in new batteries and VOILA!

Down went the pounds.

So my tip this week...

Make sure your scale has fresh batteries!!!

Other good news is that all my health report "numbers" were way down, if down is good, or way up, if up is good.

It was the best physical I've had in a LONG time which felt really good. I can't believe the difference 26 pounds has made, and getting a good report was a great motivator to keep losing. Good health really is my goal with this diet, and it was good to get two thumbs up from the doctor.

I really look forward to next year's report and encourage you to have a physical, too! It's another way to gauge progress, the most important progress at that.
Here are my prayer requests for the week:

Continued improvements in my health. Cholesterol, glucose, etc. are good. My vitamin D levels are much improved, too. However, I had a terrible pain flare up this week. I had difficulty walking it was so bad. I am more and more convinced that the source of my pain is not related to vitamin levels or weight.
I have an article due to be published on Mentoring Moments for Christian Women about my weight loss strategies. Pray for God's blessing.
That God would continue to shape my character through this process and help me to be an encourager and good example.
For my friends who are dieting with me. Pray specifically that they would be able to reap the rewards of consistency in their exercising. Pray that they would not be discouraged and would see small losses as victories.

Happy Healthy Living!
Dawn

I forgot to add Linky again this morning. I am not awake enough to be a good hostess at 6:30 a.m.! I just went to add a linky and learned my service now requires a paid subscription. I won't be able to provide a linky this week but am looking into alternatives and will hopefully have it up and running by next week.

Until then, please leave a link to your article in comments. Thanks! :) Dawn

How It All Began

2011-02-07T12:40:00.002-05:00

In the next few weeks (maybe months) I will be moving a lot of my bird watching content over to my new blog which I co-author with my friend Heather. It is my intention to add new content as well, in particular teaching tips.

Today I posted a new article about How It All Began. The story of how we started bird watching with the Counter-cultural School family is one that is near and dear to my heart, and I felt it was a story which needed to be told.

Heather posted a great tip on identifying birds by call. Hop on over to read it, too.

Together Heather and I are the Birding Chicks, and we have started our new blog, Birders for Life, to help other budding bird watching enthusiasts and to help our readers teach this pastime to their children as well. We have other exciting plans for the blog, too, but that will have to wait for another day....

Subscribe to our new blog
so you won't miss
any tweets or peeps!
I think you'll like what
we have up our sleeve!

Happy Birding!
Dawn

International Festival 2011

2011-02-03T07:22:00.000-05:00

Our support group hosts an international festival each year. Participating families select a country to study and create a project board about that country. We also prepare traditional food to share with each other.

Costumes are optional, but our family loves to get dressed up.

This year Orville (not pictured) dressed as a tomb raider. He wore all black and a Zorro mask. Wilbur (left) bought the King Tut headdress with money he earned from helping me make soap (his choice) from Party City. I cut a yellow twin flat sheet to make his robe. I also cut the blue sash from a flat sheet and added beads with fabric glue.

I made my Cleopatra headdress from felt and attached strands of beads with packing tape (on the inside so it's not visible). My dress and robe are my living room curtains.

Yes, you read that right.

I went all Sound-of-Music and draped my drapes around me and then pinned them in place with safety pins. And yes, I had seriously heavy amounts of make-up on.

This is our display board.

For our display, Wilbur drew the pictures of the ten plagues on the left side of the board as well as the pictures of Joseph, Moses, the pyramid, the sphinx and the sarcophagus in the middle. He also sketched the map of Egypt on the right side of the board. Orville wrote the text and colored the pictures of the Egyptian gods.

We included Psalm 135 in the top middle, an appropriate Psalm about God's sovereignty, power and covenant keeping and explaining how the false gods of the world are nothing.

Wilbur and I constructed this pyramid from foam board.

He measured three triangles of equal dimensions. I cut them out (I'm to blame for the zig-zaggy sections!) and then we taped them together with packaging tape. I mixed sand with brown tempera paint, and he applied two coats. Once dry, he painted the gold cap with yellow tempera mixed with gold glitter.

Meanwhile, Orville researched the pharaohs of the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms of Egypt and typed a short report for 5-6 Pharaohs from each period. He printed his reports along with pictures from wikipedia and glued them to the pyramid once it was dry. Each side was designated for one of the three periods.

In the above picture,
you can see the food we brought
(or at least the bowls).
That is Sweet Egyptian Couscous on the platter.
One bowl contained Chick Pea Salad and the other melon.

The boys decided to make paper clothes for two of their plush toys.
This Audubon owl is "Hoot"ankhamun.

Get it?

Tutankhamen, Hoot-ankhamun.

What a hoot!

This Webkinz cat was named in honor of
the only female pharaoh, Hatshepsut.

It was a great festival, and we had a lot of fun! We learned a lot in the process, too.

However, I am still recovering from the flurry of activity, mounds of paper scraps in the classroom and office, watermelon splatter on the kitchen floor from where I dropped a quarter of one melon and it slammed fruit side onto the floor, little trails of sand all around the dining room floor, powdered sugar fingerprints all over the kitchen cabinets and beads rolling around me everywhere I step.

Oh, and I still need to go wash and hang my curtains!

Happy Homeschooling!

Dawn

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 18

2011-02-02T07:10:00.004-05:00

Join the Wednesday weigh-in team!
Click here for details on how to participate.

