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Archive for August, 2011

My Little Secret

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , on August 25, 2011 | 8 Comments »

Every once in a while, someone will ask me how I can stand to be around five children all day, everyday. I know that the fact that I believe it is important and valuable work makes a big difference in my attitude, and that teaching (or at least trying to teach!) my children to be cheerful and obedient makes them a lot nicer to be around. But there is one very simple and practical secret that helps me to get through even the most exhausting days, and I lovingly refer to it as quiet time.

Quiet time in my home means one hour of silence. It is in the afternoon while the youngest children are having their nap. The older children, who no longer nap, all go to separate rooms or areas of the house and amuse themselves quietly for one hour. They may read, draw, do a puzzle, build with lego etc. The important thing is that the activity is quiet.

During that hour I recharge by taking a nap (if I am getting up in the night with babies or pregnant) or relaxing with a book and a cup of tea. I may also use that time to tidy the house, write a blog post, prepare dinner or anything else that needs doing. There is nothing like a house full of children to make you appreciate quiet!

Another important survival technique for me is a regular bedtime for the children. Again it gives me some quiet as well as some time for my husband and I to hang out and visit uninterrupted. Our children are all in their rooms by 8 pm and that gives us two hours of adult time each evening.

We have some good friends whose homeschooled children always were in their rooms by 8, even as teens. They could finish up lessons, listen to music quietly or read until bed time, but it was good for this couples marriage and I am thankful for their example.

So there you have it, Rachel’s secret on how to survive and thrive with a house full of kids! :)

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A Little Joy for the Journey

Posted in Family, Life, tagged , , , , , , on August 19, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Today I took my little ones on a berry picking expedition. The little blueberry patch is not far from our house, but it takes about 15 minutes when I slow my steps to match my 2 year old’s pace. As we walk, William’s tiny little fist enclosed in my own, I think back 4 years to when Ethan and Owen were this age. At that point in my life, I hadn’t yet learned to slow my steps and enjoy the journey. I would feel frustrated that every walk that we went on was interrupted again and again as the twins discovered another rock, pine cone or stick. Why did it take me so long to learn to enjoy the discovery and wonder of it all? Why did I always feel so rushed to reach the destination?

William finds a small saskatoon bush with heavy, ripe berries hanging from it’s branches. We stop to pick the berries and drop them in his little bucket. I know he is proud to have the bottom of his bucket covered. I am surprised that he doesn’t eat them right away. We walk on; the terrain is rough and the little bucket bounces wildly. William notices as his last berry leaps from his bucket. “Berries all gone!” he tells me, distress raising his voice.

“It’s all right,” I tell him soothingly as I pick up the single berry and drop it in his bucket, “We’ll find more.” We stop at the next bush and replenish the little pail. As we walk on I carefully watch his bucket and the berries arrive safely at the blueberry patch.

I tell William that he can eat the berries from his own bucket, but not from Mommy’s. We all spread out and pick and eat berries to our hearts content. The children bring their small buckets and dump them into my large one. Even William dumps a berry or two into the main bucket and we all praise him profusely, telling him what a big helper he is. After a little while everyone is tired and we stop for some juice and a snack before heading home.

As we walk home I think of how glad I am that I have learned to enjoy the journey, but I realize that there is another lesson that I want to learn; I want to play with my children more. I know in theory how important it is to play together, have fun together, but I’m always trying to accomplish something and playing doesn’t seem to be accomplishing anything. Yes, I’m focused on the destination again aren’t I?

I’m thankful for the new life growing in me and for the new opportunity to learn to slow down and enjoy each moment that God gives.

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Facing My Phobias

Posted in Life, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 17, 2011 | 6 Comments »

I’ve been doing a little research on phobias and it has been quite interesting and sometimes even amusing! A phobia is an intense and unrealistic fear of simple things. I found out that there is even a name for a fear of phobias: phobophobia!


I actually have a couple phobias of my own and thought it was time to come clean. I…(sigh) have a telephone phobia. Now that sounds like I’m afraid of phones, but it’s actually a fear of phoning people. If I have ever phoned you, then know that I have procrastinated for days and that as I punched in your number, my stomach was churning. I know it’s weird, but phobias aren’t known for being logical!

