NOTHING BETTER

"Hugs can do great amounts of good, especially for children." Princess Diana

There's nothing better than cuddling my daughters...

THOMAS JEFFERSON MADE ME DO IT!

I am often asked why Scott and I decided to home school our daughters. Well, the answer is because of Thomas Jefferson (and Oliver DeMille).

Where do I begin? Key Lime Pie and Kotten Kandy had been begging me to home school them for about a year. I kept telling them that I didn't think I could do it. Then, last December, I read this incredible book. It was life changing.

As I read this book, it was like someone had turned on the lights and I could finally see my kids' education AND my own clearly. I had felt there was something wrong with the current education system for some time, but it was difficult for me to put a finger on what it was. Everyone seems to point blame in different directions and at the end of the day nothing has been resolved. All we do is throw more tax money at a problem we can't define.

This book finally explains where the breakdown occurred and continues to occur. It gives SOLUTIONS! Basically, DeMille challenges us as parents to study the classics and then encourage our children to do so as well. He suggests that the parent/child relationship should be one of mentor/student.

The Thomas Jefferson approach to learning resonated with me. It was because of this book that I thought we could actually go ahead and home school our daughters this year. It has been a wonderful experience for us. I've based most of our curriculum on classic literature. It has been exciting to watch our children respond and get excited about learning.

Key Lime Pie and Kotten Kandy are self-motivated with their education and they enjoy learning. Because of this book, Scott and I are more sensitive to their needs and better able to facilitate their growth. We understand better how to guide them with patience and wisdom.

YOUNG WOMEN IN EXCELLENCE

Key Lime Pie is truly an amazing Young Woman! She is only 13 years old and has already finished five projects (out of eight) of the Personal Progress program. She is in progress with the remaining three. She scrapbooked each project and was able to display her talents and accomplishments for Young Women in Excellence this evening.There are some things every young woman needs.
#1 GOOD FRIENDS! Applesauce is one of Key Lime Pie's best friends in Kentucky! We are so glad she is in our lives!
Good friends are friends who make you a better person. And these young women do! From left to right: Applesauce, Nettie, Key Lime Pie, and Maple Syrup. #2 ROLE MODEL
Nettie is an amazing Young Woman. She is a senior in high school and will be leaving for college soon... but my daughter looks up to her sooooo much! I'm glad! I couldn't pick a better role model for her to emulate!#3 GREAT LEADERS
Roxy Shiffer and Karen Dupre are AMAZING leaders! Key Lime Pie loves them!#4 GOALS!
We loved this quote next to the temple: "If this is not your castle, then you are not my prince!" The temple is an important goal in Key Lime Pie's life! She has such a fabulous testimony of the gospel! We are blessed to have her in our life!

Tonight was wonderful. I'm grateful for the Young Women's program! I'm grateful Key Lime Pie has such great opportunities!

FINISHED

My novel is written! I completed my 50K words last night. It was not easy. There were times when I felt that the best part of my novel was the page numbering.

I have a new found appreciation for novelists now. As I walked through the book section of our local Walmart yesterday, I realized the time, blood, sweat, and tears that went into each of those books.

I really like what John Steinbeck said of writing, "The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business."

I don't think I'll be writing another novel any time soon.... But my youngest daughter will probably be a famous novelist one day! I'll appreciate it all the more... and get autographed copies of her books.

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is finished in five more days... Once I finish my 50,000 words I'll post again. Sorry for the delay! :-)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! We are truly grateful for so much!

NO TIME TO BLOG

No time to blog this week... we are in the middle of NaNoWriMo. Here is a SHORT excerpt from my novel:

Chandra was keeping watch as her sister slept. The moon was full and the sky was clear. Chandra could hear her black wolf wail from a distance. Everywhere she looked, she saw more deserted wasteland. She was tired of the dry, flat moorland. She longed to see rivers, and trees, and mountains, and hills.

In the distance Chandra saw something moving towards their camp. It seemed far away, but was moving quickly. It looked like a rider on a horse, but as the creature got nearer, she knew it was not human or a horse. Her pulse began to race, as she detected something unnatural about the beast. She instinctively reached for her dagger as she moved closer to her sister.

Lupita woke up feeling uneasy. When she noticed her sister’s tense posture, she knew something was wrong. She reached for her bow and stood to look in the direction her sister faced. She couldn’t believe her eyes. A colossal scorpion was heading for them. The scorpion’s blood-red eyes had murder in them. It’s giant pinchers were clacking as they reached out towards the twins. Chandra hacked at the claws with her dagger, but the scorpion was too quick for her.
Lupita loaded an arrow into her bow and aimed for the demon’s heart, but the outer shell of the scorpion protected it against the sharp metal arrow. The venomous stinger lunged towards Lupita, but she narrowly jumped out of the way. Her only option was to call the wolves. She wailed in the wolven language she had been practicing. The wolves answered but the distance seemed insurmountable. She was sure they would both be dead before the wolves could help. She howled again as she dodged a second attack from the gigantic tail. Chandra was busy hacking at the monstrous pincers.

“Watch out!” Chandra cried as the scorpion turned it’s pincers towards Lupita. Chandra whacked at the tail before jumping out of the way of a deadly sting. As Lupita twirled her body to avoid the claws, she saw two boys running across the barren expanse. Their speed was astonishing. When they reached the battle scene with the scorpion, they began to help the twins fight the beast. The dark-haired youth managed to jump up on the abdomen of the monster and began to blind it with a wooden stick. While the creature was struggling to rid itself
of the rider, the blonde young man began to hack at the pincers with Chandra. Lupita grabbed one of her arrows and pushed it as hard as she could into the heart of the scorpion. The beast began to convulse, throwing the black haired boy off. It shook for a few minutes as the four youth watched. And finally the scorpion fell deathly still.

TO DO LISTS

To Do Lists really work around our house. I love them and my daughters love them. They keep us focused on what we are supposed to be doing for school and for homemaking. The other day both daughters claimed that they LOVED making their daily To Do Lists because they get so much more done when they do!

Every morning we write out two lists. One is a To Do List - Have To Do and the other list is a To Do List - For Fun. The rule we have is that in order to do anything on the second list the first list has to be done. It works for us!

Here are a few tricks we have learned:
1. Everyone makes their own To Do List. Ownership of the tasks is half the battle in our house.
2. Be specific with your To Do List. We achieve more that way. We try to make our To Do Lists achievable so we break down our goals into smaller steps.
3. Having two lists helps us to PRIORITIZE. :-)
4. Be flexible. If we don't accomplish everything on our lists at the end of the day, we don't beat ourselves up. We just write it down for the following day, until it is crossed out.

We have found that making our To Do Lists helps us to be more focused! What works for you?