WooHoo: it's out!

Please celebrate with me .... Margot, my publisher at Hillside Education, just posted that my book, In His Image: Nurturing Creativity in the Heart of Your Home is available for pre-order (with a shipping date of June 15th). If you get a chance to read a copy, please let me know what you think. And my good friend over at 4real, Elizabeth Foss, kindly wrote the foreword for me!

Enjoy!

Field Trip: Bluebells in Virginia!

Well, we've finally seen them .... after years of reading on the 4real forum about Virginia's bluebells and the families' annual outings to spot, draw and play amidst and among this humble but GORGEOUS flowering plant ... we've finally seen them. Bull Run Regional Park was rife with fields like these, spotted through the trees, amidst the marshy conditions throughout this natural setting. Bluebells, a perennial, herald spring around here like the Cherry Blossoms showering down pink blossoms on our windy days.So, admist the muddy conditions and the slight chill in the air, we (the littles and me and four other families) did some nature studying:
deer track spotted by the bank of the creek (also saw raccoon tracks, but those were obliterated pretty quickly by the little ones being so excited about knowing the tracks!)frog caught by the bank (sorry for the blurriness -- we were all moving at once!)
and lots of playing on, in and around this lovely spot!

Yep, it was muddy ... yep it was cold ... yep it was messy ... but we all had a great time ... chatting ... posing posing some more ...
eating
smiling ...
smiling some more ...and smiling more...
and STILL smiling towards the end of our stay!

we came home exhausted but exhiliarated and just a little awed at God's creative gifts given freely to us all.

For those who don't have these lovely, delicate blue and purple and periwinkle colored flowers in their area ... here's an image from the USDA plant site that you can print out and color ....

Simple Craft-of-the-Week: Crayon Cookies

Sarah over at Plainsong is continuing the "simple craft-a-week club" through this year. We still have lots of spots open if you'd like to volunteer.

I have this week's craft, so here goes:

Crayon Cookies

This is a really easy craft -- one many of you may have done before -- but we'd never done it and since I wanted to have the kiddoes make some posters this week anyway, I thought it was a great time to do this. Also, since we're in the second half of the year, all those new and whole crayons have been relegated to the crayon "bin" -- just one step above the trash!

You'll need old crayons, an old muffin tin, and an oven/toaster oven.

Break the crayons into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces -- we used a bin filled with old, mismatched crayons, many of which were already all broken up. Remove any paper or other labels from the crayons.

The 3 kids and I each did 3 cups of crayons -- some did their favorite team colors (Clemson - orange and dark blue, Broncos - orange, blue and white), some did it in their favorite shades (greens or red/pink) and some just did jumbled colors. This is a great chance to discuss color theory, primaries and secondary colors, etc.

Bake in an oven set to 170 for about 20-30 minutes. Ours took awhile becuase we had to keep opening the oven (the light wasn't working) to check if they were all melted yet!

Once all the crayons are melted remove pan to cooling rack.

Let cool completely -- about 2 hours. When the "cookies" are completely cool, they will slide right out of the cupcake tin!

Have fun with the crayons -- you can use them to make posters or just fun designs ... we're putting them back in the container the "old" crayons were in so that we can find them easily whenever we want to color fun pictures!

Apples: Loveliness Fair

Kristie from Canada has just posted her Loveliness of Apples Fair with excellent links to apple studies throughout the blogosphere including mention of our two posts on books and apple dolls) ....

We love apples around here and love this time of year when the air is crisp, cold enough to snuggle inside at times, and just generally a family-inspired time.

THANKS so much to Kristie for doing a wonderful fair about the lowly apple!

Reflection: "The Pen (or keyboard) ...

... is mightier than the sword" is a quote from Edward Bulwer-Lytton from his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy. The play includes the following lines given to Richelieu in Act II, scene II,:

True, This! —Beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword. Behold the arch-enchanters wand! — itself a nothing! — But taking sorcery from the master-hand to paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike the loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —States can be saved without it!

This is no better exhibited than in the recent happenings on the 4real board and members' blogs. We forget that the written word is a permanent landmark -- a stake in the ground where we state something and we can't erase it, no matter how hard we try to delete or re-state.

I was a print journalism major in undergrad. This means that I studied all about writing and publishing and editing. Yet, nowhere in my 4 years of undergraduate work, nor in my subsequent experience as a free-lance writer, published author or blog poster, was it EVER brought home to me how the printed word can destroy a person's character, slam a person's reputation or sway a group of people toward one faction or another.

