A different kind of gift list

Gift lists.  Most everyone has one or more on hand this time of the year.  Either it's a list of gifts to give or a list of gifts you'd like to receive, or both.  I've decided to join Ann and start writing a list, not of gifts that I want or that I am going to give, but a list of gifts that I have in the everyday happenings of life.  The idea goes right along with the  Make a List suggestion that I wrote about in yesterday`s post.

For some time now I've been toying with the idea of joining Ann's Gratitude Community.  The clincher for me was the post on her blog today - Notes of an Avid Grace-Collector: Lessons From 1000 Gifts.  I love the list of lessons at the end of the post.

Ann explains The Thousand Gifts challenge - to start listing the gifts in the everyday and watch as your list grows...first to 1000...and then beyond...until it becomes an Endless Gifts Lists.  Ann says that she tries to "add to the endless list of gifts every Monday... to begin the week with a heart spilling with gratitude!"  


I am going to try to follow her example, and so I begin with my first post for the





1.  playing games with youngest daughter
2.  healing bones in oldest daughter's hand
3.  listening to oldest daughter play her guitar and sing
4.  safe travels to the doctor in another town
5.  bumping in to friends while shopping
6.  unexpectedly seeing and having the chance to hug my "brother by heart"
7.  the time and funds to buy little gifts
8.  seeing youngest son's smile as a friend from the past shows up
9.  seeing his friend from the past
10.  being able, through the wonders of the internet, to watch oldest son perform in his church's Christmas program
11.  knowing oldest son is settled into a church, a job, and a community
12.  being able to connect with like minded people that encourage me in my walk

Feeling stressed about the holidays?

Want some peace?

I came upon the 12 Days of Peace idea a little late, as I only discovered it today.  December 13 the blog owner started sharing daily ideas for something easy to do to hang on to peace in your home.  I liked the idea and decided to skim to see what she had suggested so far.

I really like the idea for day one - make a list of things you're grateful for.  She suggests putting it where everyone can read it and add to it.  I think I'm going to make one tomorrow for your fridge door.

I also like the Unplug idea.  She suggests that you "Reinvest the time you would have spent facing a screen and give that face time to those you love." It goes right along with where my mind has been lately.  I know I need to set aside time for this.  

The Let it be idea also goes along with what I've been thinking lately.  It's time to let some things go and just "let it be."

This also goes along with a verse that really spoke to me in my devotional time this morning.

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you.

That's the key.  Give it all to Him.  Be sure to do what is important to Him and let the rest go.

6 more days...

...and I don't have a thing done. Seriously. Nothing.

Christian Authors I've read in the past

I have read a number of Christian authors over the years and I wanted to make a conscious effort to read more books by Christian authors in 2010 so I looked for a challenge to read Christian authors.  I came up with four such challenges - the 20 New Christian Authors in 2010 Challenge (which isn't open to Canadians and I didn't really want to commit to reading 20 new authors when I really wanted to read more of some of the authors that I have already read), the Christian Non Fiction Challenge (which wasn't what I was thinking about originally but I like the idea), the Christy Awards Reading Challenge (which interests me but still wasn't quite what I had in mind because I have to pick from a list of books rather than have complete freedom to choice ones that I want), and the Biblical Fiction Challenge.  I didn't bother to join the first challenge but I did join the last three.  

To prepare for the Christy Awards Challenge I checked out the Christy Nominated and Awarded Books list. I decided to make a list of authors mentioned on the Christy list and see if I had read any books by these authors, whether the actual books I had read were on the list or not.  It ended up being a great walk down memory lane for me, as it had been quite some time since I had read some of these books, and I also found some books to add to my TBR list. 

It wasn't that long ago that a friend introduced me to Liz Curtis Higgs books and I quickly bolted through three of her books: Thorn in My Heart, Fair Is the Rose, and Whence Came a Prince.  These three books tell the stories of Jamie and Evan McKie and and Leana and Rose McBride.  It is a retelling, of sorts, of the Biblical story of  Jacob and Esau and Leah and Rachel.  I loved the books!  These would be a great pick for someone participating in the Biblical Fiction Challenge. 

It was quite some time ago that I was introduced to Francine Rivers books.  The first one I read was Redeeming Love, a retelling, of sorts, of the story of Gomer and Hosea.  Loved the book! Another great one for the Biblical Fiction Challenge.  Next I read the three books in her Mark of the Lion Series: A Voice in the Wind, An Echo in the Darkness, and As Sure As the Dawn.  Excellent books that would be great choices for anyone doing the Historical Fiction Challenge because they are set in the time of the crumbling of the Roman Empire.

The same friend that introduced me to Liz Curtis Higgs books also introduced me to Lynn Austin and I am so glad she did!  I devoured her Chronicles of the Kings series which included these five books: Gods and Kings, Song of Redemption, The Strength of His Hand, Faith of My Fathers, and Among the Gods.  They would be a great pick for someone participating in the Biblical Fiction Challenge.  I also read her Candle in the Darkness, which I didn't realize was a part of a three book series set in the time of the civil war.  These would qualify for the Historical Fiction Challenge.  I also read one of her stand alone novels, All She Ever Wanted. 

I know I read at least some of the Zion Covenant Series by Bodie and Brock Thoene, but I don't remember which ones or how many. My dad was into this series big time and he was the one that introduced me to it.  I seem to remember enjoying the books I read but it was such a long time ago that I don't remember much about them.  I wouldn't mind rereading them or reading other books by them.  There are a lot to choose from, most of which fit into the Historical Fiction Challenge.  On this page they answer the question "How do I read the books in historical order?".  

