tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-173565802012-01-18T14:59:18.668-05:00Life, culture, theology, & politics through the eyes of a midwestern mom....Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.comBlogger8291100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-58765261345069419102012-01-07T20:11:00.001-05:002012-01-07T20:11:08.096-05:00

My exciting new year's news is that I am going to be a grandma. All else pales in comparison.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-26647228990145133182011-12-31T10:54:00.000-05:002011-12-31T10:54:28.211-05:00

This time last year: We knew a transfer for Colin would be coming, but not the timing. Evan and Bethany had been dating for almost two months. He had spent Christmas at our house and she was in Wisconsin meeting his family. Colin and I drove up to Wisconsin to bring her back. We met Evan's parents over lunch at Buca di Beppo on New Year's Day. We lived in the same house we'd been in for almost

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-26489013659390741862011-12-28T17:19:00.000-05:002011-12-28T17:19:59.225-05:00

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Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-70670728264259902142011-12-12T21:05:00.001-05:002011-12-12T22:12:37.377-05:00

I've spent some time this evening lining up my reading challenges for 2012. It's made me start thinking about my plans for 2012 and I've got a few resolutions. In 2012 I will: --Swim in my pool. --Read more books. --Plant a garden and enjoy the harvest. --Go on a vacation. --Not tear out any walls. --Enjoy the occasional Saturday with the hubby. I also have no intention of moving or planning

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-22562701824748062602011-12-07T23:03:00.000-05:002011-12-07T23:03:34.724-05:00

Well, I don't know what. But something for sure. Pinterest. Just the name makes me want to go paint something. Or buy something cute. Or at least find a picture of something cute. So if you're playing there, come find me.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-48466911724876341582011-12-07T22:40:00.000-05:002011-12-07T22:40:28.051-05:00

Right now I'm really struggling to like some people that I love. And I'm disappointed with some people that I like. This isn't anything new. It happens with jarring regularity. I am so tired of grown adults behaving like children. Or even worse, like junior high students. I'm so tired of snide comments and pot-stirring. Of extreme comments begetting more extreme responses. Of plain-old,

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-7024350642327825822011-11-20T20:31:00.001-05:002011-11-20T20:32:18.699-05:00

I've been doing really well avoiding sweets and refined carbs most of the time for the past year. I did it for my health, but it's had the happy side effect of a 20 pound weight loss. I'll take it! Most of the time I'm satisfied with the way I eat, but all it takes is one weekend in a bed and breakfast--with cookies and orange-almond french toast--to turn me into a cookie-craving, m&m devouring

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-57845949993470787622011-11-16T23:20:00.000-05:002011-11-16T23:20:28.753-05:00

I keep finding myself paying the price, financial and otherwise, for being chaotically disorganized. I've had to pay late fees on bills frequently during the past six months. I just paid $26 extra dollars to sign my son up for the SAT. Yesterday it was $32 in library fines. I lose hours each week just searching for things. We aren't eating as well as we could be. The problem is that I need some

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-61512150338552712572011-11-15T21:38:00.000-05:002011-11-15T21:38:08.767-05:00

I discovered something this weekend while I was scrapbooking. There is something very therapeutic about making a nice layout with beautiful paper for pictures of stressful events. Very few people knew how hard this summer was for me. There were all kinds of stresses, but chief among them were the constant negative surprises with our new house. Each new discovery added to the financial, time, and

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-57456040598864755082011-11-14T21:46:00.000-05:002011-11-14T21:46:59.008-05:00

Things get lost. I didn't manage to blog Thursday night because I couldn't find the tote with most of my scrapbooking tools and I lost a couple of hours of my packing time looking for them. My 18-year-old son found them, but only after I had already searched frantically. There's no internet access. Friday and Saturday I was at the retreat. There was supposed to be internet access at the camp,

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-80430853785467935472011-11-09T20:50:00.000-05:002011-11-09T20:50:10.212-05:00

In less than 40 hours I'm leaving for my first of two fall scrapbooking retreats. I've been sorting through things and getting organized, but I still have a lot to do. My packing is complicated by the fact that I'm packing for two. All of Bethany's scrapping supplies are still here, and she will be going directly from Wisconsin to the camp. So I'm bringing tools, albums, paper, bedding, etc., for

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-58162703265903385982011-11-08T20:18:00.000-05:002011-11-08T20:18:46.278-05:00

I am, and have always been, a reader. But this year has been rough. I am way off pace. My concentration has been horrible. I have to really be in the perfect mood for a particular book to be able to read it. I keep trying to figure out why this is. It would seem that my favorite relaxing pastime would be just the ticket when things have been a bit crazy, but that doesn't seem to be the case right

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-58252044160571476342011-11-07T21:35:00.002-05:002011-11-07T21:35:10.470-05:00

