Bad Pet Mommy!

Today's Friday Fail is about being a bad pet owner, because I am a bad pet owner. Really, I wouldn't want to be my pet...

We have two beautiful, old Irish Setters. One of them kept licking her hind end. So I wormed her. I assumed that since it's Spring, all kinds of creepy crawlies came out and made their way into her system.

Only her problem wasn't worms, it was an perianal fistula which I let go too long (assuming it was worms) only to have it turn into a big infection. When I finally realized something more sinister was going on I took her to the vet.

She had to stay the night at the vet, be sedated, have her bottom sheared and flushed and is now on antibiotics and steroids. Bad pet mommy!! Bad! No treat for me!

Look at the pitiful thing...thank goodness she still loves me. If only we could all love and forgive as easily as dogs!

Linked To:

Friday Fails at My Blessed Life

Making A Difference

I'm sitting here bawling my eyes out watching my DVR'd American Idol. Yes. American Idol. The show all about kooks singing off key, belittling poor performances and weird fashion trends. So why am I bawling my eyes out? Because of Annie Lennox, darn her. Did you see her segment? If not, here it is.

It breaks a mother's heart. If something (God forbid) were to happen to Shane and myself, I pray someone would care for our children. That they would not languish. I feel so selfish. There are so many in need. Where do you start? How do you start? I often have an overwhelming feeling of not being able to make a difference. There are so many.

It is during those down times when I am reminded that I am not called to save everyone, simply to do as much as I can. And while I can't save everyone; the difference I make to one makes all the difference.

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-18

Bright and Shiny Lights of Public School

The week before Tony and Billy moved in, I went to their public school to meet with Billy's IEP case worker.

As I walked through the halls, I have to admit, I felt a touch of nostalgia. Under the glaring fluorescent lights, I smiled at the neat rows of lockers and water fountains. I sighed at the sound of my sneakers squeaking on the highly polished floors. And for a quick moment I wondered...

Would they be better off to continue roaming these clean and ordered halls? Would my children be better off to join them?

Then I was taken into a meeting room where I met with the case worker, another teacher and their boss. For an hour and a half we went over Billy's situation; the areas where he excelled and the areas where he was deficient. My head was swimming as they rattled off unknown acronyms and educational terminology.

My confidence wavered as I listened to them share their knowledge of what Billy needs and how to give it to him. I was silenced by their shiny name badges and impressive job titles, by their IEP student-teacher ratio of 4:1.

And if I'm honest, I was silenced by their big hearts. They loved Billy and didn't want to see him go. They had a passion for their work and wanted to help him succeed. And they had the US Government with its lovely green dollars backing them.

What was I thinking, believing that I could homeschool this kid? I don't have a degree!

But at some point in the meeting, my confidence returned. I noticed that Billy is in 6th grade, has been in this IEP program since 2nd grade, and he is reading and writing on a 3rd grade level on a good day, a very good day. In four years he has had a maximum of one year of academic improvement.

The IEP worker suggested I "go back to the beginning" and reteach him "everything". She explained that he does not yet know his short vowel sounds and that may be the reason he has such trouble spelling and sounding out words.

Billy is truly "one of those students" who has been lost in the system.

They can help, they know what to do; they have the staff, the tools and the money to do it. But it hasn't happened. I'm sure a large part of the problem had to do with the disconnect at home. But still...

Looking at the whole picture I realized, I may not have a degree, or a shiny badge or an impressive title. My house may not be squeaky clean or uber-organized, and I surely don't have a large homeschooling budget.

But what I do have to offer is one-on-one attention, 24 hour support, a myriad of learning tools and a whole lot of love, support, patience and encouragement. Surely we can do better for him.

Fun Rainy Day Activity

With a rainy weekend behind me and at least another two rainy days to go, we've been having fun with one of my favorite rainy day activities. Shrinky Dinks!!

Sweet Spirit

(I just love sleeping shots...)