I read a number of Gilbert Morris' House of Winslow Series a few years back and loved them.  I don't remember which ones or how many I read.  I would love to have the whole series and I wouldn't mind rereading them all.  These fit into the Historical Fiction Challenge, as they are set in American history from the time of the Mayflower on.

Many years ago I read a number of Gary Smalley's books, all of which would fit in the Christian Non Fiction Challenge. The ones I remember for sure that I read are Love is a Decision, Making Love Last Forever , If Only He Knew, For Better or Best, and The Two Sides of Love.  Recently I also read some books that he co-authored with Karen Kingsbury.

I discovered Karen Kingsbury this past year when I was browsing the shelves of our library.  The books in her Redemption Series caught my eye because they were co-authored with Gary Smalley so I decided to give them a try.  I was hooked!  I quickly devoured all 5 books in the Redemption Series, and quickly moved on to devour both the Firstborn Series and the Sunrise Series.  I also read On Every Side.  While these don't fit any of the challenges I've signed up for they are still great books to read.

So, that's some of the books by Christian author's that I have already read.  I'm looking forward to reading more.

My Own rewrite of a Christmas Song

I'm making a list,
Checking it twice,
Gonna find out what the library has
January first is coming up fast
I need to get some books
To get ready to start to read
I've joined so many challenges
I need an early lead

So, I'm making my list
Gotta get it done fast
Gotta check out
What the library has
January first is coming up fast

Books that I have read by Newfoundland Authors

To encourage people to consider joining my 2010 Newfoundland Authors Reading Challenge, I thought I'd share some books by Newfoundland Authors that I  have read in the past.  I may reread some of the same books this year or I may read other books by these authors.

Trudy J. Morgan Cole`s Esther: A Story of Courage is a book that I loved.  I seriously couldn`t put it down.  If anyone is looking for a book to count for the Biblical Fiction challenge I would suggest this one.  I was thinking about using it for the the Flashback Challenge but then I discovered her blog and learned about all the other books she`s written and I want to taste some of them first.

Kevin Major`s No Man's Land is another that I really, really enjoyed.  It's another I'm considering for the Flashback Challenge.  I originally read it because it was required reading for my son for highschool.  He loved it and I'm thinking about rereading it with my daughter after Christmas as part of her schooling.  It could also be counted for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge and I think it would fit the Young Adult Reading Challenge.

As Near to Heaven by Sea is another of Kevin Major's books that I enjoyed, even though it is a history book instead of a novel.  I'm also considering doing this one with my daughter as part of her schooling in the New Year.  It would count for the Flashback Challenge.

I also read Blood Red Ochre by Kevin Major, but this is one of those books that doesn't especially suit my reading taste.  I think it is a very good book, but a little out of my comfort zone. It would make a good choice for someone participating in the Young Adult Reading Challenge

I think I read a couple other Kevin Major books but I can't remember for sure if I read them or just thought about reading them.  I may look at more of his as possibilities for some of the challenges.

Cassie Brown's Death on the Ice was required reading for either a high school or university course, or maybe both.  I remember enjoying it somewhat but also not liking some things about it.  It would be a good fit for someone looking for books for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.  I am consider re-reading it or reading one of her other books.

Earl Pilgrim is a great story teller and from the books that I've read by him over the years I've found that he was improving as a writer.  Will Anyone Search for Danny? is the first book that I read by him and while I really enjoyed the story, I did not enjoy the writing.  Some other books that I've read by him are The Captain and the Girl, The Day of Varick Frissel, and The Curse of the Red Cross Ring.  I think I read some others too but I can't remember for sure.  Many of his books would count for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.

This is just a small sampling of some of our Newfoundland Authors, there are many more, and I will be posting about more of them in the near future.  If there is a particular Newfoundland Author that you enjoy I'd love to hear about it.  Also, please consider joining my 2010 Newfoundland Authors Reading Challenge and spreading the word about it.

2010 Reading Challenges

I love challenges.  I don't always totally complete challenges that I take on but figure that it is better to try and fail than to not try at all.  If I at least try I may accomplish something, but if I don't try anything then I am sure to accomplish nothing.  I'd rather accomplish something than nothing. With that thought in mind I have decided to take on the following Reading Challenges in 2010.  It seems like a lot but in reality there will be a whole lot of overlapping.  All books will fit in at least two challenges, and most will fit in a lot more than that.

2010 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge - Plain and simple - read at least one book a week for the whole year.  I will be looking for very thin books.  :)

Reading Through the Seasons 2010 Challenge - Read one book for each season with the season word in the title.  Pretty simple.

Flashback Challenge - The challenge is to reread books you've already read but it includes a mini challenge to read at least one book from your childhood, one from high school, and one from adulthood.  I think I can manage that.

1st in a Series Challenge - I love reading books in a series!  I'll be attempting to read at least three books that are firsts in a series.  Now to find some interesting sounding series.  Hmmmm...

2nd Reading Challenge - At first I thought this was the same as the Flashback challenge but it's totally different.  For this challenge you read either a second book in a series or a second book by the same author.  Once again I'm aiming for at least three books.

Wish I'd Read That Challenge - There are a few books I can think of that I wish I had read so I figure this one will be easy.  I'm aiming for at least three books that fit this challenge.