I'm begging off posting anything substantive tonight because I had a kitchen accident and a trip to the ER. I'll fill you in tomorrow after my eye is un-dilated.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-1343411142291145672011-11-06T23:00:00.000-05:002011-11-06T23:00:36.662-05:00

It's been a busy weekend. Sauerkraut, out-of-town guests, church, birthday party. Tonight I ordered another 600+ photos from Snapfish, so between this order and the last I have almost 1300 photos to scrapbook from the last year. Of course, almost half of those are wedding. I think it's a good thing that I have two scrapbooking retreats coming up. I can't wait. I hope my pictures make it in time

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-12005651748728402202011-11-05T10:51:00.000-04:002011-11-05T10:51:21.023-04:00

I didn't blog last night, but I did blog twice two days ago. And I promise I'll blog again today. Last night was our sauerkraut supper at church. In spite of the fact that I thought we should do something different and I wasn't in charge of it--because I *did* say no, as I am so often encouraged to do--I still spent 12 hours at church yesterday working on it.  So when I got home at 9:00 last

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-34764374487453978342011-11-03T21:34:00.000-04:002011-11-03T21:34:43.986-04:00

 I've blogged twice tonight. And promptly erased each entry. It wasn't the quality. The writing was good. It was the subject matter and tone. They were cranky. And I refuse to be a cranky person. And now I'm tired, and seemingly incapable of a complex sentence. I could sit in this chair and waste the rest of the night on Facebook or Pinterest, but I think I'll go organize scrapbooking stuff.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-73557412459333667232011-11-02T21:40:00.000-04:002011-11-02T21:40:28.216-04:00

. . .my youngest son's giggle when he sees something funny. Especially if it involves cats, squirrels, or bunnies.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-66919888731142869122011-11-02T20:24:00.000-04:002011-11-02T20:24:10.100-04:00

I am starting my month stumped about what to write. If I had written earlier in the day, it probably would have gone smoothly, but I was busy with work and errands, so I put it off. When I sat down to blog I had a couple of ideas rolling around in my head, but I decided to check Facebook first, just to see what my friends are up to. Well, that was a bad idea, because--as is too often the case

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-37540034447981818072011-11-01T10:55:00.001-04:002011-11-01T10:56:19.042-04:00

Something about the theme-less theme for NaBloPoMo this month really appealed to me. I need to write more. I think that I'm at a point in my life for the first time in many months that will allow for some daily blog time. It doesn't really matter if anyone reads what I'm writing, although it's more fun that way. My brain has felt really sluggish lately. Reading has been slow. I haven't been

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-6203125394784081552011-10-04T13:30:00.000-04:002011-10-04T13:30:44.753-04:00

I had planned to do better documenting the house transition, but it has happened in the midst of so  much busy-ness that it has fallen by the wayside. In addition, I don't currently have a decent camera. I have been trying to use Bethany's old one, but the battery life is so short as to render it useless. But I do want to make a couple of notes while I remember. While I was washing dishes at my

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-74493980204513988842011-10-03T20:46:00.000-04:002011-10-03T20:46:41.554-04:00

There are SO many bloggers doing the 31 days. Hundreds. It makes it a bit overwhelming to try to find gold nuggets in the pile of rocks. However, I do have one strong recommendation. If you only read one extra blog this month make it Life in Grace. I'm sure many of you already do. I know many of us shed tears with Edie when she lost her beautiful home. This month she is doing 31 Days to

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-11801825784525121722011-10-01T09:28:00.000-04:002011-10-01T09:28:31.729-04:00

There's a 31-day blog thing going on. And I am not joining in, unless it's for 31 days of blog reading, because some of these topics sound pretty interesting. Maybe I'll do 31 Days of telling you about the interesting things I find on these other blogs.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-48157499027998047642011-09-29T11:10:00.000-04:002011-09-29T11:10:55.896-04:00

I'm sure that none of you reading this need this reminder, but when you're invited to a function and an RSVP is asked for, do it. I know it's easy to set things aside and forget. Things get lost. We think we'll do it later. I do it all the time. Just do it. I just did the budget review of our daughter's wedding. Not having an accurate count, even a week before the wedding, cost us right at

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-55578375245338106392011-09-28T09:47:00.000-04:002011-09-28T09:47:26.039-04:00

I'm a pretty decent cook. I enjoy cooking and I like to try new things. I keep a well-stocked pantry and have gotten pretty good at just pulling things together into a meal, based on my mood and what sounds good. My daughter is a newlywed who found herself in the position of needing to fix dinner a few nights ago without planning and using only the ingredients on hand. She didn't think she

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-88226655959800709072011-09-15T16:17:00.000-04:002011-09-15T16:17:06.579-04:00

