Onward to the Festivities

We feasted!  We chatted!  We were grateful!  (and I ate Chocolate Truffle Pie - OH YAAAAAAA!)

And now, let the Christmas festivities begin!  Our Christmas Cookie baking day is coming up, as well as our annual Christmas Tea Party.  I am excited about all of those things. 

Today was a restful day.  (Well, it was as restful as "supervising" four children decorating a tree can be.  Daddy was chillin' with us and he commented that he could see why I'm tired at the end of the day.)  The Blossoms were so happy to decorate the tree though.  And Blossom4 was touching E V E R Y T H I N G.  I call it sensory fun (and I didn't even have to dye rice to make a sensory table!)  I did get a TERRIFIC nap today too.  I paid the price though.  Blossom3 didn't take a nap (because Daddy thought she was sleeping, when she wasn't) and now she's bouncing off the walls.  She'll probably fall asleep when we watch the Grinch movie later.  And, I awoke to Daddy escorting Blossom1 into the house with blood squirting from her nose.  Sledding accident.  I told her to be glad it's only Friday.  She doesn't have to go to church for a few more days and by then, the swelling will probably have gone down.  For now, I think we'll call her Rothlisberger.  In any case, it's been a nice holiday thus far and I'm thankful for that. 

Worthwhile

I think you all have heard me mention the Blossoms' Jake's Cakes venture.  Here they are getting set up for their latest craft show.  Don't you just love that Grinch material?  lol  (I'm actually a big fan of the old animated Grinch movie... not the Jim Carrey one.)  Anyway, it was another terrific learning experience.  (Weren't the pink Santa hats such a nice touch for a Christmas craft show?)

Blossom1 mentioned, "Mommy, it is exhausting being polite for THAT LONG!"  Too funny!

This whole venture is a huge amount of work for Daddy, the girlies and me, but I keep telling the girlies, "Anything worthwhile takes hard work."  That's what I want them to get out of this and so much of our parenting. 

I'm so tired of the mentality that if it isn't easy, don't bother.  If every Christian subscribed to this mentality, no Christian would ever bother with holiness.  Holiness isn't easy.  Conquering the flesh doesn't just happen.  We are given grace to overcome sin.  We have the Holy Spirit helping us.  It takes patience.  It takes doing the harder things.  And, in the end (as in, Eternity), it is worthwhile. 

I like thinking about Eternity - the place of justice.  The time of rewards.  The time of perfect peace.

Eternity makes holiness totally worthwhile.  And that's what we're shooting for.

Cold and then warm...

The first snow here was an EVENT.

 

"'Now!?  'Now?"

 

Blossom4 was mesmerized.

They were simply enthralled.

 

It is a bit ironic that after the cold snap that produced the little bit of snow,

it is currently 69 degrees outside.  YAY!!!  :)

the CardDroid Math Flashcard app

When our children start reading like fiends, we buy them a Kindle Fire tablet/device.  Every time we trek to the cabin for a week, and the books don't break my back or fill 3 tote bags because I only have to pack 4 Kindles, I know that the Kindles were a wise and worthy investment. 

We look at Kindles as reading tools.  They aren't gaming devices.  The children are allowed 15mins of game time on Saturday and Sunday.  That's it.  I have a thing against screen time entertainment.  Call me strange.  Or call my parents strange.  Most of my growing up years were accomplished without a TV.

<Gasp!>

(My mom was addicted to soaps when she got saved, so they threw out the TV to help break the hold on her.  It worked.)

(I call it brave to do something countercultural to achieve an end that pleases God.)

All that to say that I am wary of buffet-type technology.  The value of a wholesome pure mind is so much greater to me than being thought normal by those around me.  Thus, I have the web and videos disabled on the Blossoms' Kindles.  And, they don't suffer for it.  Instead, I hear things like, "Mama, I'm reading Little Men right now.  I'm almost through it.  I love it!" 
or
"Mama, can you teach me to use my Bible app?"  Days later, she remarks to me that she set up a Bible reading plan so she can read through the Bible in a year.  Now that's making technology work productively for you in my opinion.

Being that I'm a hardcore flashcard homeschooler, I've found another way to make the Kindles work for us - the CardDroid Math Flashcard app.  It's my favorite!  Here are the high points:

- It was free!  (PS - now that I see how much I use this app, this would be one of the few apps I would buy.)
- There are flashcards for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
- I can adjust it so the Blossom that has only learned 3 families of multiplication so far can practice only those families.  I can adjust it to drill whatever math facts I want! 
- I can time them.
- I can hide the clock or show the clock.
- I can give them as many or as few flashcards as I want.
- It saves my parameters so I don't have to pick a thousand options every day.
- It gives me a report instantaneously.  I can see what they got wrong, how many times it took them to get it right and how long it took.  (If your children KNOW that you will check those reports, they won't tap/click and guess their way through.)
- I can change the background.  I can change the sound!  I can customize, customize, customize!
- Best of all, it gets results.  The Blossoms are repeatedly and consistently coming in under the time limit of the timed math drills their math curriculum assigns.  Please note the words repeatedly and consistently.

 

This app sees daily use here and I'm such a firm believer in it, that I wanted to share it with you!Check it out!  Download it for your kiddos today!

(It seems that it is available from the Amazon App Store and available for iPhone/ipad and android users too.) 

PS - Don't you love our new to us leather couch?  I'm so pleased with it!  It's like a grownup version of a hand me down.  Gotta love Craigslist!!!

Craigslist safety

My brother shared this link with me because he knows that I love craigslist.  (I'm currently trying to convince somebody to take $30.00 for a guitar I'd like to snag.)  I thought you all might like to take a look at these pointers for safer transactions!

 http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/5-tips-for-making-ebaycraigslist-transactions-safer
I have broken some of these rules, but I've also applied many of the pointers.  I try to be safe, smart and savvy.  It usually pays off, as in the case of my caramel colored leather couch!!!  :)