E-books Reading Challenge - I know that some of the books that I wish I had read are available as e-books so this one should be easy. Once again I'm aiming for at least three.

Read the Book See the Movie Challenge - The kids and I have done this a lot over the years, and loved it!  In our experience the movie very really measures up to the book.  There are lots more out there that we haven't done yet, or we may just redo one or more.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - I love historical fiction!  Had to join this one.  I'm sure I can manage at least three, if not more.

The Art History Reading Challenge - I love art and I've been wanting to learn more so that I could add more to our home learning.  The minimum for this challenge is just three books so I figure I can manage that.

Science Book Challenge - Not my favorite kind of reading but necessary for our home learning so I'm going to do my best to do at least three non-fiction science/nature themed books.

Support Your Local Authors Challenge - This is simply a challenge to read local authors.  It's something I'd like to put more effort in to.  I know there are a few people in our community that have written books and I should make the effort to read them.  This is a perpetual challenge and there are no minimum requirements

Canadian Authors Challenge - I want to make a conscious effort to read more Canadian authors and was planning on starting a challenge to do so until I came across this one.  The challenge is to read a minimum of three books by Canadian Authors.

2010 Reading Challenge - Newfoundland Authors - This is a challenge I issued myself because I want to make a conscious effort to read more Newfoundland authors.  I haven't see a goal of a certain number but will simple see how many I've managed to read by the end of the year.

Christian Non-Fiction Challenge 2010 - I like the idea of this challenge but I'm not sure I will manage to read as many as required.  The challenge is to read ten or more.  I'm going to make a conscious effort to read as many as I can fit in whether I reach the ten or not.

Biblical Fiction Challenge 2010 - The challenge is to read at least six fiction books based on stories or characters from the Bible.  I like those kind of books so I will attempt to include some of them in my reading list, though I'm not sure I'll manage to read six.  I guess we'll see.

The Christy Awards Reading Challenge - I wanted to include more Christian authors in my reading and this challenge will help with that.  The challenge is to read at least three books that have won a Christy Award.  Lists are available on the site.

Young Readers Reading Challenge -I will definitely be reading some children's books to my four year old so this one is a must.  Must read a minimum of 12 for the challenge but I will read more than that.  I will be keeping a list to see how many we have actually read by the end of the year.

Young Adult Reading Challenge - The challenge is to read at least 12 young adult novels.  I'm hoping to find some to recommend to my young adults.

Take Another Chance Challenge - This is a list of 12 very different challenges to find books books to read in "unusual or random ways".  You only have to do three to participate.  Ones I'm thinking about using are: #1: read an author who has the same initials, same first name, same last name, or exact same name as you; #3 read a book that is on a provided list of 100 best books, I'm thinking of choosing from either the Mystery or Non-Fiction list; #4 read a book that won a literary award; #11 read two authors from the same family

2010 Genre Book Challenge - There are no minimums for this one, basically just a list of different genres to encourage people to read different genres.  I'm going to see how many I can cover.

2010 Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge - I like this challenge.  I'm hoping to get most of my books from my local library so this one should be easy.  Minimum is 25 books.

Throughout the year I will be posting about books I read and reporting on how I am doing in the different challenges.  I'd love to hear from you if I should happen to inspire you to take on any of these challenges, or if you have already signed up for any of them.

2010 Reading Challenge - Newfoundland Authors

I've searched high and low but I can't find a challenge to read Newfoundland Authors in 2010, so I've decided to issue my own challenge. :)

Newfoundland and Labrador is my home province. I love it. I know there are a number of authors from Newfoundland and Labrador and I've read some of them. To be perfectly honest, I haven't always enjoyed books written by Newfoundlanders. I have read a few that I've liked, but the ones I haven't especially liked are more numerous. I think it is a matter of my own taste in books rather than a reflection of the quality of our writers. I don't especially like books that are full of crude language and questionable behavior and many of the books that I've found by Newfoundlanders seem to have both. Regardless of that, however, I want to make an effort to read more books by Newfoundlanders in 2010. I'm hoping I'll find more that I actually enjoy. I am not going to set a goal of a particular number, just going to see how many I've actually read by the end of the year.

If you are interested, you are welcome to join me in this challenge. I haven't a clue about the wonderful Mr. Linky that I've seen on other pages for people to use in joining challenges. If I happen to learn I will add it to this post, but at least for now you can simply leave a comment on this post letting me know that you are planning on joining the challenge. If you should happen to write reviews of the Newfoundland authors books that you read, I'd love for you to share links to those, too, throughout the year.

To help myself and anyone else that might be interested in this challenge, I will make a post in the near future with a list of Newfoundland authors and books. If you have authors or books that could be added to the list, feel free to tell me about them in a comment on this post.

Why I'm Back

It all started when Alex interrupted the silence of her "create corner" blog by sharing about the 2010 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge.  Before that I was happily enjoying my long term blog writing break, while once in a while skimming blogs in my google reader.  The challenge, however, stirred something within me.  I love to read, and I love challenges.  I couldn't resist.  I had to check it out. While the rules said that you didn't have to blog to participate, I knew it would be that much more fun, and motivating, to blog about the challenge.  That started the wheels churning about the possibility of reviving my sleeping blog.