This post has been edited to include Linky at the end.

My apologies to anyone
who wanted to link in and couldn't.
I must not have been fully awake
when I published this morning!!

Link away!

This week I lost 0.6 of a pound,

bringing my weight-loss total to 25 pounds exactly!

Oh yeah!

Happy Dance!

Whoop! Whoop!

Does lightly bouncing (as not to agitate sciatica) while seated in your office chair and gently waiving your arms (as not to throw out your back) count as daily exercise???

I F--I--N--A--L--L--Y made it to 25 pounds!

I am more than a third of the way to my goal weight! Can you tell I'm happy?

In fact, I am going to reward myself with a $5 present. To date, I have let the weight loss itself be the reward, but it's getting harder and I want to keep myself motivated. A bloggy friend of mine (whom I would happily credit and link to except she is remaining anonymous about her diet and I respect that) asked me how I plan to reward myself for reaching the 25 pound mark. I had not given it much thought, but after reading her suggestions, I decided a little extrinsic motivation couldn't hurt! :)

The important goals for me are 30, 40, 50 and 60 pounds, so that is when I will give myself the better rewards. Each of those amounts are significant not just because they are nice round numbers but are also milestones. When I reach each one, I will be able to say I haven't weighed this since....

So here is the reward plan....

30 pounds: a new outfit (I will probably need some new clothes by then anyway. My jeans are getting pretty baggy. After 5 more pounds, I will either have to go with the ever-popular sagging look, buy suspenders, or purchase some new pants. I think the last is the best of the three options.)
35 pounds: $5 to spend as I wish
40 pounds: $20 to spend on soap making tools
45 pounds: $5 to spend as I wish
50 pounds: something new for my kitchen (I know this is vague but I have a couple things in mind and want to take some time to decide.)
55 pounds: $5 to spend as I wish
60 pounds: a new camera

My husband told me to be careful with that last one.

We all know that the camera adds ten pounds.

Hardy, har, har....

*sigh*
How about you? How are things going? Do you have any goals you want to share or ways you plan to reward yourself?

You are in my prayers daily. Please pray for me in the following ways:

Increased and consistent motivation.
I split my workout into two sessions daily and am liking it better that way. I still need extra measures of grace in this area though. I would much rather sit and make a plan than enact it.
For the furthering of my sanctification, particularly concerning the all-or-nothing syndrome. I am learning to serve the Lord while doing things I don't enjoy with as much gladness as when I am doing things I do enjoy.
Continued relief from migraines- Both Michael and Wilbur have experienced significantly fewer headaches in the past two weeks. Praise the Lord!
For my friends who are dieting with me.
That I would glorify God and enjoy Him while dieting, exercising and publishing the results.

Happy Healthy Living!
Dawn

Tweet and See

2011-02-01T07:43:00.001-05:00

Visit Kingdom Arrows to join in on the bird watching fun!

In honor of Heather's new meme for bird watching enthusisasts like me, I have launched a new blog, Birders for Life. Hop on over to read the list of birds we identified in December and January.

We added a new bird to our life list, saw one of our favorite birds while stuck on the interstate, and spotted an uncommon bird while waiting in line at Wendy's. It was a very interesting birding month!

You can tweet and see, too. Visit Kingdom Arrows for all the details!

Happy Tweeting!
Dawn

Egyptian Recipes

2011-01-31T07:40:00.000-05:00

We participated in our support group's international festival on Saturday, and I wanted to share the recipes for the food we prepared. Our country was Egypt, and I found, through a web search, two really easy and yummy dishes.

Egyptian Sweet Couscous
Serves 12
According to My Fitness Pal, there are 189 calories per serving. It's a pretty generous serving, too.

1 box Near East original plain couscous
2 cups apple juice
1/4 cup finely chopped pistachio nuts
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
3 tbsp butter
powdered sugar
cinnamon
candy-coated almonds (optional)

Directions:

Bring apple juice to a boil. Stir in couscous. Cover and remove from heat. Allow couscous to set up for 15 minutes.
Melt butter and chop nuts while couscous sets. After 15 mins. pass, add butter and nuts to the couscous and stir thoroughly.
Scoop couscous mix onto a serving platter and dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Decorate with candy-coated almonds if desired. It can also be topped with fresh berries. Serve warm or cold.

Egyptian Chick Pea Salad
Serves 12, 210 calories per serving

2 cans chick peas (garbanzo beans) drained
2 cucumbers peeled and cubed
1/2 sweet onion finely diced
4 celery stalks finely diced
1 large tomato diced
1 cup mayonnaise (I used Blue Plate light)
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp white wine vinegar
Salt to taste

Directions:

Once vegetables are diced, place them in a bowl with the chick peas, lightly salt and gently stir until mixed thoroughly.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together the mayo, sugar and vinegar.
Spoon about half of the dressing mix onto the vegetables and stir to lightly coat. Add more dressing in one tbsp at a time until all the veggies are lightly coated. I did not use all of the dressing and put about 1/3 of it in a storage container to keep refrigerated for later use.
Cover salad and refrigerate for about one hour before serving.

This recipe originally called for an oil and vinegar dressing, but it did not taste good. I substituted the mayo-based dressing. To make this dish a little more diet-friendly, you could dress it with an oil and vinegar or other lighter dressing of your choosing.

