How NOT To Spend Your Friday Night...

I was curled up by the fireplace last night, reading my Bible when the telephone rang. It was my mother, who lives "next door". She asked me to come over and look at her hand but didn't say why. I had graciously shared the car with my eldest daughter so she could go to a movie with friends and so I was without a vehicle but I told her I'd walk over. When I say we live right next door, we are on one 20 acre section of the original 40 acres and my mom lives on the original farmstead on the other corner. It's extremely hilly with woods, open pastureland and ponds thrown in. All that to say, it's about an eight minute jaunt when you are moving at a good pace. I didn't wear my snowshoes and so I was sinking in the deep snow as I walked as quickly as I could across the frozen tundra.

Mom's hand was injured when two (family owned) dogs got into a fight and she tried to intervene. Thankfully it wasn't terribly serious but I called the triage nurse at the local hospital to ascertain if she needed to go in. By then it was after 9:00pm and neither mom nor I relished the idea of spending a few hours in the ER but that was where we ended up. She was cleaned up, x-rayed and stitched up in about 3.5 hours. The ER was really very busy and so we had to wait while the young doctor attended to everyone. Mom ended up in the dental room. I didn't even know that hospitals had emergency dental rooms! Now I do, and so do you.

Thankfully her injuries were not more serious than what they were. No broken bones and no apparent nerve damage. It's not even her dominant hand which, apparently, is kind of strange. It will be sore but a day later I'm just thankful that I was here and able to help when she needed me. I can't even begin to tell you how many times my mother has attended me in emergency room visits but it's been a lot. I was an extremely adventurous and active girl and didn't think about the possibility of accidents happening to me. I had a horse fall on me when it reared straight up and fell over backwards. That hurt. A lot. I had numerous stitches and other various injuries. Somehow I survived, a little battle scarred, and so did she.

Life is like that, isn't it? It's hard, hurts at times, and can leave us with scars. Even so, I'm trusting that all my suffering in this life has a purpose and for that I'm thankful. I'm also thankful for a mom who let me live a life of action and adventure, roaming the countryside on my horse. Thanks mom!

Time To Shape Up!

After too many hours of internet searching, e-mails and telephone calls I finally found success today: Our family is heading to Florida next month. We have family in the Cape Canaveral area and have enjoyed spending time with them in the spring the past two years. This year is extra special because my niece is getting married in March and my sister just had surgery and her health is extremely delicate. My sweet husband told me that he had been putting money aside and he wanted us to go again this year. How wonderful is that?


So, I began looking for a place for us to rent and I ran into the same old story: no place with accomodations for five in March. I don't know how many calls I made but it must be close to 100! I just knew if I was tenacious enough I'd find something and sure enough, a rental agent that I hadn't even called (one of the other 100 must have given her my name and number) called me back with a cancellation. Seems some of the NASA folks will be leaving after this month's shuttle launch and they won't need their condo unit in March. There's another shuttle launch in March so I don't know why they won't need it then but I'm glad they don't. Because it is a unit rented by NASA on a regular basis they do not have any photos to send me. Ack! I've never rented lodgings sight unseen but I mailed her a deposit yesterday. Faith or foolishness? You decide.

Now it's time to get serious about getting in shape. That means working out more (way more) and eating less (way less) in an effort to fit comfortably back in my summer clothing. Nothing like the threat of wearing a swimsuit in Florida (modestly styled, of course!) to motivate a person... I've got about three weeks and it's going to take at least that long. I'm hoping to lose about ten pounds. I'll keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime, I'm typing this while I work out on my cross trainer. I have a hunch my posts will be coming from here a lot!

Fun Project=Another Way To Spend Money...

My lonely, empty glass container

Rocks being washed, go into glass container

on bottom for drainage.

Step one now complete.


Here are the plants, moss, decorative rocks
and potting soil, ready to go.


The plants are in. Next I need to add potting
soil around them to hold them in place.

Next I'll add the decorative moss on top
of the soil and then the decorative rocks
on top of the moss.

Here's the completed project, on top

of my cake stand to make it more visible
behind our kitchen sink.

Another view. Can you see the little turtle
and butterfly I added for fun?

This is a teeny little dessert dish that I
planted the extra plants in. I'm not
sure where this is going yet.

We took our darling daughter Leah out to dinner on Friday night to celebrate her 14th birthday. She chose Famous Dave's (a BBQ joint) which just happens to be next to a wonderful florist that was having an open house gala this weekend. I knew this because I am on their e-mail list and they had sent me a message about it. 20% off everything in the store and free tulips! I'm a sucker for free stuff so I cajoled dear husband into a quick detour there after our dinner.