My other phobia is driving. I think that this stems back from some recurring nightmares that I had as a child. I would dream that my brother, sister and I were in our little green car on the steep hill by my grandparents place. The car would start to roll backwards down the hill, gaining momentum every second. I needed to stop the car, but I never did. Obviously the dream reflects how out of control my life felt at the time.

I’ve been pushing myself to drive more frequently, but a simple trip to towns feel like a life or death situation. When you come back from a shopping trip you might think, “Great, the shopping’s done!” while my thoughts are, “Wow, I didn’t die!”


I have found that if I don’t push myself to confront my phobias then I never move past them and they hang over my life like a dark cloud. I have been forcing myself to make phone calls and to drive. I don’t want to live in fear anymore.

So why am I baring my soul and sharing my fears publicly? I feel that when we hide our fears they have power over us, but when we bring them into the open, into the light then much of the fear can be dispelled. And who knows, maybe as I share my own struggles to overcome my fear others will be encouraged to face their own phobias.

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Double Chocolate Cookies

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on August 12, 2011 | 5 Comments »

It’s no secret that I’m crazy about chocolate (Don’t Touch My Chocolate!) and regular chocolate chip cookies were just not going to cut it, so I did a search on Double Chocolate Cookies and did I ever find a winner. I’m going to post the recipe here so I don’t lose it and so you can make me some for my birthday! (Which is in 11 months and 1 day, but who’s counting?) ;)

Double Chocolate Cookies

1 c. butter or stick margarine
1½ c. white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
2/3 c. cocoa
¾ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream butter and sugar and add eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and add to butter mixture. (I always cheat here and mix my dry ingredients together on top of the wet before stirring together. I’m not a fan of dirtying unnesassary dishes, but I’m putting in the proper instructions in case you are. :) ) Stir in chocolate chips and drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes until just set and allow to cool slightly on sheets before transferring to racks to cool.

I substituted butterscotch chips for a ¼ of the chocolate chips because I thought it would look nice. But I think white chocolate chunks would look even better. I also quadrupled the recipe because I quadruple every recipe and ended up with 19 dozen cookies! It’s a good thing they taste so good, (or maybe that’s a bad thing!) Anyway, the recipe should yield 4-5 dozen amazingly soft, chewy and decadent cookies. Enjoy!

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Rejoice With Us!

Posted in Family, Life, tagged , , , , on August 10, 2011 | 11 Comments »

I am so very happy to share the news that we have another sweet babe on the way! If you know me well, you know that I adore children and having a baby in the home is one of the sweetest joys there is for me.

Just the other day, I got to hold not one, but two dear little babies! The first was a one week old tiny baby boy. I actually forgot how tiny newborns are. Tears came to my eyes as I held this little miracle and wondered at the amazing gift of life.

Less than an hour later we visited another beautiful family with six children here and one dear little boy in heaven. Their newest little treasure is only 2 and a half months old. She has lovely plump cheeks and big beautiful eyes. It was so sweet to see the adoration that all her brothers and sisters have for her.

The oldest daughter is 16 and is working full time for the summer. She entertained the little ones (including my own) and seemed to glow while cuddling and feeding her baby sister.

“Do you enjoy being the oldest in a big family?” I asked her.

“I love it!” she declared emphatically, and I could tell that she did.

There was a reason that God put these families in my path just now. He wants me to treasure the little miracle that I carry, and to remember that each baby is a gift of love from His hands.

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A Passion For Words

Posted in Life, tagged , , on August 5, 2011 | 6 Comments »

I learned to read when I was six and at the point a whole new world opened up before me. I remember driving through town and there were words everywhere! Signs that never had my attention before drew my eyes like magnets. I couldn’t help but read the words all around me. I was dizzy with excitement.

I was given The Secret Garden and Little Pilgrim’s Progress and I experienced adventures that I never could have dreamed of. Words were at times relaxing and calming and at other times had the power to invigorate and energize. Characters in books became friends. I rejoiced in their successes, mourned in their losses and learned from their mistakes.

I love it when a new word is brought into my life, a word that I have never heard, or at least never noticed before. And as a rose is more beautiful for the combination of name, aroma and aesthetics, so a word can be enjoyed visually, audibly and in meaning combined.