I decided to check out the list of participants that had already signed up for the challenge.  This led me to the Book Dragon's Lair.  I noticed in her side bar that she was hosting some challenges and it was there that I found the Reading Through the Seasons 2010 Challenge.  I thought this would help me choose some of the books I'd read for the 52 books challenge.  I had I noticed that the challenge rules stated that books may overlap other challenges and this challenge said the same thing.  I could participate in both without adding to my required reading. Good idea!  That got me thinking...maybe I could find other challenges that would help me in deciding what to read for the 52 books challenge!  I did a google search for 2010 book challenges. There are lots of them out there.  It became more and more tempting to revive my blog so that I could post about these challenges and why I was interested in them.

While going through all the different challenges that I found, I came up with a few of my own ideas for challenges that I want to challenge myself with.  That got me to thinking that if I revived my blog I could post my own challenges and invite others to join me.

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.  Yes, I would revive my sleeping blog and join the challenge - er, challenges!

Stay tuned for a list of the challenges I hope to participate in and a couple of challenges I would like to pose.

Like my new look?

I spent the afternoon and evening working on my blog. Found this great document on creating a blogger template. I used a picture of my girls that I took this week as part of the blog banner I created. I originally used a pattern on this page from Squidfingers for the background of the blog. I changed the pattern and the photo to black and white because that's the color scheme I wanted. What fun! I may play some more but I like it so far.

Edit:  I ended up creating my own background pattern and using it instead of the pattern from squidfingers, simply because I wanted my background to better match the blog banner.  I'm pretty pleased with what I've created!  I think I'll keep this look for a least part of the winter.

Edited again in April when I changed the look.  I wanted to show the look that I had created and was talking about in this post.

Changes coming

I have plans to revive this blog for the new year. I'm planning pretty much a complete overhaul so please be patient with me as I experiment with changes

Trying something out

Just trying this out to see how it works

National Poetry Month Resources

April is National Poetry Month. I forgot about it until I read Becky's blog post about it. Thanks for the reminder, Becky, and for pointing me to some resources.

Here are some resources that I found in the order that I found them:

The GottaBook Blog is hosting a special 30 Poets/30 Days feature for April. Every day in April he will be posting a previously unpublished poem by a different poet and he provides a list of the participating poets on his blog. Sounds like something worth checking out. I haven't jumped on the Twitter wagon yet but if you have apparently you can following the 20poets30day on Twitter. The blog features mostly children's literature so I'm thinking these will be poems suitable for children.

On The League of Canadian Poets National Poetry Month Blog 2009 different League member's work will be featured each day during the month of April. I think this is more for adults. Unfortunately this is the only Canadian source that I could find.

Coloring and activities, craft ideas, and lesson plans from Crayola Calendar

The Academy of American Poets has a National Poetry Month page.
They offer a number of resources for poems to read. I signed up for their "poem a day" email. Their Great Poems to Teach page has a list, along with complete text of, 341 poems taught successfully in highschool classes. The Animated Text Flow Poems page has over 50 poems in flash animation.
They also offer a number of resources to help in writing poems. The NaPoWriMo Pledge Drive page challeges you to write and post a poem each day in April, they even have a board where you can post your poems, whether you participate in the pledge drive or not. In the Poet's Workshop there are three poem writing ideas: Poems Based on Works of Art, Give Chance a Chance, Unexpected Odes. The challenges are more fulling explained in the "Post and Workshop" message board posts so be sure to click through to check it out.

While reading The Academy of American Poets
Poem in Your Pocket Day page I thought about the PocketMod site I recently found and how it would work great for this. It gives instruction on how to fold a single sheet of paper into a 6 page mini booklet that will fit in your pocket. They even have a widget that you can use to design your booklet and you could use the custom page under the personal tab to type in a poem or poems you want to use.

I learned about the RePoWriMo (Refrigerator Poetry Writing Month) Blog through the boards on the Academy of American Poets site. The challenge it to write a poem a day using poetry magnets. If you don't have any you could always make your own or you can use the Online Magnetic Poetry site or the Shadow Poetry's Magnetic Word Poetry site.

The English Room's 30 Days of Poetry site is a couple of years old but the suggestions are still great. It offers 30 Days of ooetry writing ideas especially geared to middle and high school students.

On The Rubber Stamping Blog is a challenge to use poems on/in homemade cards, and for those that think poems must rhyme there is a link to Rhyme Zone for rhyming help. This is a really neat, fun tool for finding words that rhyme with your chosen word.

I have decided to make a special National Poetry Month blog for Canadian Home Educating bloggers. It is a place to share poems you or your children have read and also poems you or your children have written.

Inspired by the Academy of American Poets Poetry Read-a-thon idea, I am inviting Homeschooling Canadian bloggers to use the blog to serve as a master log to record and share the lists of poems they read during the month. You can also use the journaling prompt suggestions on the Poetry Read-a-thon to journal about the poems. Use power point or some such program to turn one of your favorite poems into an Animated Text Flow Poem or create and share a Free Verse Project using lines from your favorite poem.

Inspired by the NaPoWriMo Pledge Drive page I am inviting Homeschooling Canadian bloggers to use the blog to share poems that they write during April.

Wow! I didn't realize...

...it's been over a month since I posted here! Life has been crazy. I feel like the whole month of February was just a big blur.

I've been wanting to blog but not really sure what I wanted to say. Still feeling that way, actually. There's so much I want to share but I don't know where to start so I decided to finally just start and see what happens.