Sometimes I have to remind myself to look at things from the proper angle. I had a cruddy morning. We realized just as I was leaving for work that the circuit that controls the poorly-wired disposal--the circuit that has been off since Saturday evening--also controls our deep freeze. I'm not even going to address the bizarreness of the wiring. Suffice to say it makes no sense. But I admit that

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-6390746002967355552011-09-14T13:28:00.000-04:002011-09-14T13:28:31.987-04:00

I'd been waiting for it. I kind of expected it before this. But the timing makes sense, when I think about it. For seven months my life has been completely focused on three things: selling our old house, getting our new house ready, and Bethany's wedding. We've been living in the new house for almost two months. Bethany has been married for a month. And Monday we turned over the keys of the old

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-51046824182095952011-08-27T13:18:00.002-04:002011-08-27T13:18:29.981-04:00

If you would like to see the wedding pictures on the photographer's website go here.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-12004250174207620242011-08-24T20:39:00.001-04:002011-08-24T20:39:59.450-04:00

"My oldest is married. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Her husband is working on his MBA at UW." It's funny how often this group of words has come out of my mouth during the past week. I've run into a couple of old acquaintances. My investment guy stopped by the new house to say hi. I've done an intro on a homeschooling list. I've met a new neighbor. Somehow, I think that repeating this litany

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-58391110314036527262011-08-22T19:50:00.000-04:002011-08-22T19:50:07.780-04:00

I had the opportunity to do a lot of thinking about clothes today. I have lost some weight in the past year--to the point that my clothes are quite baggy--so I decided to go do some shopping, hoping to hit some clearance sales. Clothes were on my mind. Since my shopping buddy got married and moved away last weekend, I was shopping alone, so I had lots of time to think. My first thought on the

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-6688115131279717362011-07-13T19:31:00.001-04:002011-07-13T19:36:22.711-04:00

This summer feels like a turning point in my life for so many reasons. It's amazing how a three-month span of time can encapsulate so much change. In June my husband began working in another state, where he taken has an apartment. Monday-Thursday we live apart. After 25 years of marriage, that's a big change. As part of that process we are selling the house that we have lived in for nine years--

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-70881213248506013582011-03-30T21:52:00.000-04:002011-03-30T21:52:46.866-04:00

I am having a problem. My nonconformist tendencies, which have gotten ever stronger over the past few years, are having a lot of trouble with having my house at the peak of on-the-market readiness. The house is spotlessly clean. There is no clutter. (If you know me you recognize this as a miracle.) It is freshly painted. Much of the woodwork is freshly stained. The carpets are cleaned. We have

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-68051996812304632872011-03-23T23:20:00.000-04:002011-03-23T23:20:05.854-04:00

We've been busy with preparations to move into our new house and with wedding preparations, but most of all right now we've been getting our current house ready to sell. Why do we always finally do the things we've wanted to do to the house just in time to sell? Jonathan and Andrew stripping the border in the master bath... and Bethany painting it. Bethany and Evan working on the hall

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-73653545110553457902011-02-15T21:06:00.000-05:002011-02-15T21:06:40.687-05:00

So, last time I blogged about why I've been too busy to blog. Well, I'm going to be busier. Bethany is engaged to be married in August. We are in a frenzy of celebration and planning. It's going to be a big wedding, in part because they both have good-sized families, and in part because we have such a wonderful church family and as-close-as-blood friends among the Lutheran homeschool crowd. So,

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-47114644157345849602011-02-02T09:02:00.000-05:002011-02-02T09:02:34.812-05:00

I really had planned to blog every day in January. I even had a couple of people who said they were glad I was blogging again. But, as has happened so often over the past few years, life got in the way. This time it was life in the form of an envelope from my husband's company outlining the details of a relocation offer. His job is moving to the Chicago suburbs, and he will be going with it. The

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-86145072602635795672011-01-11T22:35:00.000-05:002011-01-11T22:35:28.160-05:00

I CAN CHAT WIF EVAN?

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-41486611043415357512011-01-09T16:38:00.002-05:002011-01-09T22:04:28.171-05:00

I was fortunate to grow up reading. Our house didn't have the books-in-every-room decor that my husband suffers, but we owned books and my mother read to me. She introduced me to the library when I was a small child and it and the book mobile became two of my favorite places. I wasn't a particularly popular child, so I spent a lot of time alone, most of it with my face buried in a book. I was

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-85510309440849946572011-01-07T00:31:00.000-05:002011-01-07T00:31:22.381-05:00

Okay. Maybe no more is an overstatement. But I realized today that I approach email lists differently now than I used to. Once upon a time, I joined email lists looking for connections and support. I found both. Years ago. And have long-since made the transition to face-to-face friendships with many fellow list members. In fact, most of the dearest friends I have were former email acquaintances.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-18574014584483515742011-01-05T22:31:00.001-05:002011-01-06T23:58:49.089-05:00