Sometimes a word will bump around in my mind for weeks and even months. I picture it in my mind, I say it my mind, I think about the meaning and I find it almost as satisfying as savouring chocolate! I want to share with you two words that have been on my mind lately: quintessence and succinctly.

Quintessence

This word is very new to me and I am really fascinated by it. Any word that starts with a Q is already unique. It is both exotic and smooth. Quintessence means the purest essence of something or the most typical example. Isn’t it lovely? I first read it in a magazine a couple of months ago and then I’ve been seeing and hearing it ever since.

Succinctly

Succinctly means to be characterized by clear, precise expression in few words. It even sounds to the point! This isn’t a new word to me, but it is one that I have been pondering lately.

As I write this I realize that the reason that these words have taken on new significance for me is that I desire my writing to be exemplified by these words. I desire that what I write here would be pure in essence and true to my life and that I not waste words, but use them wisely. I desire to encourage, uplift and bless others and to glorify God. That’s why I’m here.

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Review Time and Amazon Gift Certificate Giveaway

Posted in Giveaways, Homeschooling, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 1, 2011 | 203 Comments »

Many homeschoolers do their work year round. We’ve tried schooling through the summer with a few subjects, but when September arrived and we started everything again, the children were grumpy and there was no enthusiasm. We’ve found that taking a break really works best for our family, but review is important over the summer as well. I hate to think of them forgetting much of what was learned the previous year!

There are two requirements for summer learning in our home: it must be different from our regular schooling and it must be fun! The three things that we focus on are: reading, family learning games and computer learning games.

Reading

I read to our family every night. Being read to aloud helps to build comprehension and an appreciation for great literature. I try to read many books over the summer about the historical period that we will be studying the following year.

It is also important that the children read books on their own each day. I have them choose a read aloud book that they read for 8 min per day. I also have them choose another book for reading to themselves. New readers should choose a book that they can easily read by themselves, but I have the older children (grades 3 and up) find something that is quite challenging. The idea is to keep pushing their comprehension level forward.

They read 15 min a day from this book and then they must narrate it back to me, which is simply telling it back to me in their own words. This helps me to see that they are comprehending what they are reading, but it also helps them to read actively and attentively. Besides these two books I encourage them to read whatever they want on their own.

Family Learning Games

My children love it when we play games as a family. I try to play one game each day. We made a game that reviews the facts that we learned studying human anatomy last school year. I have another series of games that teaches and reviews math concepts from addition and subtraction through simplifying and multiplying fractions. Other games that we choose from are memory games and various trivia games.

Computer Learning Games

I have downloaded a few free games that help my children review their addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts. My children’s favourite is Timez Attack. It probably isn’t for everyone as it is a full blown video game that you move to the next level by attacking the enemy with the answer to multiplication or division questions. It systematically builds confidence and knowledge of the tables up to 12 x 12 and happens to be a lot fun too. The free version comes with 2 levels that can be used again and again and does cover all of the facts. If you want more variety, you can pay for the rest of the levels. They will be releasing an addition and subtraction version of the game later this year.

We also have a very basic facts review game that simply states the fact and then you choose the answer. It can be downloaded here.

There are many, many websites that have tons of great learning games. I haven’t explored them too much because we do pay for the amount of time we are on the internet. One website that I have found and that we do enjoy though is Sheppard Software.

And now for some giveaway fun…

Giveaway Day I have been planning to do a giveaway for a few months now and here it is! I won one recently and was so thrilled that I wanted to pass on the joy.

I will be giving away a $25 gift certificate for Amazon.com or Amazon.ca (your choice). Much of our curriculum is purchased from Amazon as their prices are quite good and I love the free shipping on orders over $25.

This giveaway is open to everyone and all you must do to enter is leave a comment on this post. Additional enteries may be obtained by:

-subscribing to my blog. And if you are already subscribed you receive two entries when you comment. (Let me know in your comment if you are a subscriber.)
-post about this giveaway on facebook. (Please mention in your comment.)
-tweet about this giveaway on twitter. (Let me know in your comment.)
-mention this giveaway on your blog. (And let me know you did in a comment!)

Each person can receive a total of 5 entries. The deadline in August 16th and the draw will be August 17th. Have fun and enjoy the rest of the summer!

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