That sweet little angel shown above can be a mean little cuss and he's been known to throw his share of tantrums. But generally he's a very sweet little boy. I love him dearly. As parents, we try very hard to nurture the kind and giving side of our children. That's why when Bram and I had the exchange below my eyes misted with tears and my heart swelled with pride.

I was standing at the sink washing dishes and wiping down counters when Bram came up behind me.

"You clean us house?" Eyebrows raised in question.

"Yes darling, Mommy is cleaning our house."

"Tanks (a.k.a. thanks) Mommy." He said sweetly with a big smile on his face.

Those two simple words touched my heart and made every pile of laundry worthwhile. How do you nurture kindness and appreciation in your children?

Kicking and Screaming

Do you know how I'm feeling, can you commiserate? If I looked on the outside how I feel on the inside, I would be sitting here with my arms crossed, huffing and rolling my eyes.

Why?

Because I'm about to take on something I don't want to do, but know I need to. I'm about to share things I don't want to, but I know I should in order to hold myself accountable.

I'm about to embark on a weight loss journey.

Don't applaud, don't pat me on the back. How I'm feeling right now, I very well may bite your hand off. Grrrr.

If you've read this blog for a while you know that after Bram was born I lost 30 lbs and kept it off a couple of years. But, as I've gotten better at cooking without dairy and finding substitutes, I've slowly added all kinds on unhealthy junk back into my diet. Like cake and ice cream, fudge and cookies and more. Yeah, I'm a sweets girl.

Not to mention I'm the epitome of "fat and happy". If life is good, I'm eating. And praise God, life is good right now!

I've never been a yo-yo dieter, the weight has just crept up on me. I think the main reasons for my weight gain before and now are that I'm making poor food choices, my metabolism has slowed as I've gotten older and I am terribly inactive. Not to make excuses, but a tremendous amount of my day is spent sitting due to homeschooling and breastfeeding.

In order to help remedy these situations, I'm going to share it all. Here. So let's get to it.

I've managed to pack back on about 22 lbs of the original 30 I lost. I am medium-boned, 5' 4" tall, I weigh 160 lbs and I comfortably wear a size 10.

For me, this journey is going to be all about my BMI. The above stats put my BMI at 27.5 - that's overweight. Ugh. To make this journey more enjoyable, and to help keep myself motivated, I've decided to break this process down into 3 smaller goals rather than one large one. The goals are as follows:

A Healthy BMI : For my height I will need to lose about 15 lbs in order to get my BMI down to the healthy maximum of 24.9 and a weight of 145 lbs

My Goal BMI and Weight : I will need to lose about 30 lbs in order to get to my goal weight where I feel and look my best. That equals a weight of 130 lbs and a BMI of 22.3

My Dream Weight : This is that "magic number" I dream of being on the scale. I am 100% fine with the idea that I may never reach this goal. Once I reach the first two goals, if I find this one to be unrealistic I will let it go. My dream weight is 120 lbs, which would still be in the "normal" BMI range at 20.6

That just about sums it up. I'll be sharing my successes and failures here and striving to participate in the Weekly Weigh In over at Kris' (who you may know from Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers) weight loss blog Eclipsed.

Do You Think Christian Women Should Cover Their Heads or Hair?

(image from The Hijab Shop)

1 Corinthians 11:6 If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut of shaved off, she should cover her head. (NIV)

This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately.

As a young girl I distinctly remember draping a blanket or scarf over my head in play, pretending to be from another country. I thought a head covering was a beautiful and strange tradition.

I've always had a bit of an obsession with whatever I consider to be exotic. My poor mother had her work cut out for her trying to convince me that no, I couldn't have beautifully elongated Asian eyes no matter how hard I pulled at the corners of my own, it just wasn't the way God made me.

And while I've never had fantastic fashion sense, I've spent years admiring 40s fashion and wishing women's hats would become 'all the rage' again. But this interest was strictly fashion based, not a spiritual conviction.

However, recently I've met several women who wear a head covering because they feel it is an important practice to observe in their Christianity. It's not an elaborate head covering, just a simple kerchief; to be honest at first I just thought they wore it because they were crunchy or old fashioned.