I really like this picture. It's not that it's great photography, it's the people and the place. This is in our church basement on the afternoon of Christmas Day. It's a combination of  family, old friends, and newer friends. It really feels to me like it captured a moment. Something important.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-7143710962962611282011-01-04T14:58:00.001-05:002011-01-05T15:10:03.500-05:00

A blessed Epiphany to you! (Since I’m writing this on the 11th Day of Christmas, I am assuming that most of you will see it after Epiphany.) This has been another year for us to count our many blessings and to enjoy the wonderful life we have here in Fort Wayne. It seems to have gone very quickly, but on the other hand, last February seems like a long time ago. As a family we enjoyed our

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-80059377946233517862011-01-03T20:46:00.000-05:002011-01-03T20:46:22.487-05:00

No, not New Year's Resolution time. Not time to get organized. Or diet. Or exercise. It's time for me to give myself the lecture about protecting my time and being able to say no. This doesn't mean that I don't want to see or hear from my friends. Or do things with or for them. What it does mean is that suddenly I find my plate full of tasks that people are expecting me to do, in a certain time

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-34041339335718229622011-01-02T21:47:00.000-05:002011-01-03T17:01:32.581-05:00

The hubby and I took a little road trip to Wisconsin this weekend. We spent the afternoon and evening of New Year's Day with our good friends, our former pastor and his wife. What a treat! We then spent Sunday morning--yes, you read that right, Sunday morning--driving around the Milwaukee area. We drove along the Lake and up through the campus of UW--Milwaukee, a trip I made daily when we lived

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-21033256092728951412011-01-01T16:34:00.001-05:002011-01-03T16:41:13.383-05:00

I decided that I'm going to try to blog every day in January. The NaBloPoMo topic for January is "Friends" and I'm going to try to use that as inspiration. I've spent a lot of time over the past few weeks thinking about what I want to read this year, and I wanted to start the new year with a strong choice. I picked a book that Carol, a friend from college who I've reconnected with via Facebook,

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-7703902819441079782010-10-29T15:28:00.000-04:002010-10-29T15:28:02.316-04:00

My assistant Bethany and I are baking. Lots of baking. We are making desserts for a benefit concert and dessert buffet and for a dessert auction. We are discovering some new things we like and some new things we don't. We like piping the frosting onto the cupcakes.   We like these pumpkin bars. We may even need to make another pan. Bethany doesn't like red velvet cupcakes. I can take them or

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-4119997398723856152010-10-18T21:15:00.000-04:002010-10-18T21:15:42.842-04:00

I was loading some photos that Patrick scanned from my grandma's slides a couple of years ago, after she died. I came across several of my grandparents that reminded me why they always were--and always will be--who I think of when I think of a happy marriage. They were married for a little over 70 years, and there was a look that I remember Grandpa giving Grandma when I was five, that I was

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-37105689645023371812010-10-15T09:44:00.001-04:002010-10-15T20:41:39.868-04:00

I have an issue with numbers. They have always seemed like a foreign language to me. If I work hard and concentrate--a challenge in itself-- I can make them behave, but I don't enjoy it and it wears me out. In college, after struggling through calculus at my first school, I was delighted to discover that UW would let me use symbolic logic to fulfill a math requirement. I got to do math with words

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-74451087126201956362010-10-11T09:35:00.000-04:002010-10-11T09:35:43.607-04:00

So, while waiting in the green room I heard one mom talking about a guy she saw driving down the road talking on one cell phone and texting on another. This morning on my way to work I saw something that beat that. I saw a guy talking with a blue tooth, texting, and SHAVING. Yes, shaving.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-11598935541202369532010-10-09T19:05:00.000-04:002010-10-09T19:05:18.749-04:00

So, redecorating the blog has lead to some revisiting of links. I'm working on getting my blog roll updated. And I checked out my To-Do List. Sigh. I did manage to eliminate a couple of items, but only because I don't want to do them any more. According to this list, the last couple of years have been a total bust. But for some reason it just doesn't bother me much.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-58071639481370996412010-10-08T17:29:00.000-04:002010-10-08T17:29:50.731-04:00

I mentioned last week that I spent a couple of evenings sitting in the green room waiting for Jonathan, being apparently invisible, overhearing lots of conversations. I was trying to read my book, but there was one woman in particular who seemed to want to be sure that every single person in that very large room was listening to her. And I was about five feet away. Her first topic was the job

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-37924787526172833902010-09-21T15:21:00.000-04:002010-09-21T15:21:17.671-04:00

I was going to say I love this kid, but changed my mind. Although he's MY kid, he's not a kid any more. I'm pleased to say that he's one of my favorite people and I am very pleased and humbled by the person he is growing up to be. Besides that he's a darn good writer.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-40777736216300577652010-08-11T17:57:00.004-04:002010-08-11T17:57:47.910-04:00

