New Year Resolutions

Do you guys make resolutions?  I have made all the traditional ones in the past.  You know, "I'll eat better" or the perennial favorite, "I'll exercise routinely." but this year I'm going to try something different. 

I'm going to resolve to give myself a break more often.  I'm not going to worry about weight, health, money, jobs, etc.....the list is endless isn't it.  Wouldn't it be nice to look into the mirror and think, "Wow, they love me just like this."   Wouldn't it be nice to think, "I would like to call so-and-so." then pick up the phone and do it.  Not talk yourself out of it because you don't think they would REALLY care to hear from you.  Or even, invite someone over to our house (gasp!) and not worry if our secret will get out.  You know, the secret, that we're a bunch of dorks and weirdos in our house.  You mean it isn't a secret?  You already know that about us?

I'm also going to resolve to share more of myself.  Weather it be in person or on this wonderful blog.  I'm not a very "friendly" person.  I freely admit it.  I'm not mean or even spiteful.  I'm just not comfortable putting myself out there.  I'm also terrible at "playing nice."  I don't like people being fake to me, so I won't be fake to you.  You'll always know where you stand with me.  By sharing, perhaps, I can overcome those "getting to know you" hurdles.  This has been something that I've been working on for awhile now and I have improved, somewhat.  We will see where the next year will take me.

OK, what are some of your New Year resolutions?

Book Review: "Tithing; test me in this" by Douglas Leblanc. Part of the Ancient Practices Series

I wasn't really sure what this book was going to teach me.  To be truthful, I thought that tithing was pretty cut and dried stuff.  You were supposed to put 10% in the offering plate when you went to church, period.  Well, I've seen that there is more to it than just sticking a couple of bucks into the plate.  

This book isn't an educational book, per se, on the history or the "righteousness" of tithing.  It is more of a book of show and tell.  It shows us several different people and tells us how they view tithing.  They give accounts of how tithing has affected their lives and how they see what God has told them about tithing.  The people profiled in the book come from different faiths and different backgrounds.  I found it refreshing that the author didn't go with the standard, "my way is the right way."  Instead, by giving these views, the book lets you come to your own conclusion about how tithing fits into your life.

Each chapter of this book seemed to have a little pearl of wisdom to impart.  To me, the one that hit home the most is the quote from Randy Alcorn, "What I always say to people is that if you take the standard of 10 percent and say God required it of the poorest people in the Old Testament Israel, and now we're under the grace of Jesus and we have the indwelling Holy Spirit and we live in this incredibly affluent culture, do you think he would expect less of us?  Does God still have expectations of New Testament people?  Clearly he does.  In fact, Jesus' message is, 'You have heard that it was said, but I say to you.'  And then what does he do each time?  He raises the bar."  I say that is pretty powerful stuff!

I also liked the illustration that Ed Bacon gave of people being like bodies of water.  In essence what he said was that examine two bodies of water, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea.  The area around the Sea of Galilee is alive with trade, etc. i.e. LIFE.  Compare that to the area around the Dead Sea, which is void of many places of commerce i.e. DEAD.  The difference between these two bodies of water is that the Sea of Galilee has water flowing into and out of it, while the Dead Sea only has water flowing into it.  Thus, we should take the blessings that flow into us, as people, and let them flow back out of us onto others and we will be alive.  If we don't, and only let blessing flow into us, we will be dead.  If thought that was a really awesome picture he painted!

There are many, many, many, more great examples of tithing and the blessing of giving back the tithe in this book.  I didn't agree with everything that was written, but I found that made the book more authentic.  If you are wanting to study the "why" of tithing this would be a good book to read.

(I did receive this book from Booksneeze.com in return for a review.  I didn't not have to give a favorable review if I didn't not want to do so.)

Year In Review: 2010 Edition

Since I didn't manage to get out a Christmas letter this year, I thought I'd at least blog about the year's activities.  I'm going to try and keep this missive coherent but I make no promises.

During the early part of the year, we were busy schooling.  We completed our first year of homeschool and started our second.  We had great plans to school year-round.  We quickly found out, during the summer, that it is hard to accomplish when your friends are on a traditional school calendar.  School just doesn't work when kids want to spend the night or hang out during the day.  So, we changed our plan and went to a relaxed approach to summer school.  On days that we didn't have plans we did school.  This allowed us to be about six weeks ahead of the public school.  We've been using those days for some extended holiday time off.  It's been really nice to have that luxury.