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures. I'm still without a camera, and any photos you see on this blog have been taken by my mother who graciously emails them to me later so I can post them. I wanted to post this while the recipes where still fresh in my memory. In a few days I hope to add pictures of our costumes and projects.

Thanks, Mom, for being the official Olive Plants photographer.

Happy eating, y'all!
Dawn

Valentine's Day Soap Gift Set

2011-01-28T07:50:00.001-05:00

I have a new gift set available in my Etsy shop,

just in time for Valentine's Day.

I have arranged two luscious bars
of heart-shaped Shea butter
in a glass soap dish lined with silk rose petals.
Each bar weighs one ounce.
One is scented with Rose-Thyme fragrance oil,
the other with Wild Berry fragrance oil.

This fragrant package comes wrapped
and ready to give to the
loved one on your Valentine's list.

$6.00 each plus shipping

For those of you waiting for my cold process soap,

it is still curing and will be available in another week or two.

These soaps were made from store-bought melt-and-pour bases.

Click either of the pics to be redirected to my Etsy shop.

Thank you for your business

and

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 17

2011-01-26T07:22:00.001-05:00

This week I lost 0.2 of a pound,

bringing my weight-loss total to 24.4 pounds!

Ahh!

I'm creeping toward the 25 pound mark and really thought I would make it this week. But alas, it seems I must wait one more week. I did the best I could do and trust that God ordained this small loss. What pleases Him should not discourage me. I am thankful that two more tenths of an unneeded pound are gone.

That was a little pep talk just for me, so now here's a little tip for you....

It was a busier-than-normal-week at the Olive Plants house and finding time to exercise was a challenge. I almost gave up several times.

Rather than give it up though, I divided it up.

Usually my day starts to wind down around 7:30 p.m., meaning school work is done and graded, we have eaten and the kitchen is clean, we've finished our family worship and reading time, and things are in order for the next day. That gives me a half hour to exercise before it is time to get the boys to bed (i.e. inspect their teeth brushing job and make them rebrush four times and then clean the globs of toothpaste from the sink and walls then ~~crack the whip~~ oversee the cleaning of ~~the disaster area~~ their bedroom then answer a dozen philosophical questions, say prayers, get them ~~fifty glasses of water~~ a small glass of water and remind them fifty times that if they drink too much before bed they might float away in the middle of the night and then ~~lock them in their room with floaties nearby~~ tuck them in their beds and give hugs and kisses).

However, several once-per-month or once-in-a-blue-moon responsibilities collided into this week, and my days were not winding down until 8:30- 9 each evening. That's late for me, and I am WAY too tired to exercise then.

So, I broke my daily thirty minute session into three ten minute sessions. Finding ten minutes here and there throughout the day was doable...maybe not as effective, but better than not exercising at all. I look forward to a slower pace next week and will probably return to the old exercise routine. However, when a hectic schedule is unavoidable, I will stick to the strategy of exercising in smaller chunks.

What difficulties are you facing? Have you found any good solutions? If so, please share in comments or link in a Wednesday Weigh-in of your own. I would love to have you join me! Here's how to participate.

Please pray for me this week. Here are my requests/updates:

Michael and Wilbur have experienced less headaches this week. The one migraine Wilbur had gave me a lot of insight into what I think is causing them. I am still keeping a food journal and making some dietary changes; however, I think his main trigger is light/computer screens. Continue to pray for them.
That I will continue to make an earnest effort with a teachable spirit.
That I will continue to make baby steps and not give way to discouragement.
For my friends who are dieting with me.

Happy Healthy Living!
Dawn

Soapin' from Scratch

2011-01-22T19:17:00.000-05:00

I made my first two batches of homemade soap today, one unscented, uncolored, just plain for customers with skin sensitivities. The second is five pounds of lavender with added lavender botanicals.

I used this recipe that Kathleen sent me over a year ago. I have felt a little nervous about working with lye so I just read her tutorial over and over again while I got my feet wet with melt and pour.

Not literally, of course.

That would hurt.

I only encountered two small problems today:

It was windy outside, so when I took the lye and water out to make that solution, leaves kept blowing into it. Seeing how you have to be very careful about not breathing in that stuff or letting it splash onto your skin, it was a challenge to get the teeny little pieces of leaf residue out. I was tempted to leave them in and call them natural botanicals, but rest assured I want my customers to have only the best! I carefully spooned out all things leafy.
There was a learning curve with the mica colorant, and this was my first time to use it. I think I may have added a little more than is necessary because it took me a while to realize I needed to use the stick blender to stir it in thoroughly. My soap was brown even though I had added the correct amount and stirred and stirred and stirred...so I added, ahem, a little more. It is very purple.

Even with those glitches, I think everything went well and in a few weeks I will have new bars of soap in the shop! Exciting!

Weekly Wrap-up: Philosophizing with So-crates

2011-01-21T07:52:00.002-05:00

Visit WUHS for more wrap-up fun!

Nearly twenty years ago (can I really be old enough to start a sentence with that?), I ~~endured~~ completed my one and only college course in philosophy. I loathed that class, mostly because the professor announced on the first day that the Bible contradicts itself, anyone who believes in its inerrancy is a fool, and he intended to prove both points by the end of the semester.

Almost every time I returned to my dorm room after one of his lectures, I gave my roommate a speech of my own...