I'm very well-educated and extremely well book-read. I have a graduate degree, have climbed the corporate ladder and spoken before various groups of folks. Yet, nowhere in this practical education did I ever realize the strength or permanency of ANY written word.

The adage among lawyers -- "NEVER put anything in writing" -- is as true today as when it was originally mentioned (probably two thousand years ago -- Pontius Pilate probably will forever regret the scriptures and their quotes of him!).

Words can crush a person -- or build them up; and tomorrow you can change your side. But if those same words are put in print -- it is permanent. Newspapers, magazines and book publishers have known this reality since Gutenberg -- that's why you pay more for the print version than the broadcasted news!

Sometimes the written word scares me. The written word can seal someone's execution or guarantee someone's pardon. And it is set. You can't take back the written word -- like you can a conversation between folks or even a public speech.

The 4real Catholic homeschool community -- of which I am a very active member -- is being torn apart by the written word.

And my prayer tonight is that I remember, from here on out, that the written word is not a tool to be taken lightly, to be used flippantly, to be casually tossed about. The written word is a sword than can pierce .... because I have seen the blood.

It's 4real -- A Loving Online Community

About two years ago, I wrote a blog post about the wonderful community I stumbled into when I joined 4real forum back in 2005. My sister had just been in a horrible accident and I went online to ask for prayers -- and, in addition to prayers, I got an outpouring of love, concern and offers of help from folks across the country and across the world. People whom I'd never met in real life ("IRL" as the techies say) were offering to help my mom get down to my sister's hospital bedside, were re-arranging their lives to accommodate mine, and just generally being there for me. It was amazing.

The reason for this post today is that one of the 4realers just posted a thank you to all of us 4realers for our generosity, comraderie, advice and sharing. In other words -- two years later, with phenomenal growth in our ranks, 4real is still FOR REAL -- it's still a wonderful community of like-minded folk who may fuss at each other but who would give each other the shirt off their back.

So, altho I get a bit of a hard time from some of my family members -- I LOVE 4real and the community of which I'm part! And THANK YOU to all my 4real friends .... you really have made me a better person.

We're back ...

... and in living color: Could we be smiling any wider?

We had a wonderful time visiting dear family members Ben and Noah at Fickle Creek Farm in the Piedmont of NC, dear friends at Holden Beach way down at the opposite end of NC, dear wonderful Catholic friends and homeschoolers from the Upstate of SC (yes, there are a FEW in the State and the ones we love we dearly miss but were able to catch up with a few of them), and of course THE WEDDING of the year (dh's neice got married in the Clemson, SC area).

We also headed down to Atlanta to see more family (including Kotch who will be back here in July) and then on to the Dominican Motherhouse in Nashville to see our dear friend, Sr. Mary Sarah and meet some more wonderful Dominican sisters.

It was ALOT of driving (dh did it all and I kept him awake while knitting up a storm) but good to see the family and friends we left a year ago. Unfortunately we didn't get back to the Front Range in time to attend the RMCHEC ... and missed seeing/meeting our 4real friends ... but overall, the road trip was deemed a HUGE success (and granmere even treated for dinner last night so we didn't need to cook!).

So, did you miss us?

Thinking Blogger Awards

Leonie, the unschooler extraordinaire and owner of Living Without School, tagged me for the Thinking Blog Award:

I love reading Leonie's blog -- it's always interesting and often makes me think, smile, and most importantly makes me want to do more unschooling with my own kids. Not only all that, but her blog makes me wish she weren't down-under but rather, down the street so I could go have coffee/tea with her on a daily basis. Now, that's a great blog!

So what does one do with a Thinking Blogger's Award?Well, if you get tagged with a Thinking Blogger Award, you are then supposed to do the following:

1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

So here's my list of Thinking Blogs:

1. Kathryn's The Bookworm always has great links to home educating, CM, living books, and just generally sensational insights into how to live, love and learn the little (and the big) ones!
2. Jenn's As Cozy as Spring is just a joy to read -- we're very sympatico! Altho, she does much more nature study than I (but she makes it sound so wonderful, that I'm getting closer to taking the leap)! Her thoughts are truly a joy to read and motivate me so much.
3. Cay's Cajun Cottage under the Oaks always has me running to my library web-site to request books, books and more books. Her philosophy of home-learning is exceptional and I love the way she incorporates her kids into her blog -- discussing how and why and when she does what she does. Plus, I'm learning so much about cajun culture which is extremely important as my eldest heads off into the sunrise in early June to attend LSU!
4. Alicia's Studeo: My Thinking Spot is another daily stop on my blog rounds. Alicia has a way of getting to the heart of the issues and writes so well. And her grasp of catechesis keeps me on my toes! Check out her other blog (of which I am fortunate to be a part), Love2Learn.
5. And last, but most certainly NOT least, is one of my favorite blogs .... and a relative newcomer to the blogosphere ... MaryM's Our Domestic Church goes into great detail abut all things Catholic -- living the liturgical year, growing up kids in the faith, and living/loving/and learning in the heart of the home.... I just wish she would write more...