I'm hoping that by posting this here I will remember in the spring, when I don't feel like tilling and planting, and in the heat, when I don't feel like weeding and planting that second round, why I have a garden. Tonight's dinner was yet another marvelous collection of garden goodness. We have had so much wonderful pesto this summer. We have had zucchini sauteed, in cookies, and--as it was

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-21562945959544204252010-07-20T08:07:00.000-04:002010-07-20T08:07:15.372-04:00

I think I've established before that I'm a bit of a tree freak. I have fallen in love again. The Vanderbilt University campus had all sorts of lovely trees, but these magnolias were my favorite. This picture with my friend Nancy in it gives you an idea of just how big this tree is. Most of the blossoms were gone, but I was able to get a picture of one tenacious flower.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-82162995218797359432010-07-20T07:46:00.000-04:002010-07-20T07:46:49.407-04:00

Yes, I know. I know. I haven't been here in months. The old blog has been sorely neglected. I promise to do better. Maybe it's because I'm in the midst of so many creative or semi-creative projects right now, but I feel like writing. I'm getting to do my favorite kind of cooking right now: ad-libbing with what comes from the garden, digging up new recipes, or making it up as I go. We brought

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-22387152561340764452010-05-09T21:59:00.000-04:002010-05-09T21:59:40.325-04:00

The Obsessed with Scrapbooking blog is giving some cool stuff away to celebrate 1 million hits. I didn't even know that the Cricut Gypsy existed 15 minutes ago, and now I'm dying to have one.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-88726509759929165922010-04-22T20:46:00.000-04:002010-04-22T20:46:10.672-04:00

If you're part of the homeschool community you have probably heard by now of the hatchet job Good Morning America did on unschooling. If you haven't seen it, you aren't missing much. It was of  the low quality that we have come to expect from the mainstream media. Of course unschoolers have, as you would expect, reacted with all kinds of posts about, and defenses of, unschooling. I have heard

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-16522728441532801922010-04-16T16:56:00.000-04:002010-04-16T16:56:24.948-04:00

I'm almost embarrassed by how much I'm looking forward to this book. I love Jen Lancaster. Maybe it's because we are of about the same age. Perhaps it is the glimpses of familiar places and situations in her mid-western life. Or it could be that we both love to shop and eat and are basically lazy. But I think the most likely reason is that her books make me laugh out loud.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-68596635139575592292010-04-16T15:24:00.002-04:002010-04-16T15:32:38.543-04:00

Some of you know that I am the oldest of a bunch of cousins, 16 of us to be exact, and that I have cousins the age of my oldest kids. One of the Bethany's-age cousins is working at an orphanage in Uganda for couple of months and has been having all kinds of interesting experiences, but I think that the most recent one qualifies as one of those adventures most of us will, fortunately, never have

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-42915317825967102892010-04-06T17:15:00.002-04:002010-04-06T17:23:29.010-04:00

Last year I posted about wearing our hats to church on Easter. A picture of the ladies from Redeemer was in the local paper, and then later there was an article in The Lutheran Witness. It has been fun this year to see friends at other churches talking about getting women to wear hats, and to hear from former Redeemer members who took the hat-resurgence to another congregation with them. Here's a

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-73062294796196158972010-04-05T19:48:00.004-04:002010-04-05T20:58:59.059-04:00

I posted last year about how dangerous and damaging I believed the propensity of the Obama administration and the press to cry "racism" is. I still believe that. And I am not alone. I still believe that they are giving cover to real racists, but I also believe that their latest trick may have been an overplaying of their hand.We've heard, ad nauseum, from the echo-chamber media about those

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-37993459330201760012010-04-04T13:46:00.003-04:002010-04-04T13:53:07.283-04:00

I love this kid. Tre Ore 2009

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-80525497564150450032010-03-31T17:39:00.001-04:002010-03-31T17:40:59.085-04:00

"Nobody wants to discuss the merits of the health care bill on the Democrat side. They just want to demonize you as racist, homophobe, and misogynist, because that's easier than having a debate." -- Mark Steyn

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-20883634446185058252010-03-25T14:16:00.004-04:002010-04-22T18:06:43.634-04:00

Elephant's Child has a great post about waiting on formal math instruction.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-41683489363960790002010-03-23T21:46:00.004-04:002010-03-23T23:40:51.571-04:00

"Is it really possible for kids to grow up to be doctors or lawyers or brain surgeons if they do not learn in scheduled/controlled ways?"This is a question lifted from a Facebook conversation. I decided that the answer needed to be a blog post, because it was getting too long. Besides, Facebook conversations are fleeting things, and this question is not unusual.The short answer is yes. If that

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-70479656267336868532010-03-23T20:36:00.003-04:002010-03-23T21:46:21.951-04:00