A year from the day he was diagnosed with cancer, FIL recieved his promotion to heaven. It was a day of mixed emotions - sadness because our time with him on earth had ended, relief that he was no longer suffering, and happiness that he was now walking the streets of gold.

The past year has been a stressful time for my family in many ways, but it's also been a time of growth. I hope we can hold on to the lessons we learned and continue to grow.

Anyway, I needed to get that off my chest before I could start posting about other things. I'm hoping to get back into posting more regularly but we'll have to wait and see if that actually happens or not.

The Financial Fitness Challenge

Have you heard about The Financial Fitness Challenge? I got an email about it today and was encouraged to pass the information on. It looks really neat. It is "an educational program designed to enrich the financial literacy of Canadian students sponsored by the Canadian Securities Administrators." There's a chance for children between the ages of 15 & 21 to win one of 13 scholarship prizes.

Here's some quotes from the email:

The Financial Fitness Challenge offers Canadian students the tools necessary to improve their financial education through the use of interactive activities, financial tips, and an online quiz. If students complete the quiz successfully they are entered into a draw to win one of 13 scholarship prizes worth $750, which can be used towards at-home curriculums. The contest runs February 2, 2009 to February 28, 2009.
This year, the Financial Fitness Challenge focuses on building partnerships with not only Canadian students, but with teachers, schools, parents and homeschooling networks like yours so that all Canadian students have a strong support system for understanding and enhancing their financial literacy. As a result, the Financial Fitness Challenge Website offers a multitude of resources to help parents and teachers engage their students with the program both at home and at school.

Be sure to take the time to check it out.

Family Literacy Day World Record Attempt

Heard about this from Alex. Family Literacy Day, established in Canada in 1999, is celebrated January 27 every year. To celebrate the 10th year anniversary, this year Canada is going for a world record - Most Children Reading with an Adult, Multiple Locations. The world record breaking attempt will take place January 23-24. To participate in the record breaking you can join a registered event or you can set up your own event. The deadline for registering an event is January 22. Be sure to check out all the requirements here. I'd love to hear from you about how you plan to take part.

Check out my new adventure!

I've challenged myself, and family and friends, to transform from Couch Potatoes to Road Runners in 2009.

It's been a long time!

I was having computer troubles and avoiding the computer as much as possible so as not to give into the urge to pitch it through the window. Thanks to my mom and sister, I now have a brand new laptop, so computer troubles are gone and I'm ready to get back on track. Now I have to get used to the new keyboard and the new operating system. :) Fun! Fun!! Fun!!!

3 years old!

That's how old Little One is today and here she is trying out her birthday gift - her very own digital camera!



And here she is trying out her camera in the field. She insisted we had to go on a hike so she could take some pictures.



I'm sure you will be seeing some of her pictures in future posts. :)

A beginner driver

Yesterday I took my girl into town to write the test for her learners permit and she passed! I even let her drive herself to work last night, with me in with her, of course. She did a good job, though she was quite nervous. She even got to drive home from work! Her big brother picked her up in his truck and let her drive home! I still can't quite believe that. It really made her day. I still haven't managed to get a picture of her holding her permit. She was busy tarring shingles for her dad most of the day today. :) She's one amazing girl and I love her to bits!

Sweet Sixteen

That's how old my oldest daughter turned today. She said she didn't want anything special for her birthday but I had to make it special somehow. She's such a treasure I just couldn't let the day pass without doing something special for her. She had to work this afternoon so I got busy while she was working. I got some little balls of her favorite chocolates, wrapped them in squares of tissue paper tied with ribbon and stuck them on a clubhouse toothpick so that it looked like a little flower. I made 16 of these and got one of her best guy buddies to help me round up 16 guys to deliver them, one at a time, into her at her place of work. It was so much fun, and she loved it! She didn't have a clue that I was behind it all until she got home. I meant to get a picture of her with them but I forgot - hopefully tomorrow.

The picture above is one she took of herself with the candy bouquet her aunt made for her for her birthday.

An unexpected guest at our door

One day this week Little One and I were in the living room when we heard a faint knock knock at the door. We looked at each other, and Little One said, "Somebody's at the door". I had been wondering if I had actually heard a knock or not, but decided I must have so I went to answer the door. We have a window in our door and you can clearly see who's at the door before you get to the door. I was kind of surprised to not see anyone, and then I thought maybe somebody was playing tricks on us and hiding by the side of the door, so I went closer to see. That's when I saw the woodpecker sitting on the railing of our bridge! It flew away before I got a chance to let Little One get a glimpse at it but she thought it was pretty funny that a woodpecker was knocking at our door. She likes to tell everyone about it.

Though I didn't get a picture of the woodpecker that was at our door that day, DD did get a picture of a woodpecker on one of our walks a week or so ago. This woodpecker didn't seem to notice us and stayed there knocking at the trees close by when we walked by. I wonder was he the same one that came knocking at our door?

The beauty of frost

The ground was covered with frost this morning, but it was a beautiful day. The girls and I decided to go for a walk and we were amazed by the beauty of the frost. Here are some pictures that DD took:








Little One wanted to take a picture too, so here's the one that she took:

I smoked the house out!