We have stayed active in our homeschool co-op, Great Plains Christian Home Educators.  What a blessing this group has been to us.  Drake was able to learn to run a sound/light board for the high school play production.  This is something that he really enjoyed and has continued to learn more about.  Jilly learned how to crochet, cake decorate, and embroider. She, also, has participated in the co-op elementary musical and has started piano lessons. Steve has officially become the gym teacher at co-op.  He loves it and the kids LOVE "Mr. Teeve"!  I help Steve with the gym class.  You guys know me well enough to know that I'm just there to make sure the kids stay in line and pay attention.  Gym is not my forte. LOL!

In April we were able to take Steve's folks to Disney World for their first time. It was so much fun to be able to take this trip with them.  Talk about building memories!  We dragged them around the World for four days and made them do all the things that all Disney nerds must.  We are already planning on where to take them next.

In the early summer we had a wonderful surprise.  Steve's parents moved back to Hammon, OK.  This is just 30 minutes away from us.  I'm sure it was the trip to Disney that convinced them that it was OK to move that close. We really like having them near, so that we can drag them to every event in which the kids participate. 

In August, my inner pioneer came out and we got some chickens.  We built a chicken ark and bought four hens from a friend.  The chickens are all named (Henrietta, Hermione, Helen, & Hester) and are great pets.  I had no idea how much fun they were going to be.  As Steve says, they are pets that actually give you something a back for feeding them. They don't take any more effort to care for than a cat does.  It's great.  They did end up costing us a bit more than expected.  They looked so pitiful penned up in their coop that I asked Steve to fence in our backyard.  So now we have a privacy fence and free-range chickens. LOL!

Now we've come to the part of the review that I get to brag on the children:

Drake has been drumming for about a year now.  He seems to have a natural talent for it.  Needless to say, the drums have been moved outside into the "man cave."  He was able to play with the church youth group during the Christmas program. He did a great job!
He has also started working up at Thomas Drug this year.  He works two afternoons a week and every other Saturday.  He is really good at his job, and we've received a lot of compliments on what a great young man he has become.  Let me tell you, sometimes those compliments save my sanity when dealing with my dear teen!
We'll be starting divers-ed this year and it makes me weak in the knees to think about it.  Thus, that is all I'll type on the subject.
Drake was able to attend the Oklahomans Without Limits (O.W.L.) summer camp this year.  He went as a sighted partner.  The camp is for blind/visually impaired children. His partner had cerebral palsy. Drake really enjoyed his time at camp, and he sure learned a lot from the kids that attended the camp.
His studies are moving along really well, and he has done great on his standardized tests.  I can't wait to see what he is able to accomplish in the next few years.

Jillian turned eleven this year.  She is just as sweet as pie.
She still takes art lessons from Ms. Lynn and loves it!  The art work she brings home is amazing.  If you have facebook, look at my photos and you'll see some of her stuff.  She has won several ribbons in the county fairs around the area and even placed third in the State Fair of Oklahoma.  She was super excited about that.
She went to the O.W.L. camp this year, too.  It is her second year attending, and she just loved it.  She met some great kids and had a blast learning theater type arts.  During the camp, she was interviewed by the local TV station.  What a shock it was to get phone calls, at home, telling me they saw my baby girl on television.  You should have seen me scramble around the Internet trying to find a video.  Since then, we've found out that Jillian is featured on NewView Oklahoma's, formerly the League for the Blind, website.  Can you tell that we are proud of her?

As for Steve and I, we are continuing our semi-retired saga.  We are privileged to work with all the stores and people of Thomas Drug Inc. We work two days per week and whenever they need some additional help.  I am so grateful that we've been able to follow this road.  It really has been a "meant to be" kind of thing.  I won't get too preachy here, but it is clear that God has wanted us to follow this path at this point in our lives.  We aren't sure what the future is going to hold for us but we are willing to ride the wave wherever it takes us. 
We've also started to help out with our church's A.W.A.N.A. program.  This is a bible study type program.  It has been a lot of fun for us.  We've made some good friends at church, and the kids are fun, too.  We are stretching our (read MY) comfort zone. 