So I started considering the idea myself. And of course I did a little research which led to other beautiful options like veils, bonnets, snoods (love these!) and the piece de resistance, the hijab.

So what do you think, should Christian women consider covering their heads? Are you a Christian woman who covers her head? Why or not? I'd really love to know!

Too Much Education Can Be A Bad Thing

Sometimes I have to wonder about this homeschooling thing. I mean, I'm all for my kids learning as much as they can, but being that I'm their teacher, this means I'm learning with them.

Now I'm generally not a hypochondriac, little ailments and questions don't bother me.

But since I've learned about things I otherwise wouldn't have, sometimes this new found information has a way of surfacing at inopportune times.

For instance, I'm growing my hair out to donate. For the first time in two years I have hair laying on the back of my neck. I believe this is what's causing an occasional unnerving, creepy, crawly feeling up the back of my neck. Rational, right?

However, even though I've never been to Central America, thanks to a recent quick-study on said topic, all I can think is...

BOT FLIES!! Aaarrrrgggghhhhh!

Un-Beer Battered Fish

I don't fry our food too often, but lately my husband been pining for fish and chips. So I obliged.

(this is where I would insert a mouthwatering photo if only I could find my camera!)

I didn't have any beer on hand, so I whipped up a substitute. While this isn't quite as fluffy as beer battered, it's still tasty and crispy!

Cod (or other hearty white fish) cut into 3" x 4" strips

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning (optional)

2/3 cup water

1 1/2 tsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp baking soda

Oil for frying

Pat your fish dry, VERY DRY or the batter will not stick to it, with paper towels. Heat your oil. Combine flour, salt old bay and water, stir until smooth. In a small bowl combine the baking soda and vinegar, then quickly add to flour mixture. Still gently until incorporated. Dip the fish, one piece at a time, in the batter. Allow the excess batter to drip off. Place the fish in the hot oil (it must be hot enough to bubble and hiss as soon as it's added or your fish will not be crispy). Fry for about 4 minutes on each side, or until done, flipping once. When the fish is done, transfer to a cooling rack to dry and cool.

Obviously this turns a perfectly healthy piece of fish into a heart attack on a plate. But every once and a while it's a nice treat.

Linked To:

Tasty Tuesday

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

25 Cent Blizzards From Dairy Queen!

Make sure you stop by you local Dairy Queen this week. In honor of their 25th anniversary they are running a special deal. For every Blizzard you purchase at regular price you get another one of equal or lesser value for only 25 cents!!

Weekly Wrap Up

This was a pretty good week. While I didn't add as many subjects as I would have liked and I didn't get to do an "art at the park" day I planned due to rain, I can still say it was enjoyable and productive. I wish I had taken some photos!

Since I don't have any great projects or photos to share, I'll just give you a quick rundown by child :)

Tony: While he still isn't sold on the whole homeschool thing yet, I think Tony enjoyed this week more than last. I was more organized and had some more challenging work for him. Plus I let him stop reading the book on Benedict Arnold which he wasn't enjoying and now have he and Fox reading the same book. I think he likes the camaraderie.

Fox: I had to put my foot down with Fox a few times this week. Due to his excitement of having"the boys" here with homeschool he's been off the wall goofy and disruptive. But aside from that he enjoyed this week too. He's reading Nothing to Fear along with Tony and enjoying it. He seems to enjoy books based in the era of the Great Depression.

Billy: In my time watching and listening to Billy read I found that part of his reading issue is that he's so used to compensating that he relies on his early sight words rather than slowing down, looking at unknown words and sounding them out. So this week we concentrated on simply trying to slow down and intentionally look at each word.

Bram: Bram is doing much better with his constipation issues. Hallelujah! I had to break down and give him suppositories twice. He hated it. I hated it. It was awful. But finally, he's beginning to not hold it as much. He's reluctantly gone twice on his own with no assistance other than extra fiber. Hopefully he'll be fully back to normal soon.