This stuff is from the pit. Why do I need to learn these people's misguided thoughts, anyway?

Well, flash forward twenty years, and here I am, a middle-aged homeschool mom, trying to get my logical, straight-shootin', black-and-white thinking son to read Plato's The Last Days of Socrates.

I tried to set the stage for reading with an attention-getting opener. We watched a family-friendly excerpt from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure on YouTube. We laughed 'til our sides hurt as Ted impresses So-crates with his philosophizing:

Dust, Wind, Dude!

I thought I had captured Orville's attention with the antics of the Excellent Adventure, and we were ready to ~~party on~~ delve into the most excellent arguments of So-crates which he delivered during his heinous trial and in the hours before his most non-triumphant death as recounted by his student, Plato. However, after a few pages, Orville sighed and yawned and lamented....

This stuff is from the pit. Why do I need to study some wrong person's thoughts anyway?

If only he had said dead dude's thoughts, then I could have fully justified my hysterical laughter.

So we plodded through the book, and I helped him grasp the high points. Most triumphant! And along the way, I learned three things (Whoa!):

The apple does not fall far from the tree. (Insert air guitar here.)
I don't enjoy philosophy any more than I did twenty years ago, even if I have matured enough to see the value in the study and try to explain its worth to my son. Bogus!
If Socrates or Plato had been a student in my classroom, he would have spent much of his days in the corner for insubordination or just plain getting on my nerves. But he probably would have liked that because it would have given him more time to think and philosophize. Most Heinous!

Can you tell this book exhausted me?

Orville too.

Well, moving on... Orville finished Singapore 6A and will start 6B next week, learned how to use a semicolon properly, finished another IEW essay, and started learning to play Psalm 1 on the piano!!!

Wilbur received an A on an IEW essay for the 1st time!!!!!! This is a HUGE accomplishment for him. He was smiling from ear to ear, and his confidence received a big boost.

He also drew the pictures below which I think, granted I am biased, are excellent!

Wilbur's drawing of Moses at the Red Sea

One of the locusts that plagued Egypt

Most excellent, if I may say so!

I am not a proud momma, am I?

Both boys worked together on a project for an international festival we will attend next week. We also read a few chapters of Revelation together and finished The Silver Chair. We will begin our reading of The Last Battle next week to coincide with our study of Revelation.

And science fair project brainstorming is underway!

Laissez les bons temps roulez! (Let the good times roll.)

Did I mention I am directing the science fair committee this year?

Hello?

What was I thinking??

Although, I would gladly teach science everyday for the rest of my life if it meant I never had to read Socrates', Plato's or any other pagan philosophizer's work again!

Except maybe Bill and Ted... nah!

Party on, Dudes!
Dawn

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 16

2011-01-19T07:37:00.001-05:00

I lost 0.8 pound,

bringing my weight-loss total to 24.2 pounds!

I am waiting with bated breath to hear your reports. I have been asking the Lord to bless your efforts all week and so hope you have good results too. Linky will follow this post if you want to join in. Instructions are here.

For this week's tip, I wanted to share a little more about how I track calories.

I start with a menu plan which includes breakfast, lunch and dinner and takes into consideration what's on each day's schedule. I don't want to plan to cook a from-scratch meal on a night that we really do need to eat at Wendy's. :)

I have been on this diet for four months now, and planning has been the hardest part. At first, I felt really unsure about how to make a dieter's menu and shopping list, something I have to do to keep grocery expenses on budget, because how would I know ahead of time if I would be able to eat enough of what I was planning to be satisfied each day? How many calories are in tater tot casserole anyway??

So I decided to do three things.

First, because I am all about baby steps, I kept our typical fare on the menu. I have found that many dishes were okay as they were but have decided to eliminate some things from our diet or serve them very infrequently. Others just needed some modifications, like adding less cheese or using fat-free chicken broth instead of regular. Little changes really do add up and have kept tofu and sprouts off the table.

No offense intended to those of you who enjoy tofu and sprouts, but I would have some really unhappy menfolk if that's what I served for dinner.

Second, I have paid careful attention to portion size. That's where My Fitness Pal has really helped. On my food page, I can type in what's on the menu (or all the ingredients if it is tater tot casserole) and it gives me a standard serving size. I have to be honest and say that measuring out portions was a pain at first; however, over time, I have learned to eyeball it.

I have to do a little guesstimating when eating a multi-ingredient dish, like tater tot casserole. (There is a way to add a dish to their database and be precise about it, but estimation has worked well for me and been less time consuming.) So I count out the number of tater tots in a serving and that gives me about a serving-size each of ground beef, soup and cheese, too.

Thirdly, each morning (if I'm doing what I'm supposed to do), I look at the menu plan for the day and plug in the main dishes for each meal first on My Fitness Pal page. Then I add in the fruits and veggies for the day. If there are enough calories remaining, I add in extras like bread with dinner or a snack or two. Which extras and snacks I select depends on how much of my calorie budget is remaining.

I don't plug my foods in throughout the day as I eat but do this all at once in the morning so I can see how my plan is going to work. If things don't add up, I can easily make changes to the plan. If I log each food after I've eaten it, then I can't take anything back. What's done is done, and I may not balance my calories well and be left hungry in the evening.