We did take a summer vacation this year.  We drove up to Michigan for a Chapdelaine family reunion/graduation party.  Of course, we took the long way there.  We first drove to Anna's house in Ohio and stayed the night.  Then we went on up to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.  It was a lot of fun.  We did find that we've warped our children into knowing all the "old" rockers.  After Cleveland, we continued on to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.  We wanted to get our passports stamped but I was sad to find that they didn't stamp them.  Oh well, the falls were astounding!  After spending a couple of days at Niagara, we weren't sure where to go next.  For some strange reason, we completed the circle around Lake Erie and went to Cedar Pointe amusement park.  This park was NOT Disney World. It was roller coaster heaven!!  If you like that sort of thing, then it's a must see place.  We ended the trip by going back up into Michigan to visit family.  We had a wonderful visit and we can't wait until we get to see them again this coming summer.

After our summer vacation, we took a fall vacation, too.  Yes, we are spoiled!  We met my sister Anna and her family down at Disney World at the end of September.  We've done this several times now, and we always have a blast with them!  I just wish we could go with them every time.

Well, that is about all that I can think of to type about this year.  It sure seems like a ton of stuff.  It is obvious that we have been blessed beyond measure this past year.  I know if we keep following the path, we'll continue to prosper.  Thank you to all of my friends out there who have made these blessings possible.  You know who you are!

Book Review: "In Constant Prayer" by Robert Benson

Wow!  This book really made me think.  It is about the practice of saying the daily office or office of the hours.  This is something that I was completely unaware of before this book.  I knew that people went to church several times daily in very devote places but I didn't understand what they were doing at the church.

This book does a good job of explaining the purpose of saying the daily prayers of the ancients.  Mr. Benson doesn't try to tell the reader that they must say the prayers "or else".  He simply gives the reader background on the practice.  He clearly states that he isn't a theologian and doesn't profess to be all knowing in matters of daily prayer.  He explains in layman's terms why he and others go about the business of keeping this tradition alive in our society.

I think he did a very good job of making the subject worth investigating further.  He gave several very good analogies about saying route prayers.  I especially liked the analogy to gardening.  Each day you must tend your garden, even when it isn't fun or when you don't get much out of it.  You do this so that the garden grows and produces and you may reap the benefits at some later time.  What a great example that was for me.  I also liked that he stressed that you don't have to say the prayers perfectly.  God loves to hear from you no matter what.  As you learn more and become more comfortable, you can expand your prayers.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to increase or improve their prayer life.  I would also recommend this book to anyone that wants to learn more about the ancient practice of saying the office of the hours.  It is a great jumping off point.





Tis' The Season For Insecurities

 I have a love/hate relationship with gift giving.

I love thinking about the people in my life.  I love thinking about all the things they may like to receive.  I love to remember the good times we've shared over the past year.  I love to marvel over the things that have been accomplished together.  I love to think about the stuff I could make for each of you.  I love to bake, stitch, sew, cook, and can each homemade item.  I like to shop (on my own terms) for things others may enjoy, things I wouldn't have thought of on my own.  

I hate the doubt that creeps into my head.  I hate the feeling of inferiority.  I hate being worried that others will think I'm cheap.  I hate being scared of looking stupid.  I hate the competitive gift giving mentality.  I hate the commercialism around this time of year.  I hate that I buy into it at times.  I hate that I don't think the gifts I give are good enough.  I hate that I have doubts about my friends.  I hate worrying about "forgetting" someone.  I hate feeling I need to give everyone that is even remotley connected to me something or else they will think less of me.  I hate being on a budget.  I hate that I want to back out of my gifts at the last minute.  I hate wondering if "they" will give me something better that i give "them."

I do this every year.  It is awful.  I thank God that I have a wonderful family that boosts me up and tells me how nice the gifts will be.  They keep me grounded.

Unsolicited Review!

The other day I received in the mail a new CD.  It is by the artist Diane Birch.  I've reviewed an album for Ms. Birch in the past and I really enjoyed her music.  I guess that is why I got her latest album in the mail.  They didn't ask for a review.  I still feel obligated to let you know what I think about the music.

The album is titled "The Velveteen Age" and she is accompanied by The Phenomenal Handclap Band.  For some reason seeing Hanclap Band just makes me want to laugh.  I mean, really?  Although I had reservations about what the album was going to sound like, I put it into the CD player.  The music is very soulful and smooth.  It's, to me, a cross between jazz and blues.  I really enjoyed it.  Other family members weren't as impressed as I.  My darling daughter said that it wasn't "awful" but that she "wouldn't choose it."  Dear hubbie just said "Eh." (I'm not even sure how to spell that sound.)

For me, I would choose the album.  I would choose to listen to it during a relaxing bubble bath.  I would choose to listen to it after a hard, stressful day at work.  I would choose to listen to it while reading a good book.  To sum it up, I would listen to it when I want to relax.