So, we stopped in. It was heaven. We've been surrounded by a snowy and very cold landscape for some time now and inside the florist shop there were multitudes of gorgeous flowers and green plants and I could actually smell the scent of real flowers and dirt! Call me weird, but I love the smell of fresh dirt. It must be the farmgirl in me. Brings me back to my younger days walking barefoot in the fresh plowed fields, looking for treasures and catching critters.

While we were there (a dangerous statement, no?) I saw the cutest terrariums. I've been wanting to create a terrarium out of a glass container I purchased a while back. Since I was feeling guilty about just grabbing my bouquet of tulips without intending to buy anything I asked an employee how you go about building a terrarium. Next thing you know, Jed's a millionaire and I've made plans to return the next morning with my container and that's just what I did.

I didn't need to buy much: Four small plants and some washed gravel for drainage and that was it. Everything was 20% off mind you so for only $16.63 I had all my supplies. I headed home, eager to craft my little terrarium garden and the photos above outline the process. Step by step, it was actually easy and fun to create. If any of you are longing for a touch of green in your home and you have a large clear glass vase or bowl, you might want to give this project a try. Enjoy!

Take A Look At This!

Call me crazy for stepping out on our back deck in the subzero temps this morning but as I was brewing hot water to make tea I noticed a brightening on the horizon. When I took this photo it was about 6:50am. The photo makes it look brighter than it actually was.

I'm kind of a weather geek and I like following the length of the days so last fall I went online and printed out a chart that gives the exact time of the sun's rising and setting, moon's rising and setting and twilight for my community. Our shortest days of this winter season are behind us and we're gaining a couple minutes of daylight each day now. In fact, we've gained 14 minutes in the morning and a whopping 43 minutes in the evening - almost an hour of extra daylight!

Even though we're in the middle of winter, this morning's brightening horizon gives me hope that (eventually) spring is on its way!

Too Busy to Blog!

I don't know how dedicated bloggers do it. I have been busy with a lot of different things lately and haven't had time to sit down and write anything witty and wonderful. (I know, it's not like my writing was so witty and wonderful before...)

Life has been chaotic and sometimes even with my best efforts I have a hard time keeping up. I don't know why it's so hard, only that it is. So, you may be asking, what does a homeschool mom do on an average day? Well, that's the crazy thing. If you're a homeschool mom there is no such thing as an average day. Just to give you an inside look, I'll let you take a peek inside my planner/calendar for the week:

Sunday: Church, a quick trip to the Target store after church and later that evening a visit to our friends home where our Life Group meets every other Sunday. We watch a DVD intro about the book we will be reading, studying and discussing together: The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller.

Monday: School. Get up early to finish schedules for my three children for the week. After school the children and I go skiing at a local ski resort for a few hours. Prepare a quick meal of meatballs in red sauce in the crockpot (with spaghetti, prepared later) to eat when we get back from skiing. Even though it's really snowy, the skiing is a lot of fun.

Tuesday: Art class from 9:30 until 11:30 this morning. My three children and I take drawing and painting lessons at the Art Academy in St. Paul, MN. The girls and I love it. My son tolerates it. After art class we stop at a bookstore to pick up a couple birthday gifts. (I do not count this as shopping since I use gift cards that I earned by cashing in points on a credit card.) After that we go to the dentist where we spend a couple hours getting everybody's teeth cleaned and having dental work done. Fun, huh? As a reward, I promise my son a trip to the library where he can take out couple books from the Redwall series. He's a voracious reader and the library is a treat!

Wednesday: We'll do schoolwork in the morning and then plan to meet friends to ice skate at 2:00pm. Later the girls will go to our church where they volunteer to help with Awana on Wednesday evenings. Ever since Emily got her driver's license last summer I have not had to make the Wednesday evening drive and for that I'm grateful.

Thursday: Another busy day! We'll have to hustle with schoolwork this morning because we have to be to the Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis by 11:15 for the Young People's concert at 11:35. From there my son will be driven to my husband's office so that he can go to a friend's birthday party that afternoon. The girls and I will stay in Minneapolis and go to the Minneapolis Institute of Art for a liesurely visit. We love the art museum and we're fortunate to have such a treasure in our midst, only 45 minutes away! The reason we're hanging around Minneapolis for the day is because in a quirky twist, we actually have tickets to a completely different concert at the Minnesota Orchestra that evening. It will make for a long, but fun, day.

Friday: My middle daughter Leah turns 14 today. Of course we will make the day special but in the midst of our busy week we've got to squeeze in our schoolwork. The children have talked about going skiing later in the day. If the weather cooperates and schoolwork is done, we might just go.