Once everything adds up, I complete my report for the day and jot down my food plan in a notebook. I could refer back to the computer but think it is easier to have it in a notebook which I can carry with me and mark off items as I eat them.

Oh! And my favorite MFP feature? After I complete my daily report, it tells me what I would weigh in five weeks if every day were like today. That is SO motivating! I love to see that number!!

So, what's working for you? Feel free to share your tips, too. And don't forget to pray!

Here are my requests:

I have experienced moderate pain this week coupled with poor sleep. The silver lining: I am seeing a correlation between poor sleep and aching. This gives me more info to share with the doctor. However, please pray for better sleep and reduced pain.
For wisdom and help as I take more baby steps in the direction of ridding our home of overly-processed, MSG-containing foods. Grocery shopping has taken twice as long for two weeks; however, no one has had a headache for a week! That's a praise which leads to...
For continued relief from migraines for Wilbur and Michael.
For more self-control and perseverance.
For my friends who are dieting with me. Please click over to their blog(s) and read their requests and pray for those who are remaining anonymous, too.

Happy Healthy Living!
Dawn

Disclosure: I have not been compensated for writing this post and linked to My Fitness Pal just because I have found it helpful and wanted to pass along the tip.

Disclaimer: I am not a health science expert. Truth be known, I'm quite the opposite. However, I am hosting this meme to encourage Christian dieters to pray for each other. Please do not expect your results to be exactly like mine or any other participant's.

Baby Steps

2011-01-17T18:45:00.000-05:00

I've mentioned before that I struggle with an all-or-nothing mentality.

I'm that way with school. At times, you can peek in our schoolroom window and find us doing 4 projects while prepping for 2 competitions while reading a lengthy book while.... At others, our heads are on our desks and we're struggling to get a few measly worksheets finished.

I'm that way with housework. You can either eat off my floors or you have to enter my house at your own risk.

I'm that way with blogging. Either I post twenty-seven times per week or there's tumbleweed rolling across my homepage.

I'm that way with most things really, but it seems I'm really that way when it comes to cooking.

I've learned over the years to keep it simple when it comes to food prep. My inner overachiever longs to put gourmet fare on the table every night, but I tell her to hush up because I know that if I get started in that direction, burn out awaits. Before too long, my from-scratch, wholesome yummy-ness will make way for convenience food.

Sorry dear ones, I don't feel like making rack of lamb, so here's a Lean Cuisine.

Over the years, I have grown to love my slow-cooker and outdoor grill because they allow me to keep things simple and healthy at the same time. And generally speaking, my keep-it-simple approach to cooking has worked. We eat a lot of home-cooked meals, fresh fruits and veggies. However, I have never taken the plunge into the world of organics and whole foods because my all-or-nothing brain has imagined that being a very complicated lifestyle.

My friend, Kathleen, wrote a good post recently about whole-food convictions that pretty much sums up what I have feared about a whole-foods lifestyle. I completely agree with what she has to say about trying to keep meals as healthy as you can as often as you can.

However, I also agree that there's nothing inherently wrong with eating a Twinkie now and again (even when trying to lose weight).

In recent months, however, both Michael and Wilbur have been suffering from migraines. Imitrex has become a staple in our home, and there is barely a week when at least one of them is not incapacitated for at least one day from a migraine.

In other words, migraines are severely effecting our quality of life.

This week I read the ingredients on everything I bought at the grocer. Specifically I am eliminating MSG for a few weeks to see if it is triggering their headaches.

That's my first baby step toward what may end up being a mostly whole-foods lifestyle.

I planned to cook a family favorite this week in which cream soup is one of the ingredients. When I read the back of the soup can, guess what was there...MSG. I was sure I wouldn't find it in anything I feed my family and was pretty shocked. I fought the urge to kick myself and instead mosied on over to the organic section. There I found another cream soup...all natural, no MSG.

I imagine many of you know how to make a homemade cream of celery soup. If so, please, do share. However, it may be a while before I try to make it from scratch myself.

I'm fighting all-or-nothing remember and I need baby steps.

Well, I bought the organic soup and feared it would taste weird and no one would eat the casserole. I even told Michael that I was making a smaller-than-normal batch so if it was awful I could throw it out, and we could have sandwiches or go to Wendy's.

I know, I know. Baby steps, remember?

The jury is in, however, and drum roll please....

Everyone liked the dish better with the organic soup!

SCORE!

I will be revisiting the organic aisle next week to find my next baby step.

But, in the meantime, do Twinkies contain MSG??? LOL!

Happy Cookin'!
Dawn

Weekly Wrap-up: Jää Jää Vauva

2011-01-14T09:57:00.002-05:00

For more weekly wrap-up fun, visit WUSH!

That's pronounced "yah, yah, wah, wah." At least that's how my high school friend from Finland told me to say it, and it's Finnish for "ice, ice baby."

Cause that's how our week started.

You probably saw ATL on the news with all the trucks sliding around the interstates like they were skating rinks. I don't live in metro Atlanta, but close enough that we had some skating rink streets, too.

Michael was home Monday and Tuesday, and given that we had the flu which developed into bronchitis for the duration of Christmas break, we decided that two days off while all members of the family were healthy wasn't such a bad idea. Plus, I wanted my kids to experience what it's like to get to miss school because of snow. That doesn't happen often in our part of the world!