My only complaint with the album is that there are only seven songs on it.  That seems kinda short to me.  Maybe the songs are longer than average songs.  Most of them are over 4 minutes long.  If that is true, never mind.  

Here is a link to her webpage http://dianebirch.com/  It shows that her music is available on iTunes.

Book Review: "The Truth Of The Matter" by Andrew Klavan

I recieved this book from Booksneeze.com to review. Over all it is a very good juvenile fiction book. I would say it would most appeal to a 11-13 year old boy. I think that for someone on an upper reading level would find the dialouge a little shallow.

This book is the third in a series of adventures of our hero, Charlie West. It is set in present times or just in the future. Charlie has found himself without the memory of a year of his life. During that time, he has been convicted of murder, sent to prison, broken out of prison, and is being chased by two sets of unknown government type groups. As you can tell from just this vauge list of events, this is an action packed book series.

Even though I had not read the first two books in this series, I found that the back story was filled in very well. Therefore, if you pick up any one of this group you will be entertained. This book is from a Christian publisher and does have Christian themes. It is not over the top with pushing God onto non-believers. It does show how Charlie's faith gets him through some really tough spots. It does not have bad language in the book. This was a nice perk. I liked how the author conveyed emotions with out falling back on potty-mouth dialoge.

This is a good action/adventure book for young teens. Those that like spy novels will really find something to like in this book.

Book Review: A Year with God By R.P. Nettelhorst

I just got a copy of "A Year with God" by R.P. Nettelhorst from Booksneeze.com and I can hardly wait to use it on a daily basis. Needless to say, I'm not going to wait a full year to review this book for you all.

I've spent a while browsing through the book. I really like how the devotionals are broken up into different topics. The topics include hope and fear, love and hate, perseverance and quitting, faith and doubt, loyalty and betrayal, companionship and isolation, mercy and judgment, forgiveness and anger, joy and sadness, and finally peace and conflict. It seems like a very thourough list to me.

Each days devotional begins with a passage of scripture. All of the scriptures used are from the Old Testament. Below the passages the author breaks down the passage and what it can mean for our lives today. Out of the devotionals that I've read, I've found the author very insightful and uplifting.

Another aspect of the book that I liked was that it was listed as "Day 1" etc.. instead of "January 1." I always felt pressured with the calender type devotionals. LOL!! I guess that is just my OCD coming out.

Would I recommend this book? If you are looking for a devotional that focuses on the Old Testament, then a resounding "YES" could be heard from me. It is concise and insightful. I'm excited to use this book over the coming year.

Book Review: A Century Turns: New Hopes, New Fears (Hardcover)

I was given the book "A Century Turns: New Hopes, New Fears" by William J. Bennett to review by Booksneeze.com. This is not the type of book that I would normally pick up to read on my own. I usually stick to the fiction section. If I do venture into the non-fiction, I stick pretty close to the self-help type stuff. Needless to say, I wasn't super hyped to read this one.



Low and behold, I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable this book is to read. It is a history of the recent past. The years 1988-2008 were talked about in this book. I found myself lost in the memory of the events described in the story. It gave me a deeper understanding of the events that happened during my early adulthood.



It is a non-biased look at events. I didn't find any "bash the other guy" type tactics. He did give personal behind the scene looks at people that he knows. This enabled me to get a better feel for the person being talked about at the time. Instead of just letting me rely on the liberal news for my opinion of a person.

I would think that anyone that likes to read non-fiction history based books will LOVE this one. If this avowed non-fiction disliker (hater is such a harsh word) found it an enjoyable read that speaks volumes.

"Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief" Review

Spoiler Alert!!

We went to see "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief" today. We studied mythology before we went to the movie and then I had each child review the film. They also needed to look-up a couple of gods when we go home. The kids reviews are as follows. Be aware that there may be spoilers in each of them.

Review: 14 y/o son

I personally thought that the movie was quite good. There are some exceptions to this though. A large portion of the book was missing in the movie. It took much longer for Percy to finally realize that Poseidon was his father in the book. Whole characters were missing! This was quite disappointing to me. I also pictured Grover as a much more cowardly individual.

You could definitely tell that this movie was directed by the same person who did the Harry Potter films. Though there were flaws, I still enjoyed this movie. At points, my knuckles were white with anticipation as I gripped my seat. The inclusion of "Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" got a chuckle from me. I did not expect the lightning thief to be who he was.