Linked To:

Weekly Wrap Up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Friday Fails - Pampered Chef

My Friday Fails revolve around my pitiful excuse for a Pampered Chef party.

I love Pampered Chef, they have the coolest gadgets and best knives. Since a fellow homeschool mama friend of mine is a representative, I decided to have a party. But you see, a few unexpected things came up and

I FAILED to mail the invitations.

My friend called to remind me of the upcoming party and I admitted my mistake. She was very gracious, and we rescheduled. Except

I FAILED to remember that on the rescheduled date other family members had other activities/get togethers going on.

So it ended up being just me and two others. But again, she was very gracious and we all had a good time! I decided to wait a week to close the party in case there were any outside orders. I promised to bring the orders to co-op with me the following week, except

I FAILED to bring the orders to co-op...twice!

So I finally met her at her house with all the orders, including my own. We visited and chatted and had a good time. Then we got down to closing the order and all went well, except

I FAILED to bring my check!!

Grrr! I felt like such an idiot. How much more could I expect this poor woman to put up with?? She was so sweet and understanding, and I ran the check out to her the very next day, but seriously, how rude of me! I've been known to pull a few harebrained stunts in my day, but this was ridiculous! I'm usually not this forgetful, seriously.

Stop laughing.

Linked To:

Friday Fails at My Blessed Life

Never Eat Unattended Goldfish

I read this HILARIOUS post from Sprittibee, Hello My Name Is Heather And I Steal French Fries, and it triggered a memory I had hoped to forget.

When Fox was little I bought him some goldfish, not swimming fish, the cheesy crackers.

I had some chores to do so I gave him a bowlful, turned on his favorite cartoons and went about my afternoon, sweeping this and dusting that. Later on, when the chores were done and Fox had moved on to playing in his room, I spied the bowl of goldfish sitting unattended on the couch.

They called my name.

I plopped down on the couch and munched on their cheesy goodness. After I had polished off most of the bowl, my husband Shane came meandering into the living room. After noticing the mostly empty bowl on my lap he asked (with a touch of disgust on his face)...

You didn't eat those did you?

Yes.

The cat licked all the salt off them!

(I freaked a little)...

Gross! How was I supposed to know? Why did you leave them on the couch if you knew the cat licked them? ? Oh man, cats lick their butts! GROSS!!

So now you know. My name is Cheryl and I eat cat spit. Don't judge me.

A Little Linky Love

As you may know, once or twice a month I post a list of fantastic homeschool links over at The Homeschool Classroom. I really enjoy doing this. My only complaint is that I always have too many links to share and drive myself crazy trying to fit them all in. And then I sometimes have the problem of wanting to share a really insightful post that has nothing to do with homeschooling. Dilemma! So in order to alleviate this problem I thought I would start my own Linky Love post series. I don't know yet if I'll make this a weekly ritual or not, we'll see.

So let's get started shall we? Here's a few posts that I've really enjoyed lately.

Do You Know About The Napkin - My Child's View

This post really spoke to me. I had never heard the story of the burial napkin Jesus folded and laid aside after he was resurrected. Have you? It's very moving.

A Blast From The Past - The Pioneer Woman

Remember those "plant" desserts where you use oreo cookies for the "dirt"? Yum!

What To Do When You Want To Give Up And Stay In Bed - Holy Experience

Because whether it's been for a moment, a season, or longer, we've all been there. These uplifting words can help.

25 Must Read Homeschooling Articles For Newbies - Jimmie's Collage

A wonderful collection of inspiration and advice to get you started and keep you going.

Do You Have A High Schooler? - The Tie That Binds Us

Great resources for helping your high schooler prepare for college.

My Kind of Music?

I'm the mother of a toddler. My days of rockin' with Metallica and jammin' with Nirvana are gone.

If not gone, then at least suspended.

Now, instead of belting out a little old school Mariah Carey in the shower or humming a Red Hot Chili Peppers tune while washing dishes, I find myself singing music of an entirely different genre.

And although it's different, I have to admit...I like it. A lot.