This post has been rattling around in my brain for months. It was finally shaken loose by some things Gatto said about school and family, and some conversations with friends.First: My kids are far from perfect. Those of us who are Lutherans understand this, but I felt like it was a necessary disclaimer given what is coming. This post is a response. It is a response to questions I have been asked

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-20504704946592471502010-03-23T18:26:00.005-04:002010-03-23T23:33:31.316-04:00

One of the ideas that Gatto mentioned that has really tickled my brain is that of "style." It was in the context of communication ability and how connections and associations provide opportunities.He talked about how freedom and play lead to the development of individual style, and that a distinctive style is priceless. My immediate reaction was to think about my oldest son, not to the exclusion

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-87485768717016956892010-03-23T17:03:00.005-04:002010-03-23T23:30:37.549-04:00

I had a new experience on Friday. After 14 years of homeschooling, and 12 as a committed unschooler--the first two were spent trying to figure out what we were doing--I was in a situation where being an unschooler was applauded. Wow. John Taylor Gatto, former New York Teacher of the Year, was applauding unschooling parents.That felt good.I've spent years feeling like I needed to defend what I was

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-66744724321602485412010-03-23T16:29:00.007-04:002011-04-07T08:32:01.187-04:00

Almost exactly a year ago, I posted some thoughts that I had upon reading John Taylor Gatto's Weapons of Mass Instruction. Gatto has long helped bolster the "why" of our homeschool adventure. Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a homeschool conference where he was speaking. The session was way too short, but I did glean a lot from his talk. I think it's going to make its way into a

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-24982101436155843052010-03-11T12:48:00.003-05:002010-03-11T13:03:42.120-05:00

Patrick has a great post on the trade-offs we make when we take the government's money, or ask them to cushion life's blows.Jumping off from his post, I must ask: Why would homeschoolers wish to push for government money?I understand that we pay school taxes, but so do the elderly, the childless, the parents of private school children. Whether we think it is a good thing or not, schools are

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-36327147476305102492010-02-28T13:18:00.005-05:002010-02-28T17:30:15.959-05:00

I wrote back in the fall about my frustration with the lies liberals tell about those with whom they disagree about health care. It is true in other areas, but seems magnified in that discussion.It hasn't gotten any better. As the Democrats continue to try to push through their monstrosity of a bill, against the will of the American people, their defenders get more angry. They continue to call

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-25974979803936908992010-02-16T08:25:00.002-05:002010-02-16T08:28:12.464-05:00

I read the book Second Nature by Michael Pollan and did a very rudimentary review of it, but here's a better review by my friend RPW.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-14584843249135831872010-02-14T08:24:00.003-05:002010-02-14T08:48:15.093-05:00

I keep having ideas for blog posts, but they come at the most inconvenient times and fly away before I can write them down.Maybe it's because I am spending so much time in the car. Hours, every day, spent in driving or sitting and waiting for Jonathan while he rehearses for one of his two upcoming musicals.Maybe I can't hold onto a thought because I am too tired. Brain-fuzzed. I've been getting

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-67894584063034839872010-02-08T22:43:00.002-05:002010-02-08T22:51:10.453-05:00

So, I'm reading my second disappointing book in a row. My biggest problem with this one is that although it's good enough, it isn't telling me much I don't already know. When I read history I want to gain some new insight or learn something new. And it seems a bit repetitive. But there is one gem that I've discovered in the book:"They lived a cloistered, segregated, and selfish life, much like

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-886821417536796182010-01-31T18:39:00.002-05:002010-01-31T18:48:37.676-05:00

This is the time of year when the packed down, turned-to-ice snow is a major danger to someone as graceful (not) as I am. It is the time of year when I know, intellectually, that the amount of daylight is growing each day, but the cloud cover keeps me from believing it. And, this is the time of year that said cloud cover makes me long for just a few precious rays of sun.However, thanks be to God,

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-35908924578540732402010-01-28T10:07:00.003-05:002010-01-28T11:06:01.530-05:00

I found myself wondering many things last night as I listened to the State of the Union address.I wondered if this is what our founders had in mind. An hour or more of partisan rhetoric and a laundry list of ways to spend our money, along with an attack on the Supreme Court, and well over 100 references to self instead of country doesn't seem like what they had in mind with, "He [the President]

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-23989441541078039052010-01-26T21:24:00.004-05:002010-01-26T21:52:36.987-05:00

I'm a reader. Even when I'm driving, I'm a reader. So I notice bumper stickers and license plates to what I am told is an unusual degree. So, I can say with a great deal of confidence that there were a far greater than average number of "arts" and "environmental" license plates in the lot when I dropped Jonathan off for rehearsal last night. My van was the right choice for the evening, since it

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-29790366355427903202010-01-16T09:45:00.004-05:002010-01-16T10:51:06.192-05:00

