The Apple Pie Experience

One of the many things I love about our co op is that Connor and Brody are exposed to so many things that I would most likely not do on our own! A prime example of this was Apple Pie Day that took place last week. For our community service project one of the moms had the idea for the kids to work together to make apple pies to take to "Apple Pie Day" at the capital. The purpose of this day is for homeschoolers to gather at the capital to show our desire for freedom in home education and to take each member of legislature an apple pie. I had never been before and wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a great day. The event is sponsored by OCEAN Network which we are a member of, and who works hard to protect homeschooling freedom here in Oregon. It started on our regular co op day which was Wednesday. My friend Kim gave a great class and presentation on the basics of the process a bill takes through the House of Representatives, the Senate and on to the Governor. Then we broke the kids up into groups. There were three groups of pie makers...

Connor went with the kids that worked on the dough...

Brody got to be an apple slicer!

When they weren't in the kitchen working, they were busy writing letters to their Representatives and Senators. I am pretty impressed that Connor can tell you the names of the people holding those titles in our district. I couldn't do that before last Wednesday! They told them a little bit about themselves, something they like about homeschooling, and asked them to support our freedom that we currently enjoy. It was such a great thing and I am grateful to my friends Tera and Kim for organizing it all! Then the next day we were off to the capital! We went with our friends Kim, Sam, and Grace. We didn't have much to do until our tour time, but we had fun. The tour included a walk up over 100 stairs to the top of the capital which Brody decided not to do. I stayed with him, and luckily Kim took Connor with them, because he was thrilled! Older homeschooled kids had an opportunity to be volunteer pages for the day and a lot of people had appointments with their representatives and senators, which we just might do next time. Then there was a rally at 12:00 which included children performing and a special speaker that is with HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) and it was very informative and encouraging!

I tried so hard to get the golden man in the shot...oh well, the kids are much cuter anyway!

I don't know how many people were there, but it was a lot! Here is just a piece of the crowd that we were in...what a great thing! The rain even held off for us!

Oh....and there were baskets and baskets of the yummiest, juiciest apples;) Here is Connor's journal entry about the whole thing....

For Apple Pie Day, we went to the capital! There, we went (or I went) to the top of the building! That was really cool. We learned how a law is made and about the legislature. OCEAN Network supports homeschooling. If someone wants a law, a bill is taken to the House of Representatives. If it passes it goes to the Senate. From there, it goes to the Governor. The Governor can like, or dislike, and it will pass either way. If the Governor hates it, he or she can veto it and it goes through a process I don't know about. Our trip to the capital was really fun!

Turns out all this interested Connor a great deal and now he even wants to participate in an event coming up in May called Teen Pact. They offer a one day "class" for 8-12 year olds where they can learn more about the legislative process, which I am looking into!

Ugghhh....the "classics"

After reading the book, "A Thomas Jefferson Education", I was impacted in a number of ways. One of those was an encouragement to continue to pursue my own education particularly in one area. I really want my kids to be thinkers. I want them to read or learn something and be able to discuss it rather than "parrot" back some details. In order to teach that, I have to learn to do that myself to be able to teach them and participate with them. I am such a classic example of a "typical" public education. I didn't even take advantage of the education I did receive. I memorized what they told me to, read really fast, and just happened to be a great test taker (then forgot all those pesky little details)! I was real good at finding the "answers" and got great grades all through school. Every day as I teach my kids I am embarrassed at what I didn't retain, but excited to be learning along with them. Part of me thinks that every almost 40 year old mom should take an elementary history class;) So...I threw the idea of a book club out to some friends and we have quite the little group going. We have committed to pick books from the reading list and get together once a month to discuss these books. We just finished "A Tale of Two Cities" and I will admit, it was quite painful for me. I read it out of duty and accountability more than desire, but it turned out to be a great experience for me. I have to re-train my brain as I read and learn and it was a good first step. We had some great discussions and it made it worthwhile. Our next assignment is "Jane Eyre" and although I was dreading that a little bit as well, I am loving it so far! I also realized that as much as I embrace most of the new technology, I just can't get excited reading a book on screen yet. I had to go get the hard copy after downloading it for free to two different apps. I thought it would be so convenient, but it just isn't the same. Bryan teases me because he reminds me how much I was opposed to the digital camera saying that I would never make that switch;)

Weather Woes

A few years ago when I would tell people that we were moving to Oregon, the only feedback I ever got about it was the weather and it was all negative. The truth is...it is a huge topic of conversation to those who live here as well.

I truly enjoy the fall season and the winter is very tolerable, as far as winters go! Summer is beautiful, although I am more used to hotter days that last much longer, it is a very enjoyable summer as well.

Spring is a MUCH different story for me. It is really only the time of year that I have a hard time. I know spring is here, as there are many signs. The birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and trees are starting to bud. I guess it is a little warmer and the grass is starting to shoot up.

I on the other hand, am still lighting a fire every morning in the stove to take the chill out and feeling like without the sun shining, it just doesn't feel like spring to me. I am surprised to admit that I don't mind the rain and even enjoy some of the rainy days, especially when I get to be home. I have hit my limit though for now!

I know the sun is coming...I know things are going to get better which is one of the best things about living with the seasons. There is so much more to living here than the weather, but I most likely won't blog about those until summer.

Right now, I am drowning not only in the rain, but in a little bit of the rainy day blues too.

They can look that up!

I read the best article the other day from the owner and creator of my favorite homeschool curriculum; Sonlight. Sarita Holzman shared a great story about a conversation she had with a friend that went like this.

Cheryl was mortified, she said, when "someone asked my children what the capital of France was, and they didn't know!"