We watched Prince Caspian and some Food Network shows we like. We played games, especially the new Shut the Box game that one of the boys received from his aunt and uncle for Christmas. It is such a simple but very fun and addictive game!

It finally felt like Christmas for us!

And I had just packed up the tree and decorations the day before!! lol

On Wednesday, Michael headed back to the ~~salt mines~~ ~~zoo~~ high school for work, and I cried as I waved goodbye. Then I cracked open the lesson planner to find that we were a week and half behind schedule.

When Orville broke his arm on Dec. 10th, I canceled school for the up-coming week. Then there were the snow days.... So I made some quick adjustments to my plans and ~~cracked the whip~~ rang the school bell as my darlings ~~groaned and moaned~~ whistled while they worked.

I am teaching Omnibus this semester instead of Michael and have lived to recount the first three days. Fortunately, Orville's assignment this week is Sophocles' Theban Trilogy which I actually read... 23 years ago. After laughing about how I knew these works so well because I went to high school with Sophocles, Orville and I straightened up and had productive discussions.

And I learned something, too.

I had been required to read the three plays in the wrong order. Antigone makes a lot more sense when you've previously read Oedipus the King and Oedipus at Colonus.

Michael has taken over the study of Narnia in the evenings as an exchange for Omnibus. I would rather it remain the other way around, but alas, his schedule requires otherwise. However, we have had a blast reading the Silver Chair together in the evening.

And my friend, Molly, gave me the book Roar! for Christmas. We've been using it as a fun comprehension guide and for conversation starters. We are really enjoying it, and it has added a lot to our study. Thanks, Molly!

Other than that, it's been a week of math, grammar, spelling, reading, history (we're finally finishing our unit on Ancient Egypt and planning our project for our homeschool association's international festival. Be on the lookout for an Egypt post!), and NO SCIENCE!

I decided to drop General Science. Teaching two different science curricula is just not something I can do, and I don't think GS offers enough practice work for good self-teaching. Orville was making good grades on the tests, but he could not do the hands-on unassisted. I was struggling to find time to help him, so he was just reading and taking the test, reading and taking the test. I decided it would be in his best interest, and mine, just to drop it. I am considering either teaching both boys GS next year, finding a paid class for Orville, or finding another curriculum that will fit our science needs a little better. For now, I am supervising science fair projects which is still leading hands-on, but at a much slower pace as not to drive me up a wall.

That was our week. How was yours?

Happy Schoolin'!
Dawn

Disclosure: If you click the links to Amazon.com in this post or elsewhere on my blog and make a purchase, I will receive a commission. I was not compensated for writing this post.

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 15

2011-01-12T09:26:00.007-05:00

Drum roll please....

I lost 2 pounds this week,

bringing my weight-loss total to 23.4 pounds!

It was a pretty normal week. I counted calories using My Fitness Pal. I exercised twice on The Gazelle.

She exercised on what, you ask???

THE

TONY

LITTLE

GAZELLE!

I stand on the ski-like foot-thingies and hold on to the handles and then move as fast as I can without making myself dizzy as to avoid falling off.

Because that has never happened.

Never.

I'm far too graceful to fall from an exercise machine. ;)

Really and truly, this machine has been such a blessing. I can exercise with zero impact which prevents the BIG pain episodes. (For those of you just joining in, one of my reasons for wanting to lose weight is that I suffer from chronic pain and most exercises trigger that pain.)

Which leads me to my tip for the week...find a form of exercise that you can accomplish. Be reasonable. Know your limitations.

However, don't be an excuse-maker.

If you're like me, that may take some work. You may have to try several different activities before you find a good fit.

Avoid mimicking others, too. For years I have failed at this, in large part, because I have thought I had to make myself suffer to do the dieting thing right.

No pain, no gain, right?

Well, yes and no.

I have tried getting up at 5 a.m. to start my day with a walk many, many times. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. I admire people with that kind of self-discipline.

However, my pain is worse in the mornings. It takes a regimen of stretching and easing into the day to get me going. Early morning exercise is a shock to my system that I just can't do.

So I exercise at night.

And walking...agitates my sciatica pain, sometimes so greatly that after two laps around a track, I can't perform my regular duties well.

That's no help, so I ditched the early-morning walks. In fact, I refuse to walk around the track. Period.

I also won't go near a gym because exercising in front of others causes me terrible anxiety. As a child, I had orthopedic problems, and gym class was a form of torture that created lasting emotional damage.

With these things working against me what I have done many times, which is just plain wrong, is allow these things to be the excuses for why I don't exercise at all.

It causes me too much pain.

I'll look like a dope, and people will laugh at me.

I just can't do it.

Oh well, too bad.

But look where that has gotten me...to a very unhealthy place.

A few months ago, God convicted me about these things, and I am not just exercising because I want to lose weight or look a certain way, but because I want to please God with every aspect of my life.

He has kindly provided the Tony Little Gazelle but more importantly, He has provided His grace abundantly. Apart from Him I can do nothing.

For me, exercising is an exercise in faith in which I must humble [my]self under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt [me], casting all [my] anxieties (including exercise anxiety) on him, because he cares for [me]. (1 Pet 5:6-7, changes mine)

And I'm learning that I don't have to be an athlete or walk around the track or start my day with exercise or join in on the latest-and-greatest work-out-routine.