I tried to light the wood stove this afternoon, but failed miserably! I just cannot manage to get it lit without splits and we were out of splits. It drives me crazy when that happens! Anyway, I didn't get it lit but it sure created a lot of smoke. DH made it even worse when he tried to light it! I ended up taking the girls for a ride just to get them out of the smoke filled house. Dh finally had the fire going and the smoke cleared out when we got home. I'm kind of glad he had the same problem. He seems kind of peed at me for having difficulty, but he couldn't say much when he had the same trouble. He also made more splits for me. :)

Failing miserably

It seems that I have lost all desire to write anything right now. The good thing is that I have done more house cleaning, playing with little one, and scrapping than I have for a long while, but the sad thing is I was really hoping to get to write more. I have been more faithful in writing on my scrapping blog than I have this one, but that's because I've also been scrapping so I have things to share on that blog.

Opps! Gotta run! DD just came and told me that NCIS is coming on. It's our show to watch together. Chow!

Home Again!

Yippeeee!!!! Not so happy to come home to a sink full of dishes and a couch full of clothes and garbage! Some young man is going to get a tongue banging when I see him tomorrow. He's staying at a friend's place tonight.

It's so hot!

I can't wait to get back to my nice cold house. :) Every time we visit the inlaws I suffer with the heat in their house. They have a wood stove and they often make it so hot that they have to open the windows to cool down, and then they stuff the stove again to heat it up again! I can't take the heat at all! I spend most of my time in the bedroom with the window wide open.

We have a wood stove at home and DH tends to do the same routine as his parents with overheating the place, but I think I'm finally getting through to him that you don't have to do that. He's not been home much lately and I've had to control the woodstove and I've managed to do it just fine without having those times when the heat is unbearable.

The temperature outside here is not at all hot. Actually, it's quite cold. Little one was looking for mittens this morning when she was outside with her dad while he was doing some yard work for his mother. I went out for a while too, just to get out of the heat of the house. It hit me in the face when I came back in though.

Regular visitors to my house know to dress warm or bring a sweater because I prefer to have the heat on the cool side. My philosophy is that you can always add another layer until you get to a temperture that youare comfortable with if you're cold but you can only remove so many layers when you're hot. :)

Not doing so well...

...with the blogging challenge. :( I missed posting again yesterday. I tell you, I am really having trouble adjusting to the time change. It's thrown me right out of whack. I didn't even realize that I hadn't posted yesterday. Oh well, I've failed to meet my goal of posting every day in November, but I'm still going to try to post everyday. I need to work on a routine of some sort.

Anyway, nothing exciting to share today. We had a 6 hour drive today. We are visiting DH's home. FIL is still in the hospital so that means that most of the time I'm at home trying to keep letting one from tearing MIL's house apart while everyone else is visiting at the hospital. I'm trying real hard to keep a right attitude but it is hard. I usually stay in our home rather than make the trip to visit with DH simply because it is easier on Little One and I to be in our own familiar territory, but we came to visit this time because it's been a while since we have and it will probablly be a while before we do again. The weather will soon interfere with the visits as winter driving is not fun, especially in the area of the island were DH is from. It was nice to see Little One giving her grandfather hugs and kisses today, and I know he enjoyed it. I wish he was at home so we could spend more time with him but we can only keep her in the hospital for so long.

Anyway, I have to go try to get her to settle down again.

Ack!!! I missed posting yesterday!

Yesterday was a crazy day at my house. It started with a bang and kept on throughout the day.

I didn't manage to get anything done in the morning before little one got up. Once she was under foot I accomplished little without her right by my side.

We had library books that needed to be returned to the library. The library is in a community an hour away. Our community library is just about a two minute walking distance away from us but we don't like going to it because it is a part of the highschool. It's just not as comfortable walking in there during school hours so we go to the library in the community I grew up in. We usually make a fun day of it, though lately we haven't been able to do that so much because of the tightness of finances. Anyway, that cut into my time yesterday to do anything else.

I also had a scrapbooking layout that I had to get done yesterday to get posted today. I didn't get to work on that because Little One was underfoot so I was up til 1 in the morning finishing that.

The really sad thing is that I didn't get to do any writing yesterday at all! I just can't concentrate on writing when little one is stuck to me like she was yesterday.

I'm wondering if I'm going to get any done today. I haven't yet, because once again little one is stuck to me. I was hoping to get some time tonight but DH is out and I feel sleep calling. This is also my TV night. So You Think You Can Dance Canada and NCIS come on tonight. I'm so tired I'm not sure I'll last through them so I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. I'm sure going to have a lot of making up to do when I finally get to sit and write.

Does anyone else find that all you want to do is sleep since the times went back? It's really affected DD#1 and I.

Enough rambling from me. I've done my post for today and I'm off to try to stay awake and see what I can accomplish.

I need more time in my days!!

I'm going crazy trying to fit in everything that I want to do!

I did manage to fit in some writing this morning before the girls got up. I'm now up to 3633 words in my novel, but that's still short of where I should be by the end of the day. I really need to find some time to write a bit more tonight to stay on target, but I don't know if that's going to happen.

I have a scrapbooking layout that is due to be posted in a forum Wednesday night, and I haven't even started it yet. I only finally got an idea of what I want to do for it this afternoon, and it's just a rough idea that still needs lots of thought. I was really hoping to get to work on that tonight, but I don't see that happening either.

I'm bushed! I feel like I need to go to bed. I've had a good day.

Did some great work with DD#1. Especially enjoyed teaching her some math topics that we hadn't touched on before. I think she got them. Also had some fun with her playing the guitar hero game DS#1 bought this weekend. He said it's an early Christmas present for the family.