There are SO MANY OTHERS that I could tag, but these are five of my absolute favorites .... enjoy visiting them and let me know if you agree ....

Homeschool Blogger Awards

Here's the link to the list of all those who won awards -- many of these blogs are 4Realers, so it's quite fun that they won ....

But there are MANY blogs out there that didn't win or weren't nominated, but are still great fun (and VERY HELPFUL) to go check out. Thanks to Susan at 4Real, I've got a 4 Real Learning Blog-roll on my left side bar as well as the Blog Ring .... so grab a cup of coffee or tea and go read some wonderful thoughts, hopes, prayers and advice!

Catholic Cookbooks

We've been talking on 4real about Catholic Cookbooks. Here's the list of highly recommended selections:

• The Convent Cook: Divine Meals for Families Large and Small by Maria Tisdall
• Cooking with the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf
• A Continual Feast: A Cookbook to Celebrate the Joys of Family and Faith Throughout the Christian Year by Evelyn Birge Vitz
• Building the Family Cookbook by Suzanne Fowler
• Book of Feasts and Seasons by Joanna Bogle

If you have any suggestions for Catholic Cookbooks, please leave comments. I love merging cooking math + liturgical year + dinner all into one activity -- now that's living, loving and learning in the HOME!

Easter Week Fun: Sugared Easter Eggs

One of the really cool things about Easter is that the "day" last 8 days! God changes the calendar and creates 8 days from the one single end of Jesus' resurrection. So, we Catholics should really be partying and celebrating this whole week in honor of Jesus.

Well, thanks to MaryM., we also got to try a new craft this week: sugared eggs. Basically, you make a sugar/water/meringue powder egg (using a mold) with the "shell" cut lengthwise. This egg looks like a styrofoam egg but it very strong. The inside is hollow and you make a scene to go in it. When the M's did it before, they used marzipan for the inside figures; we opted for Sculpey as it's so easy to mold and holds up well.

Please NOTE: these eggs are NOT edible. When you're making the icing "glue", that's edible (altho a little too sweet to be palatable to us older folks); once the egg has hardened, it is just for decoration!

Here are photos of the scenes at my house yesterday as we got busy, making these beautiful long-lasting treasures:

Below we have the finished interior scenes (from upper left to lower right): empty tomb, bunny family, crown of thorns, Peter Rabbit grabbing carrots (and ignoring the jelly beans!)

Pretty cool, huh?

What is Harper Collins Thinking?

Or maybe they're not and that's the point. Fellow 4realer and author, Melissa Wiley explains on her blog about the changes to the Little House books and her prequels. Sounds goofy doesn't it? Why would they mess with a good thing? What's the point?

Well, I thought they were a bit short-sighted when they didn't jump at my idea for a Knitting the Little House book; but, here they're taking a proven success and denuding it! Why?

Anyway, my suggestion dear reader is to run, don't walk, to order Melissa's versions before they're revised. And if you order three, you can get the fourth free! Don't let these books get away, they are great additions to the Little House panoply of wonderful living books!

Martha Years (Laura's great-grandmother):
• Little House in the Highlands
• The Far Side of the Loch
• Down to the Bonny Glen
• Beyond the Heather Hills

Charlotte Years (Laura's grandmother):
• Little House by Boston Bay
• On Tide Mill Lane
• The Road from Roxbury
• Across the Puddingstone Dam

Housekeeping (don't laugh) meme

OK, so Leonie tags me -- with my first ever meme -- and it's for HOUSEKEEPING! I finally broke down and scrubbed the kitchen floor (on my hands and knees no less) on Saturday and made the kids PROMISE not to go in there till Daddy saw (and was sufficiently proud of me).

So anyway, thanks to Leonie, here we go:

Aprons – Y/N?
I'm with Leonie -- I have a few hanging available in the kitchen (and tons of sewing patterns upstairs if anyone wants them), but I never put them on. When I cook with the kids, I always make them wear 'em, but never do myself ... unless it's REALLY messy/greasy or I want to get a rise out of dh.

Baking – Favorite thing to bake:
I love to bake ooey-gooey things for the kids, but don't really care for them myself; love to bake bread -- that's a fun, agression-releasing activity with the kids altho I often have to fight them off so that I can do all the kneading!