Rather, in faith, I put one foot in front of the other and do the best that I can.

And by God's grace, it is working!

What is the Lord teaching you as you work toward a healthier lifestyle? Please link in and share. You can find the Wednesday Weigh-in Rules here. Linky will follow my prayer requests.

Here are my prayer requests for this week:

For the Lord to continue to give me a teachable spirit.
For my continued sanctification as He works on this particular area of my life.
For continued success in counting calories and exercising on the Gazelle.
For those who link in to this post and who are dieting with me anonymously.
For God to be exalted in my life and through this blog meme.

Happy Healthy Living!

Dawn

Disclosure: I was not compensated for adding in the link to Amazon.com or for blogging about the Tony Little Gazelle. I just wanted you to see what I was talking about! However, if you do click that link and buy anything from Amazon, I will receive a commission.

Disclaimer: I am not a health science expert and am only blogging about what has worked for me.

Visual-Spatial Learners: Tip Number One

2011-01-08T21:12:00.001-05:00

In 1981, Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D., coined the term visual-spatial learner (VSL) and in her book, Upside-Down Brilliance, she describes the characteristics and learning needs of VSL's.
I bought this book upon the recommendation of Barb, a.k.a. Harmony Art Mom, and have found many useful applications for one of my sons who is most definitely a VSL.

In a nut shell, VSL's are right-brained people who tend to be artistic, intuitive, musical, excellent problem solvers, and a long list of other brilliant traits. However, they do not always demonstrate their brilliance in the traditional educational setting (this includes many homeschools as well) largely because of two traits- thinking in pictures rather than words and processing information from whole to part instead of from part to whole (at least those are the two main applications I took away from my reading which have had the greatest impact on how I now teach my son).

As I read Upside Down Brilliance, I realized the concept of thinking in pictures seemed to hit the nail on the head for one of my son's biggest struggles in school, Latin vocabulary. He understood the grammar concepts- could identify parts of speech, case and declension. However, he struggled to memorize the vocabulary in every single unit. (According to the book, this is another VSL trait- being able to do higher-order work easily while struggling with rote work.)

I had tried games, relays, drills, testing, retesting... lots of interventions, lots of reteaching. But they had all dealt with words- writing words on the the board, flashcards, reciting, hangman, fill-in-the-blank...

But no pictures ANYWHERE!

And I'm just theorizing here, but I imagine he was constantly trying to translate those words into pictures but he already had words attached to those pictures- English ones. When it was time to produce the new Latin word, he pulled the picture from his mental file and there was the English word attached to it, and he had to process that before he could get to the Latin....

No wonder Latin was exhausting him to the point of tears. I'm tired just thinking about it.

So, I tried a very simple modification...

I asked him to draw pictures containing his Latin vocabulary words within the pictures themselves, like the example below.

As you can see, he did not create intricate or elaborate drawings (although as a VSL he was inclined to do so and I had to prompt him not to spend too much time on the assignment), just a simple representation of the the word which also included the word itself within the drawing, and guess what happened?

He remembered his Latin vocabulary!

That's just one way Upside-Down Brilliance has helped me as a teacher and my son as a student, and I recommend the book with one caveat.

As with most books that deal with cognitive science, there are elements of Upside-Down Brilliance that do not mesh with Christian worldview or practice. Therefore, I skipped some sections and took others with a grain of salt. However, I would not throw the baby out with the bath water here. There is some valid science within and knowing that my son sees the world in vivid pictures has helped me teach him better.

If you want to know more about teaching a VSL, you can also return to Olive Plants. I plan to share more tips soon....

Happy Teaching!

Dawn

Disclosure: I have not been compensated for writing this post. I am an affiliate for amazon.com and if you purchase Upside-Down Brilliance from the link I provided above, I will receive a commission.

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 14

2011-01-05T06:52:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm a little short on brain cells today. I caught the flu four days before Christmas and have been sick ever since. Yesterday I went to the doctor for the second time since it all started and tested negative for any strain of the flu...that's gone. Phew! However, I have developed upper respiratory infection and bronchitis.

I have many medicines flowing through me and am having a little trouble remembering English at the moment, so please forgive any typos, misspellings, ramblings....

However, for those of you with more brain cells than I me I me I...

Oh... if you have had your cup of coffee this morning, you may have noticed that my weigh-in skipped from Week 12 to Week 14.

No, I'm not superstitious, like the hotel people who refuse to have a thirteenth floor and then the buttons in the elevator count from 12 to 14.

That really annoys me.

Just thought you needed to know that.

Ahem, anyway... I missed checking in last week because I was in Tennessee celebrating a second Christmas with my husband's family and wasn't near a computer. This is my 14th week on the diet, and I wanted my entry to reflect that even though it is only my 13th entry.

Got that?

Good!

I knew you had more brain cells than me I me I...

Oh, whatever.

Here's what you really want to know....

I lost 0.8 pound

bringing my total weight loss to 21.4 pounds!

Woo Hoo!

Now, let me tell you, with that having been over a period that included travel and two Christmas celebrations, my weight went up and down, up and down, UP and DOWN. But, I got back on track on Saturday.

Which just goes to show that getting off track for a few days doesn't mean the diet has gone up in flames.

That's an all-or-nothing mentality that I wrestle with constantly. So, if you're doing this with me and the holidays got you a little off track, don't despair. I've slowed the wagon down a bit and am reaching out my hand for you. Grab hold and jump back on!