I also had fun with little one. She's discovered how to use scissors and had a ball cutting up paper today. I spent most of the day picking up the scraps. She did have some very creative moments. She made a fish and a bird and a witches hat. She's so cute! I need to try to get pictures of these creations of hers.

I also managed to do my wii fit today! DD#1 and I bought the wii fit as an early family Christmas present a few weeks back. I've set a goal for myself to try to do some wii fit every day during the month of November. It is so much fun and I feel great when I do it.

Anyway, I think I'm going to call it a night and hopefully get up early again tomorrow and accomplish something before the girls get up again.

Outward vs inward

I was struck by a portion of the scripture that I read during my Bible reading time today. A section of 2 Chronicles 30:18-19 says "May the good Lord provide atonement for everyone who prepares his heart to seek the Lord God of his father, though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary."

This is a part of Hezekiah's prayer during a passover ceremony he conducted as part of the restoration of temple worship during his reign as king. There had been very strict rules about how people were to prepare themselves to take part in the passover but these rules had been neglected. It may be because they had forgotten the rules or because they just didn't take the time to follow them, the scripture is not clear on that. Whatever it was, King Hezekiah prays that God would look past the outward and look at the hearts of the people.

I believe this is something that God is much more willing to do than we are. I think it is us, not God, that gets hung up on the outward. May we, like Hezekiah, learn to look past the outward, because if the heart is right, the outward will eventually follow, but it doesn't do one bit of good to have everything in place on the outward and not have the heart in it.

NaBloWriMo

Okay, so I think I'm crazy, but.....inspired by Penelope, I, too, am going to attempt to blog every day for the month of November. I didn't actually sign up to be a member of NaBloPoMo, so I am unofficially doing this, but I think it's a great challenge.

I am going to be so busy this month trying to meet the NaNoWriMo challenge that I won't have much time to put much thought into my blog posts but I am going to try to post something everyday. It may simply amount to an update as to how I am doing in the NaNoWriMo challenge, or something as mundane as that so don't expect anything wonderful.

Anyone else want to join us in this challenge? I'd love to hear from you if you do.

BTW, I did start the NaNoWriMo challenge today. This morning I managed to pound out 1588 words towards my goal of 50,000 words. I've set myself a goal of doing approximately 1500 words a day, broken up into three slots of time and aiming for 500 words per time slot. I figure there will be some days when I go over and some days when I go under but that should get me close to the goal.

I was shocked when I sat down this morning and wrote over 1500 words without stopping! Funny thing is I really hadn't decided what I was going to write until I started. I had a rough idea in mind with one main character and one supporting character but that's it. I didn't even have the characters well thought out at all, but it seems to be falling into place.

I'm hoping to get some more time to write later today. I think I need to take advantage of this momentum because I don't think it's going to last. Would be great if it did, but reality is that I won't always have the time I would like to write, so I must take advantage of the time when it comes.

This is not a story that I have any illusions of ever having published or anything, it is something simply for me. I have always loved to write and always wanted to write a book and maybe some day I will, but this one is just for me. The main character is based very loosely on my maternal grandmother and the story is based roughly on her life. The supporting character is based loosely on my maternal grandfather. I also love to work on family history and would love to some day put together a family history that could be passed on to our relatives. Maybe this will give me more of a drive to do that too.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed my writing time this morning and rather than feeling drained and not wanting to write anything else, as I thought might happened, I feel inspired to write more and want to try to keep my blogs updated during this time. I sure hope this continues!

NaNoWriMo page for Canadian Home Educators

Woah! It's been a long time since I posted. Life has been extremely crazy! Not only have I not posted, I also have not been reading or commenting on blogs much. Sorry about that, everyone, but sometimes you have to let things go for a while. We've had some stressful things happening and some major changes in our household. I really miss reading and commenting on the blogs and I'm hoping to find more time for it before too long.

DD#1 and I are loving working our way through the highschool hand book on the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program site. It is great! We're getting excited about November! It's definitely going to be crazy times.

Because I noticed that a few of the participants in the Canadian Home Educators Blog Carnival have mentioned that they are going to be taking part in the NaNoWriMo, I decided to start a special group page for Canadian Home Educators, especially blog carnival participants, on the main NaNoWriMo site. You can find the page here. I thought it would be nice for us to be able to encourage and share with one another as we take on the challenge.

Hopefully my blog won't be totally neglected during Novemeber, while I'm working on my word count for NaNoWriMo, but I'm not making any promises. :)

NaNoWriMo

Have you heard about NaNoWriMo? How about NaNoWriMo's Young Writers Program? If you haven't you should check it out. Tonia reminded me of it recently. I wrote a post about it on the HSN blog I manage. It's worth checking out, I promise. If you decide to try it out, let me know.

Little One Discovers YouTube!

I fear I've lost the use of my computer! Little one has discovered nursery rhymes and songs on YouTube!



It all started innocently enough when she crawled up onto my lap while I was working on the computer and asked me to sing to her. She fed me the songs she wanted me to sing. I got stuck on the words to one of her requests, Hush Little Baby, and did a google search to find them. That's when we discovered the world of YouTube Children's Songs and Nursery Rhymes.

We listened to a number together, with me clicking to different ones to try. Little one was enthralled! Finally I'd had enough and needed to do other things. Little one wanted more. I set her up to listen to one while I went to do some housework. She sat happily singing along.