Seriously, have you seen The Backyardigans? They rock.

C'mon! You know you want to sing along. "Ho Daddy, Ho Daddy!"

And there are even better ones that I couldn't find on YouTube like the bluegrass song from the Newspaper Boy episode, or the ones about the Gilded, Golden Butterfly.

It makes a mama not even miss her old music.

Fun With Writing Assignments

I recently (like last week) began a new writing program with the big'uns , as I like to call them. Tony, 14; Fox 14; and Billy, 12 are working through Wordsmith Apprentice. There are pretty big differences in ability, creativity and interests among the boys; each having different strengths and weaknesses. So, as I was agonizing over which writing curriculum to choose, I came up with a few guidelines to make the writing process easier for everyone, including me!

Tailor the writing program to the youngest (or the one who struggles the most). We want learning to write (or anything else for that matter) to be a positive experience. It is much easier to assign extra work (like more paragraphs, vocabulary etc.) to the advanced than to teach abstract concepts to those who aren't yet ready. Allowing everyone to feel masterful, rather than having one who is continually lagging, creates a much more positive learning environment.

For those who struggle, limit the work to 10-15 minutes a day. Our natural inclination is to push, push, push, and require more, more, more for improvement. But this method backfires because it leads to frustration and exasperation. You will have more improvement, higher self esteem and fewer battles if the child can look forward to making small successes every day rather than having each day be an uphill battle.

Throw propriety out the window. (You'll see what I mean in a minute.) I come from a long line of smart-mouth sarcastics, so does my husband. Because of this we run a pretty tight ship when it comes to how we joke with one another as a family. But when it comes down to it, what boy doesn't like to joke about poop, farts, blood and guts, living like a "gangsta" or whatever? So, when it comes to creative writing, very few topics are off limits. This lends a bit of excitement to the whole process and can lead to friendly competition in creativity.

Following these guidelines we had pain free writing assignments last week and some pretty um, interesting creativity flowing. To illustrate, one assignment was for the boys to make up questions for a job application. The questions could be for the "job" of being their friend or an unusual job of their choosing. Below are their jobs and a few of their questions (along with my commentary); I have to say I thought the were quite funny!

Tony: His application was for being The World's Heaviest Athlete.

Are you over 300 lbs? (The job is for the heaviest athlete)

Can you squirt milk from your eye? (Because that always comes in handy)

Are you under the age of 30? (Because you can't possibly be fit over 30)

Fox: His application was to apply to be his Friend.

Do you like chicken? (Because that's important)

Are you a bigot? (Nobody likes a bigot)

Do you lick used toilet paper? (Because that's just gross)

Billy: His job application was to become a Professional Money Launderer

Nickname? (Because everyone has a handle)

Plan B? (In case the whole money laundering thing goes south)

Plan C? (In case the coppers are after ya!)

These kids crack me up! So what do you think? Do you think this structure gave freedom to their creativity?

I've Been Invited to The Savvy Blogging Summit!

I received some very exciting news this weekend.

I've been invited to attend the Savvy Blogging Summit!

I am ecstatic! Since I read the email I've been positively giddy. This is a truly fantastic opportunity to learn and network like never before. But it's not set in stone. I have only a few weeks to secure sponsorship or raise funds. So I will be busy putting together sponsorship tiers and emailing companies I would be honored to represent. If I do not receive sponsorship I will be forced to respectfully decline the invitation.

If I have to decline I hope you all will help lift my spirits by participating in the gigantic pity party I will most certainly throw for myself. Honestly, even if I am not able to attend, it is an honor to simply have been invited.

I am in awe of the company I keep. Check out these other invitees:

Frugal Femina

Mama's Laundry Talk

Amy's Finer Things

Many Little Blessings

Eat At Home

Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Feels Like Home

Smockity Frocks

Journey to Retirement

Raising Arrows

Wow right? I know! It's exciting and intimidating all at once. Many thanks to BlogFrog for sponsoring the Savvy Blogging Summit. This is a conference that promises to be like no other!