You can link up today, too. I know one of my co-dieters wants to link in, so Linky is back and you can find it after my prayer requests.

HERE ARE THE RULES:

Please add the url for your specific weigh-in post. Do not link to your blog in general. Please email me if you need help with this.
Include my Wednesday Weigh-in graphic in your post. Grab it from the top of this post.
Link back to Olive Plants. You can either link with the graphic or within the body of your post...completely up to you.
Share with your readers how much you have lost this week. Whether you share any goals or totals or more specific info is completely up to you.
Share at least one prayer request in your post, too.

Here are my requests this week:

That I will recover from bronchitis soon.
For the Lord to continue to grant me more of the fruit of self-control and to be my constant help as I diet and exercise.
Praise- my pain levels have been low for about a month. Please pray for continued relief.
For my friends who are dieting with me. Please feel free to visit the blogs of those who link in and get their specific requests, but also know that there are some who want to remain anonymous and need our prayer support, too.
For God to be glorified through this blog meme.

Here's Linky. I look forward to reading your posts!

Happy Healthy Living!
Dawn

2010 in Review

2010-12-31T12:11:00.004-05:00

If I had to sum this year up in only a few words, I would call it a roller coaster year.

The constant motion of life, jostling from peak to valley, made me feel a bit woozy at times, exhilarated at others, and occasionally a tad bit nauseated. But in the midst of life's ups and downs, our family has clung to the one constant in our lives... Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (James 1:17-18)

It was a pleasure to serve the Lord this year in my home and with this blog and a comfort to know that though life is ever-changing, God's love for His people remains unchanged. I give Him thanks for all He has done for my family in 2010 and ask you to join me on a little trip down memory lane....

In January I made sure none of my children will ever win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. I also shared a little about living in the South.

In February, we participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count. I tendered my resignation from the TOS Homeschool Crew due to the return of chronic pain and then posted several reviews to complete my Crew commitments.

In March we celebrated National Pi Day with lots of fun activities and tasty Pi(e)! One of my sons shared a little dream he has about a Yellow and Blue Kitchen, too.

April brought the Youth Birding Competition where we started out prepared to bird in the rain. However, the Lord was pleased to send the rain while we drove and stop the rain as we arrived at each birding location. I also began my series, Considering Homeschooling?.

I dedicated much of my writing time in May to journaling our homeschool journey and telling you all about Our Year with Tapestry of Grace, Our Science Choices, Writers' Workshop, and how I've Got Rhythm. Michael and I celebrated our fifteenth anniversary, too!

In June, I completed Considering Homeschooling? with a post with a weird title. We vacationed in Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, SC...a trip that was almost entirely free! (I should have written about that!) Instead, Michael and I turned our trip pictures into a photo journal which we called Summer School. I also finally finished my series on birding with children, Birding 101.

I completed the Summer School series in July and destroyed my camera during Our Day at Six Flags over Georgia.

In August, we held Wilbur's 10th birthday p-ART-y. I shared how to make the invitations, to make the cake and treats, and to prepare art-themed activites.

In September I took a little break from active blogging and shared some of my reader's favorites from the archives. I did manage to write one of Our Family Stories about a special day sixteen years ago when I found a handsome young man kneeling behind a tree.

I returned to the blogosphere in October fully refreshed and ready to lose weight! Wednesday Weigh-ins have kept me on track! Thank you for your support!! (Oh, and I took an Unintentional Horseback Ride that month, too!!!)

In November, I was Drowning in Soap while preparing to open the soap shop. I also injured myself in a way That's Just So Dawn.

The year ended with a visit from the Kingdom Arrows, our Top Ten Christmas Moments, and The Injured Party where Orville broke his arm!

On behalf of the Olive Plants family, I want to thank you for reading and invite you to join us here in 2011 for more homeschool help, bird watching tips, and funny moments. We wish you and your family a very Happy New Year!

Blessings,
Dawn

Top Ten Christmas Moments

2010-12-25T19:22:00.001-05:00

10. The boys opened game cartridges for a new Nintendo DS before receiving the game system. My parents had bought the games (and a new system) for them, and I had arranged beforehand for the games to be opened first. All the adults pretended that Nohnie had bought the games for the wrong system and that we would just have to do a return on Monday....

9. At dinner, Orville kept calling the Watergate salad, "Waldorf" salad. After being corrected for the ump-teenth time, he sighed, Well, I knew it was some hotel salad.

8. No one got run over by a reindeer.

7. We saved Buzz Lightyear by surgically removing his Radar Rash and Battered Blaster.

6. Wilbur opened the package containing his pop rifle, and we heard pop, pop, pop for the next 2 hours.

5. I got the high score on Bop-It! (Another noise that lasted for 2 hours)

4. When Orville opened his new Reformation Study Bible, Wilbur read the front cover as the Re-form-ta-tion Study Bible.

3. I got the flu....

Oh, ooops....

Wrong list. Never mind.

2. When the boys finally opened the new DS from Nohnie and Papaw, they ran around the great room yelling, "Woo Hoo! We got one! We don't have to take the games back! Nohnie didn't buy the wrong games! You all are tricky!!"

1. It snowed in Georgia!!!

Merry Christmas!
Dawn