Suddenly I noticed that the song I had set up was done and another had started! She had discovered how to use the mouse and start the next song! I was in shock! I had to be sure it wasn't a fluke. I let her alone and watched in amazement as she did it again and again.



All is lost! I know have to share my computer with my not quite 3 year old!

National Newspaper Week

Did you know there was any such thing? Did you know that this week is National Newspaper Week? I didn't. I never heard of it before, until last month when I was searching for possible learning themes for the month. It was listed on the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers Association (NLTA) 2008/09 Observances Poster. It piqued my curiousity and I went searching. There wasn't much to be found. I couldn't find any mention of National Newspaper Week in any Canadian or Newfoundland and Labrador resources. If anyone knows of any please point them out to me.

I did manage to find some American references to it and some resources for it. I also managed to find some Canadian resources that could be used in a newspaper themed study so I put together a post about National Newspaper Week for the HSN blog that I am co-ordinator for. You can check it out by clicking here if you're interested. There are some really great resources there.

Oh, and by the way, the 25th edition of the Canadian Home Educator's Blog Carnival has been posted. Be sure to check it out if you haven't already.

A saluate to my firefighters!

This week is Fire Safety Week. Earlier today I published a post about it on the Newfoundland and Labrador Homeschool Nations blog that I am co-ordinator for. In that post you will find all kinds of links to information and activities. Inspired by Fire Safety Week I decided to post a saluate to my own firefighters.

DH is the Fire Chief of our community's volunteer fire department. I searched through my pictures for a picture of him in his fire gear to post but I couldn't find one.

DS#1 has been a member of the volunteer fire department for almost three years. He couldn't wait to be old enough to join and he sent his application in the day of his 18th birthday. He loves the work and has actually decided that it is something he would like to do as a career.

Here are some shots of him in action:







Being on a volunteer fire department means that you are on call 24/7. They both have their pagers attached to them at all times during the day and the pagers are sitting on their night tables by their beds at night. The pager may go off at any time and if at all possible you are expected to respond ASAP. This is something that my men do quite willingly. Sometimes it's quite funny to watch them scrabble the second the pager starts buzzing.

I am proud of them for their willingness to give up their time to be an asset to our community. I am thankful for all the members of our volunteer fire department that do the same. They are a very important part of our community and today I want to send out a salute to them all.

Featured in the 25th edition of the Canadian Home Educators Blog Carnival

Prayers for the Stauffers

Juanita, a dear friend and fellow homeschooler, could use your prayers. Her 14 year old daughter, Emily, was attacked and killed while on a walk yesterday afternoon. Emily was a beautiful young lady inside and out. Her dad wrote a short blog post about it today.

Accept your self part 2

I found Celtic Mom's post through Mary's post, and what they were saying went along with the accepting yourself journey I've been on.

Celtic Mom talks about how we compare yourselves to others and end up with an "unjustified inferiority complex". She reminds us that we are all unique and each one of us is special in some way, but the sad thing is that we tend to focus on what we think is wrong with ourselves instead of on what is right. She challenges us to find pride and joy in being who we are, instead of wishing we were someone else.

That's not always easy, but it is important. We have to remember that God created each one of us unique and if we are busy trying to be someone else, then we are missing God's plan to be who He means for us to be. Instead of looking at others and trying to be like them we need to look at ourselves and be who we were meant to be.

I know all this, but I still couldn't bring myself to list 10 things I like about myself like Celtic Mom and Mary asked. I like the idea, but it's just too hard. Sorry. I am, however, working on seeing the positives, not the negatives, and even trying to realize that some of what I see as negatives may in fact be positives. I am meant to be me, not a carbon copy of someone else.

Accept yourself as you are

I seem to have struck a cord with many with my recent talk about how much I hate pictures of myself and how I'm trying to get over it. For many years now I have joked that I am alergic to cameras. I avoid them, at least the front of them, as much as I can. You would not believe how many paper pictures I have ripped up and how many digital pictures I have deleted over the years. Because of that, there are very few pictures of me, especially since I've been married and had kids.

Finding the scrapbooking hobby a few years ago made me realize how sad that is. According to pictures, I have pretty well been absent from our family's life for years. I can't go back and change the past, but I can change the future, and I've been trying to work on that, but I really haven't been that successful. I haven't been able to let go of the fact that I don't like pictures of myself. But I need to get over that. The importance of it was really driven home to me recently by this blog post, which was drawn to my attention the day after the writer of the post died, just a few days more than a month after she wrote the first post.

Earlier this month DD was getting ready to go out and looking like her beautiful self and I wanted to take a picture of her. She agreed on one condition, I had to get in the picture with her. Reluctantly I agreed. I hate me in the pictures. I almost deleted them right afterwards, but I kept them for her. I've never posted them anywhere but I am going to post them here as encouragement for you. Here are the pictures DD took that day:




Here are a couple of pictures I took of myself and Little One the day after I read the post I linked above:




And here's one I took of me. The great thing about a digital camera is that you can take lots and delete lots until you finally come up with one that is passable, if not totally acceptable. This was the best of the many that I took so you can imagine how bad the others were. ;)




I challenge you to do as the lady I linked to above said, "hand over the camera and get in those photos!", or have some fun taking some self photos of you with your kids, or even you alone. Don't let another day pass with your kids not having a picture of you, especially one of you with them. You may not like what you look like in the pictures, but it is the you that your kids love. Be brave - get in those pictures, and keep them, and post them even. Accept yourself as you are.