I honestly believe that this movie should have been rated PG-13. I recommend this movie as it is action-packed and for the whole family.

Review: 10 y/o daughter

I thought that since I did not read the book I got more enjoyment out of it. I also thought that it was action-packed and funny. I loved all the places they went and all the ways they tried to get the pearls. I also liked how the team stuck together. As a final statement, if I had a choice between a TV show about the stories (myths) and this movie, I would pick the movie.

Review: E-Book: Molly’s Money-Saving Digest—January 2010

Let's just start by saying, "WOW!" This e-book has a ton of information. It is delightfully put together and a real joy to read.

Here is the link to The Old Schoolhouse Store where you can purchase this great little e-book.
http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=334_418&products_id=13847

I have been familiar with Molly Green for a while now by reading the blog at econobusters.com. This e-book like the blog is just full of really useful information on how to be frugal but not "cheap".

This booklet contains great recipes that look really easy to make. They don't have weird ingredients that you would never really have in your pantry. They don't have weird flavor pairings that you know your kids would take one look at and ask for a bowl of cereal. Come on, you know it has happened! It has a weeks worth of dinner recipes so you can change things up without even having to think that hard. This is nice!

I really liked the article about home-made pie crusts. This is something that I've always thought would be just to hard for this city girl to accomplish. I wouldn't want to try it and have my darling husband say "it's not like my grandma's. You could just save time by buying those frozen kind." In other words, "this stinks. Go back to store bought." Well, the gang at Econobusters has made pie crust look super duper easy. I can not wait to try it out.

The e-book also has several printables for budgeting. They all look great and are VERY practical. I really like the one for the clothing inventory. I had never thought of writing down what clothes the kids had in the closet and what they need all on one page before. This is great to keep in the car so when you run into those can't pass up sales, you know what you really do need to buy and what is just a duplication.

There are a few frugal & easy craft projects included. I really mean EASY. I am sorta craft challenged and these look like I can make them and they would turn out pretty darn cute. If you are a family member and you end up buying this e-book don't be shocked when Christmas time comes around (wink, wink).

The last thing I want to comment on is the Kids Corner section. There is a craft for younger kids but there is also a teaching section over getting a checking account. I thought that it was really well written and very applicable to homeschooling. As the mother of a 14 year-old, this put information in an easy to read and easy to learn format. Sometimes, no matter how mom or dad phrase things, it's just better to learn things from another person or source.

At $4.95, I feel that this is well worth the money. It will be a reference that I'm sure I'll go back to again and again.

Review: Help, Lord, I’m Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler!

Today I'm going to review the e-book "Help, Lord, I’m Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler!" from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Here is the link to the store's purchase page.

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=334_418&products_id=12107

This e-book was very inspirational for me to read. It contains the stories of several families and their journey through high school. Each story illustrates how different each and every family is that homeschools. It made me stop and think that everyone, even myself, really does have the ability to educate their children. It tells the story of families in many, many different situations. I feel that there is going to be, at least, one story that makes you think, "that's just like us!"

Although I have had no doubts about keeping my kids home though graduation, it is nice to hear success stories from other families. I think that everyone has those days when they think, "Am I messing things up for my kids?" or "Are they missing out on something by not going to "real" school?" Reading these true life accounts is like a pat on the back. It re-enforces the confidence and gives a large dose of encouragement.

Who do I think should purchase this product? I think that, for sure, anyone who doubts their ability to see their children's education through to high school and still feels called to do it. It shows that you don't have to be "super teacher" to get the job done right. I also think the product is a good fit for those parents that just need a fresh look on why they got themselves into the "mess" of educating their kids. It really made me feel good about the decision to educate my kids.

Homeschooling is for every household member

We are now into our eighth month of homeschooling. I can't believe that we are almost done with a whole year of school. Time really has flown by. We, each, have learned so much this year that it astounds me.

We no longer get the "I wish I were in public school" or "I hate homeschool" statements anymore. We often hear "I really like homeschool" or "I can't imaging having "real" school anymore." These statements are such a joy to hear. It is just like we read about before starting this journey. It takes several months for the kids to get used to the new, more independent, type of school work. Once they get used to it, they can't imaging having to move along at someone else's pace.

Each member of our family has grown so much over the year. Steve is learning guitar, I am learning crochet, Drake is learning drums, & Jilly is learning more art techniques. We have grown closer as a family, also. We understand each other better and usually are more patient with each other than we were before starting this adventure.

I am so thankful that we started this journey. I now only wish that we had started it earlier.