Clothesline – Y/N?
Yeah, right -- why would I have a dryer?

Donuts – Have you ever made them?
Nope -- it's so much easier to head to Safeway and buy 14 = dozen.

Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day:
LAUNDRY and it truly is the bane of my existence. Nothing irritates me more than having just finished the two daily loads and then the kids come and bring something they "forgot" to put in the laundry but need tomorrow.....

Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze?
We used to but we don't now; I wish I did though as they really are useful!

Garbage Disposal – Y/N?
Yep, and love it -- much better than that biodegradeable stuff rotting in the garbage!

Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource?
I reallly like Martha Stewart's new one -- Homekeeping Handbook -- is great but I (honestly now) don't reference it that much.

Ironing – Love it or hate it?
It can be quite relaxing to iron, but I'm usually doing it 10 minutes before needing the item, so it's not as relaxing as it could be!

Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it?
We have so little drawer space in the kitchen that our junk "drawer" is actually in the big hall closet/pantry.

Kitchen: Design & Decorating?
We just moved in in August, and the kitchen is currently a long narrow galley style kitchen with goldy yellow walls and pale laminated cabinets; we're hoping to increase cabinet and counter space this summer (when dh is off school).

Love: What is your favorite part of homemaking?
The best part is having folks notice that I've done SOMETHING, ANYTHING!

Mop - Y/N?
Yes, but prefer to get down on my hands and knees and scrub -- I KNOW it's clean then!

Nylons - Wash by hand or in the washing machine?
Duh, washing machine of course

Oven - Do you use the window, or open the door to check?
I didn't realize how dirty the oven "window" was until I self-cleaned it about 2 months ago -- but I got so in the habit of opening and checking that I rarely use the window.

Pizza - What do you put on yours?
Lots of cheese (sorry Leonie!) and pineapple.

Quiet - What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
Read. Go on the internet. Knit if possible.

Recipe card box - Y/N?
No. But I do have lots of bits of paper in various folders and as bookmarks in cookbooks; altho, honestly the best place to go for recipes is Cooks.com or for Liturgical Year cooking ideas a great starting place is Catholic Culture.

Style of house -
4bed/2bath duplex that is a renovated old officer's quarters. We love the hardwood floors and thick walls of this military housing from the 1950s!

Tablecloths and napkins - Y/N?
Rarely but we do use placemats and cloth napkins for a, company or b, we ran out of paper!

Under the kitchen sink - Organized or toxic wasteland?S
More semi - than organized.

Vacuum - How many times per week?
We mop more or sweep cuz most of the house is hardwood, tile or lino.

X’s - Do you keep a daily list of things to do and cross them off?
In my mind but rarely on paper, unless I'm feeling particularly swamped!

Yard - Who does what?
Dh and String Bean love to plant and putter; Brikhead is teaching LegoManiac how to use the pushmower and the leafblower; I just enjoy going out to see it and make suggestions...

Zzz’s - What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?Clear up and rinse the last few dishes, load the soap and run the dishwasher. Pickup the living room if I'm feeling particularly energetic. Check email just before heading up.

I tag: MaryM at Our Domestic Church!

Colors in the Home

Molly on 4Real asked about colors in the home -- that is, on your walls.

Well, I had mentioned that we moved into our house and the walls were already painted, lots of colors that I would NEVER have used. As we've been in here 6 months now, and we've put up our cherished pictures, I've come to realize that although I would never have thought to use these colors, they work with what we have and like....

See for yourself:

This is the paint in the master -- note that the two walls are actually different shades of red-burgundy!Boys' room is actually a bit deeper blue-green than this picture shows, but the team banners sure look like they were made to go in this room. (BTW, we're NOT Dodger fans; it is from the game they went to against the Rockies).Here's the girls' room -- StringBean's "Cinderella" print looks great on these darker blue walls!Here's the upstairs bath, with its pale lilac walls and purple stencilling. The tile and all fixtures are white.The bath downstairs is a rusty orange tone -- and note that the ceiling is the same color. The tile and all fixtures are white. This is the only room we haven't found something to hang up -- the color is a bit odd.

The living room is a green that is somewhere between the two green panels on the knitted wall-hanging (the camera had a hard time picking up the shade of green). But if you'll notice the wall-hanging and the Guadalupe print are complementary shades of green.This is the dining room. My camera just can't get the color right -- a cross between mustard yellow and brownish gold. But our icons look great on this wall! Burgundy goes well with this color too, so our table runner and candles are burgundy.

So, there you have it -- color that seems odd, but works!