I told her: "Kids can look that up anytime. In the total scheme of things, it is not important for our kids to know what the capital of France is. How much better that they learn to get along with one another."

I can't get that out of my head. I am so grateful to have that little gem in my "arsenal" as I homeschool day in and day out. What a blessing to be reminded of one of my goals in this journey.

I thought of this last night as my boys spent close to 20 minutes agreeing on a movie to watch. Connor had a little sore throat so it was a treat for a school night which they did not want to lose by arguing. To make everyone happy they ended up watching an episode on 2 different Magic School Bus videos and an episode of Shawn the Sheep. All those together totaled the time of a movie....trust me, they did the math! It was a little agonizing to watch, but they did it. Sure, I could of let one of them watch on a laptop, but what lesson would there be in that? I tell them all the time that these skills of comprise they are learning will really come in handy when they get older! I am thrilled that they have each other as brothers, friends, and classmates. They have a lot of other friends and I often wonder who will be in their lives when they are older, but I know they will have each other.

I am currently STILL in the process of writing out my homeschool mission statement, and you can be sure that family relationships will be a part of it. I say every year that I am going to do it, but I never quite get it done. However, things are a little different now. I shared that goal with a friend who encouraged me even to the point of having a deadline for a first draft! (you know who you are, my friend and I thank you) I happen to work well with deadlines and accountability so I have high hopes on getting this done!

Contest Entries

We heard of a contest that the Humane Society in Portland was running. It is the, "Be Kind to Animals Poster and Photo/Story Event." They assign a theme for different grades and both Connor and Brody wanted to participate this year. They made a lot of different entries, but decided on a few in the end. It was a lot of fun for them to do and we mailed them off earlier this week. I had to catch a couple of pictures before sending them!

Brody has been practicing drawing rabbits a lot lately! His theme for the posters was, "Be a good friend to a pet."

Here are the two posters that Connor decided on. His theme was, "All Pets Need Love and Care their Whole Lives."

Brody also decided to enter a story which I was real excited about. He wrote this all on his own about when Dusty broke his leg, and the goal was to write a story about how you love your pet. I think he did a great job and don't worry...I checked...a grammar lesson on commas is coming up;)

It was fun to see them participate in their first contest of this kind, they really enjoyed it. Of course I would give them my vote, but I'm not on the judging panel..darn!

Bye Bye Busy-ness!

Today is a special day....it marks the start of Lent, 40 days before the celebration of Easter. I have decided to participate in Lent really for the first time. I think I might have "given up" something in the past for 40 days, but realize that is not what the season of Lent is all about. I know my words will do a poor job explaining it, but I think now for me that it is supposed to be a time of redirection, of reflection, and focus on Christ and what Easter represents. Going 40 days without something is a discipline in self control for sure, but it has ended there for me. I believe that if I search my heart and find something that replaces God in my life, then give that up, and give that time back to God, I can truly participate in Lent.



I have also done some very basic surface skimming into the history of Lent trying to figure out why more Christian churches don't participate and it is one complicated topic that I know very little about. It seems to come down to rituals and routine and trying to avoid anything that promotes it. Bryan and I have decided that anything that helps turn your heart to God is not a bad thing and we are doing this together.



In the last month, God has brought two "classes" my way on Spiritual Discipline and I think He might be trying to tell me something. They were completely different in what they taught, but I took a l ot from both of them. So...I'm sure you are wondering what I am letting go of. In a way it is my fancy iphone. Sounds cheesy, right...feels cheesy anyway. I absolutely love my iphone and it has been such a blessing to me in so many ways. It keeps me organized, and has so many great things that I use every day. Some of those things are good things like a calendar, a shopping list and even my daily devotion by Greg Laurie which I really enjoy. But then, there are some things that aren't so good; facebook, scrabble, even access to e-mail. These things aren't bad in themselves, but having so much access to them, has occupied many little "free moment" minutes to really add up during the day. Also, I have been communicating less because I check messages quickly and don't respond because it is not fun to type on my phone long messages back. So, my plan is to use my phone for the basics and not for fun in a way, but more importantly...it is the busy-ness that I have fallen victim to. It is the inability to sit still and enjoy some peace that I long for. I remember hearing this and I loved it though I have not lived it...

"We all say we SEEK peace but we avoid silence." (As I type this I have a piano lesson and a guitar lesson going on in the background...hee...hee:)

So..to replace my wasted moments with my "play toy", I have been creating prayer cards to truly spend time praying for things that are close to my heart and for people that I love and care about. They will be on nifty flip rings and almost as accessible as the touch of a screen;) I also have a book that I really want to get through called "Respectable Sins" by Jerry Bridges. I believe it will be a great tool for me to focus on sin in my life that I easily overlook.

There you have it...my 40 day plan. So far this morning, I am still alive without playing scrabble, or checking all the irresistible online specials like woot and groupon. I feel good. I have to admit, slightly anxious, but good.

I guess that my focus on self control certainly won't hurt, I wish I was a little more experienced there, but I guess I am getting a crash practice course!

Our Annual Trek to OSU Lambing Barn

I am sure this will be a family annual event around here for awhile. Every year during lambing season the Sheep Research Center at OSU opens up the facility for visitors to see all the babies. It is such a good opportunity for our Brody to be around a whole lot of sheep. The rest of us pretty much tolerate it for his sake. It was freezing cold in there this year but Brody didn't mind one bit.

He has always had a special love for the black sheep and this year there was plenty of them to see when we were there. They are darn cute little things though, aren't they?

Even Grandma Louise flew out from Missouri to brave the cold and stinky barn to witness Brody in a state of pure happiness!

So little lambs, grow up and big and strong and we will see you all again next year!