Yesterday as I was driving home, I heard a guy call in to a local radio show, the Pat White Show. I don't know why I listen. I think it's because I find things out about local politics and events that I might miss otherwise, but every show is a form of torture. Pat has a few unidiomatic stock phrases that drive me batty. He seems to have about four talking points for each topic that he repeats in

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-63994930281235161982010-01-15T21:27:00.002-05:002010-01-15T21:35:41.709-05:00

My schedule is currently such that I am away from home most of the day. I'm doing a lot of driving and a lot of sitting in the car and waiting. These waits are short enough that there is no way to conveniently get errands or other useful tasks done. It frustrates me, because I feel like I'm losing huge chunks of time and getting behind on things I need to do, but I am finding a bright side. I am

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-53246094663474462942010-01-12T20:21:00.003-05:002010-01-12T20:40:02.928-05:00

I've decided that I need to get back to writing here. I need the mental outlet. I need the spot to say what I want to say. And writing keeps me sane.Right now I'm sitting here with my oldest son. I am listening to him as he does his reading for his American history class. He is about to lose it as he reads the textbook overflowing with Marxist pap. He's reading it for the class that is being

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-38731431121543653582010-01-03T16:08:00.000-05:002010-01-03T16:08:55.276-05:00

As with last year, I was relieved to look back tonight and see that I had made no resolutions. What a relief!I did, however, have a few reading challenges to complete. While I was mostly successful, I came up slightly short.Update: For a more thoughtful look at resolutions: Wit & Whim.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-84733111009362993942010-01-01T00:09:00.004-05:002010-01-01T00:12:59.404-05:00

As I sit here with my family and my flute of Asti, watching the partiers in Times Square, I am torn between looking forward to the New Year and being apprehensive about what it holds.For tonight, I'm going with hopeful. That may change.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-64848921028483412092009-12-25T19:51:00.002-05:002009-12-25T20:35:33.928-05:00

Although the true feast--the Christ Mass--was held at Redeemer, we did a fair bit of feasting at home, too. In fact, it seems like cooking and eating have been the main occupation the last few days. We chose to ignore the well-meaning suggestions for lightening up our holiday food that Bethany found.Instead the day of Christmas Eve started with orange rolls. Before dinner, during the afternoon,

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-35089740190348857792009-12-17T16:46:00.002-05:002009-12-17T16:48:52.518-05:00

My friend Susan posted today about how uncertainty about what the government is doing and going to be doing makes making certain decisions difficult. This is so true, and one sure sign that our government is too big and too intrusive.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-770601811952832702009-12-14T21:26:00.003-05:002009-12-14T21:50:24.303-05:00

Relatively pleased with the article that came from my interview last week with a reporter from the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. She was slightly wrong on Patrick's reading age, but I think it was more a matter of me not being clear as we were talking. But over all she seemed--unlike other reporters I've dealt with--not to have the story already written in her head. She didn't take my words and

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-89555790932648729962009-12-11T16:24:00.003-05:002009-12-11T16:28:05.566-05:00

I'm planning my reading challenges for this year. I read a lot of books this year, but not as much quality as I would like. So, for 2010 I'm going to do a bit more brain-stretching. If you have suggestions, I'm talking about it here.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-39376519533339198852009-11-30T17:42:00.003-05:002009-11-30T18:33:00.568-05:00

From time to time I'll post about a food product that I like that has gone missing. This time it's Hershey's Raspberry Chocolate chips. These aren't anything that I ever would have bought--I don't even like Hershey's chocolate--except a neighbor made some cookies for me that included these chips, and I was hooked on the recipe. Since only one store locally stocked them, I bought several packages

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-66745091557717462782009-11-30T11:55:00.004-05:002009-11-30T12:07:53.503-05:00

For my curious friends on Facebook. This is one of my easy, relatively cheap things to make for dinner, especially when I have a freezer full of beef:In the crockpot or dutch oven:Approx 2 lb. beef roast (tonight it's a rump, because that's what Jonathan found on the top in the freezer)Big can black beans, juice and all (I may add more after I see how it looks)Chopped onions (I'm out of fresh, so

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-34178234473344827502009-11-27T20:22:00.004-05:002009-11-28T17:45:08.918-05:00

Yesterday I did a big chunk of the cooking for our family Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house. Usually I am her assistant, but she was supposed to spend more time sitting this year. So, using her list and timetable, I ran the kitchen. Kind of. Because, of course, she was never farther than the kitchen table. And she was up and down like a jack-in-the-box. But I did get to make the stuffing,

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-82223361213098173882009-11-23T22:34:00.003-05:002009-11-23T23:33:56.385-05:00

Today it hit me: It's almost Thanksgiving. That led to the exciting realization that it's almost Advent. (Really, doing the Thanksgiving and Advent I bulletins was a clue.) And that of course, made me realize that it's getting closer to Christmas.I love Christmas.For a number of years, when we were living away from our families, Christmas lost its sparkle. It was stressful. It was a hassle. We