Saturday: My son has a 4H Lego mindstorm project meeting in the afternoon and the girls have a 4H knitting and crocheting meeting if they choose to go. It's not required, just a fun thing they can do. Some more talented 4H mothers will work with the girls and help them on their projects that they are working on.

There are probably more things happening than I've listed here. Leah would like a friend over to celebrate her birthday, we'll need to make her a special cake and birthday meal and plan a special day for her... Meanwhile, bills need to be paid, clothes need to be washed, the house needs to be maintained, the dogs need to be cared for, meals need to be prepared, dishes need to be washed and on and on the list goes. Chaotic, busy, full, call it what you want, it's the stuff life is made of. The thing is, we've got to be careful how we choose to spend our time because our very lives, the most precious gift God has given us (after our salvation), are at stake.

Does my life, the way I spend my time, glorify Him? I don't want to just give God lip service. I want the choices I make about how I live to ultimately reveal His presence in my life. Let it be so, Lord, please.

My Most Unusual Christmas Gift

Okay, I know, Christmas is over, right?! Cut me a little slack because I just received this most creative gift yesterday. Apparently after working diligently on my present a month or so ago, it was put aside and forgotten.

I am not allowed to name the gift giver. They asked me to remain "unanimous". Cute, huh?

If you're not quite sure what it is, I'll tell you. It's a decorated roll of toilet paper. When I asked why they would want to give me this special gift I was told it was so I would feel pampered. Isn't that sweet? I thought so.

Creativity abounds in our home, even in the smallest details.

My Many Goals

The Reading Room

I didn't write earlier about New Year's Resolutions because there's something about them that I don't care for. I've tried to keep resolutions in the past but all too frequently fell short. It doesn't help that I'm a perfectionist always struggling against unrealistic expectations in my life.

Some failed resolutions from my past: (No, I'm not trying to do all these this year!)

1. BE ON TIME (hahahaha, this one's a real knee slapper! My family knows just how much I struggle with timeliness...)

2. Read my Bible every day. I have tried more than once to read the Bible in a year but haven't succeeded YET. However, I am an optimist and am trying to do it again this year. So far, so good.

3. Eat better/lose weight. Yeah, right. Read my earlier post to see how well I'm doing with that this year. However, this is more a lifestyle choice, not a resolution.

4. Live a genuine life. Actually, I try to do this every day, I don't need a resolution for that.

5. Create more art. I'm working on this one.

6. Spend less, save more. I'm working on that right now, too.

7. Go to bed earlier, get up earlier.

8. Exercise every day.

9. Begin taking vitamins. I got going again with the vitamin regime last summer and surprisingly have kept it up!

I have more but can't recall them right now. You get the idea. Somewhat unrealistic and idealistic. Yep, I know. I can dream, can't I?

So, here's my goals for 2010: The first I mentioned above, reading through the Bible in a year. I am enjoying that one and am happy to be on track. The other goal is to read a book a week. I am an eclectic reader, meaning I like to read all sorts of stuff. I used to be a major speed reader but for some reason find that I can't read as fast as I used to. I need to slow down and savor books more now. Anyway, I thought maybe I'd post maybe once a week letting you know what I'm reading and give a short book review.

I've got a lot of books I'm working on right now. Don't ask me why I start more than one book at a time but I do. I'm currently reading My Life in France by Julia Child, Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (reading aloud for our homeschool), The Garden of Grace by Jill Briscoe, The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller for our Life Group at church, The Busy Mom's Guide to Bible Study by Lisa Whelchel (a Christmas gift from my daughter), Shopping for Time by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters, Jumping Ship by Michael Pearl, Helen Keller, a Life, by Dorothy Herrmann, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, 31 Days of Prayer by Ruth Myers and more.

I used to be a big reader. Somehow, over the years, I have found less and less time to read. It makes me sad that I have a library full of books that I have not read. What a pity! So, in an effort to claim more reading time I have decided to make it a priority, hence the resolution to read a book a week.

So far this year I've read Drops Like Stars by Rob Bell, a great book even though a lot of conservative Christians think he's somewhat of a heretic, or so I've read. Silent Night, a child's picture book by Will Moses. I love his paintings. Surviving Hitler, A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren, a very moving book. Great American Presidents: Harry S. Truman by Michael Foley. A young person's biography of Truman. We are studying the time period when Truman was President and I wanted to brush up on his presidency. None of these books were very lengthy but when you couple them with my daily Bible and devotional reading, I don't have as much time to read as I would like. I really have been getting to bed earlier and that cuts into my reading time. Ah well, choices, choices...

So, have any of you made any New Year's Resolutions you'd be willing to share? I really am pumped about the two I've made. Hopefully you'll be hearing from me soon about the latest book I've read. Time to go - can't have my blogging interfering with my reading time!