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-10794834361444775452009-11-22T08:14:00.002-05:002009-11-22T08:17:23.475-05:00

One of my favorite things about doing the bulletins is that I have the hymns for the upcoming Sunday in my head all week. So, for this the Last Sunday of the Church Year, this hymn has been keeping me company all week.Wake, Awake, for Night Is FlyingBy: Philipp Nicolai "Wake, awake, for night is flying."The watchmen on the heights are crying;"Awake, Jerusalem, arise!"Midnight hears the welcome

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-72002374975123887712009-11-19T20:56:00.003-05:002009-11-19T21:49:29.556-05:00

There are some nasty people in internet land.I decided that rather than downloading a pre-made template I would change my layout html and then try to find a cute background. In my search, I clicked on a google search result, and ended up with a trojan horse and a virus. I had a number of things going on on my computer at that time, so it took me a while to figure out what was happening.I cannot

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-16378101372630380802009-11-19T12:26:00.001-05:002009-11-19T12:27:32.788-05:00

I'm redecorating. It is in process. I've saved my old template in case I can't make it work. We'll see.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-49434131670843632892009-11-18T11:49:00.003-05:002009-11-18T11:51:54.163-05:00

I think it's about time for a blog makeover. I've wanted to update my links and blogroll for a while, and I'm feeling motivated to try a new look. I'm nervous about going outside Blogger for a template, but I probably will because I want something different.Any suggestions? What have you done? Any mistakes I should avoid?

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-81853365931660270962009-11-18T11:09:00.002-05:002009-11-18T11:11:54.922-05:00

You really think a public option will mean fair competition?

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-79310770449577257042009-11-08T09:10:00.003-05:002009-11-08T10:05:17.118-05:00

These are some of the characterizations I have read of people opposed to the health care bill that the congress passed last night. We'll call it PelosiCare, or PC for short, to differentiate between it in specific and health care reform (HCR) in general.I am sure that there are some people who are against PC who deserve these descriptors. I am also certain that there are some on the other side

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-66494667466235893842009-11-06T15:35:00.002-05:002009-11-06T15:36:22.360-05:00

Patrick on Fort Hood.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-3667150030199203972009-10-31T17:12:00.003-04:002009-10-31T17:55:46.489-04:00

Picture: Halloween, 2008This is our first year with no Halloween costumes. I suppose with a house full of teens and adults that isn't so unusual, but our kids always dress up and we usually have friends over. This year we had the usual plans, and the pirates were set to reappear, but Andrew is sick. Having the youngest down kind of took the wind out of the crew's sails.I think next year we'll

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-674050657149573132009-10-29T16:22:00.002-04:002009-10-29T16:28:29.657-04:00

I had a comment on my to-do list asking for an update.It's been a year and four months since I posted this list. A few are done. A couple have a bit of progress. The red are done. An update:1. Learn to make a souffle.2. Visit England.3. Swim a mile.4. Make a dress that looks good enough to wear.5. Learn Spanish.6. Go to a Broadway show.7. Sell another article.8. Make my own tortillas.9. Make

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-81388987651068796792009-10-24T12:02:00.005-04:002009-10-24T13:32:43.538-04:00

Last week I read The Food of a Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky. I love reading about food and Americana, so this book--a compilation of Depression-era writings about food from an abandoned WPA project--enticed me as soon as I saw it. The division by regions gave structure to the book, and made it even more informative.However, my favorite bit of knowledge gleaned from this book was personal. I

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-51820395169144305022009-10-23T16:11:00.004-04:002009-10-23T17:04:25.443-04:00

I haven't posted much about politics for a while. This is partly because I haven't been in the mood, partly because it makes me cranky, and partly because I just tweet it, instead.But Victor David Hanson has such an excellent piece at NRO that I had to post it. He examines the five trends that converged to elect Obama, thhe assumptions that seem to underly the Obama administration's actions, and

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-62990339503926832992009-10-22T09:30:00.004-04:002009-10-22T09:56:07.029-04:00

I've mentioned before that I don't spend all that much time thinking about homeschooling. For us it is a fact of life--14 years of life--and after that long we just do. Not a lot of thinking required.But my friend Susan posted something that got me thinking. Re-entry.Our homeschooling has always been a fairly solitary endeavor. We haven't been big joiners. The kids haven't taken a bunch of

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17356580.post-14208048128625287802009-10-15T20:51:00.003-04:002009-10-15T20:56:03.353-04:00

More encouragement for you homeschool moms of younger kids. Especially those of you who have challenges. Here is my late reader, writing on his blog, about having to dumb down his writing for his freshman comp class.I love it. So much.

Janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984938560695736640noreply@blogger.com2