For the holidays, I cut myself some slack and bought a medium sized package of paper towels. All year I use regular towels with good results, but for some reason it’s highly inconvenient during the holidays with increased and yuckier messes, guests and whatnot. So I buy paper towels. What else do you do during the holidays to cut yourself some slack? I would like to hear. Please comment.

Here I’m getting ready to be immersed in the Holiday Spirit. Scratch that. I will dive into the Holiday Spirit. I kick off my Holiday Season with a mouth-watering spinach, red and green pepper, onion and feta cheese frittata.  This morning I woke up early to prepare this lavish yet simple dish.  Holiday Spirit conjures up for me warm dishes and fragrant desserts, festive decorations, and melodious music. It’s a cooling down of temperatures and a softening of tough moods. It’s increased giving and goodwill. It’s also a feeling of anticipation and excitement. It’s remembering why we celebrate Christmas, and sharing stories and making memories with family.

What does Holiday Spirit mean to you? How did you kick off your Holiday season, whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, strictly Santa Claus or Kwanzaa? Share your comments or a link to your blog, I would really like to know.

I was Internet surfing and decided to check out the excellent National Geographic website when I stumbled upon a Lion Riding a Horse!  Well, I just had to put it up as the Double Take of the Month.  A new category, by the way.  I figured it would be fun.  The poor horse looks like it’s either scared or in pain. I wonder how the horse was trained.  I hope it was all done in a humane manner, not always likely to happen in countries like China and Russia and unfortunately not always in the U.S. either.

As the mother of a young son, I found it hard to find unique, quality and interesting shirts for my son.  I had to choose between either sports, vehicles or animals — and everyone seemed to be wearing the same clothes!  We chose animals because our son loves animals, but I kept thinking there had to be something better out there.  Something fresh.  Unique.  A wide variety.  Perhaps even something meaningful.

Enter my husband the artist.  He listened to my complaints, and designed the coolest shirts!  Steechee is an awesome site started by a need for a diversity of kids shirts.  

As a result, there are shirts for the child who loves books which includes literary characters on them such as Alice in Wonderland and Wizard of Oz, there are figures in history and science, shirts for the kid who enjoys gardening, and rock enthusiasts.  There’s even a section on the imaginative The traditional sports, transportation and animals are there but with a fresh take.  

I’m really excited about Steechee and the shirts as I looked at all of them.  Get your child excited about your favorite author Jules Verne with the shirt of the author or his book, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.    Or if you’re a Charlotte Mason fan like me, have your child wear her on a shirt!  They could even be used as homeschool uniforms!  

I’m so proud of our venture and wanted to share how excited we are about these.  Check them out and let me know if you like them and especially if you have bought some!

PS: We called it Steechee because our son at three had a favorite pet monkey he called Steechee.

Yet again, our area has been spared from devastation from a hurricane.  I live in South Florida and this time escaped again.  Even though there was a mandatory evacuation, our family didn’t as we were waiting and watching first.  Husband is good at calculating these risks, having lived in this area for most of his life.  It turned out to be a good decision, as Ike turned down south and left us with a few weak feeder bands of tropical storm winds.  

I pray for the families of the people in Haiti and Cuba.  It’s very sad to see a country such as Haiti, with so few resources and government aid, so helpless against such a big storm.  I’ve heard Cuba has a good evacuation plan and system for follow-up.  The poor have lost so many, an excess of 300 people have died that could have been saved were they in an industrialized country such as ours.

I hear the storm outside, grateful that it’s only a fraction of the power of the hurricane so many miles south.  For any accurate hurricane information, refer to the National Hurricane Center.  There you can see graphs, 3-day and 5-day forecasts.  News reports sometimes are inaccurate or downright sensationalist.  Keep safe, readers.  Let’s hope Ike doesn’t do any damage in Houston.

Son’s been clamoring for a treehouse, but we can’t see any trees sturdy enough for one, and dh is not much of a builder — yet. If I would have a treehouse, it would have to be really cool, like this one. Now here’s a treehouse!

I love how the Dad says that he had to draw a line at plumbing.  Great dedication, Dad!

I usually don’t get into politics, but I think this situation goes beyond politics. I feel fortunate to live in a time when in the United States there’s either going to be a black President or a female Vice President. Go back and read that one more time. Even writing it is making history.

Germany and India already have female leaders for their countries. I hope to see a female president in my lifetime. I’m only 31, so it’s quite possible.

Even if Sarah Palin doesn’t get to be Vice President, she has already made an impact on the United States. All the search engines are zipping with Sarah Palin as search terms and Americans are asking themselves: Who is she? And more importantly, what could she mean to me?

To me, Sarah Palin represents progress, “girl power” if you will, a breastfeeding mother, a mother balancing her career and family, a strong woman who’s not afraid to compete, and a breath of fresh air. Whether she will live up to the claims of her policies remain to be seen. Will she be trusted, having not as much experience as others? I don’t even think McCain is too much of an issue anymore. It’s almost — almost, Obama vs. Palin.

Racists and sexists combined have nowhere to go in this election — I’m grateful for that. The last thing this country needs is bigotry and narrow-mindedness.

We are living in interesting times once more. These times will be remembered as a historic presidential race where a woman and a man of color will be standing face to face in the most influential country in the world. Whomever wins, anything but the past eight years is good for me.

Happy Labor Day!

Here’s our homeschool schedule for Kindergarten.  We’re starting school the day after Brandon’s birthday, September 3.  Our little school is primarily Charlotte Mason.

Daily — Mon-Thu

Calendar (up to 5 min)
Math (10 min)
Poetry (5 min)
Penmanship (15 min)
(Break — 15 min)
Literature (15 min)
Phonics (10 min)
Reading (5 min)

1 Game a day (either math or letter games, Chutes and Ladders or other game, or Mind Benders)

Weekly — Fri

Theology (15 min)
Natural Science (30 min)
(Break — 15 min)
Copywork (10 min)
Music — piano (15 min)
Nature Walk (15-30 min)

Weekly — Sun
Art (30 min)

The definitive guide for the very first beginner

You know that small voice in your head?  When that voice keeps nagging me, I know I have to act.  No, I’m no schizophrenic.  I’m talking about God, intuition, your heart..  Yes, that voice.  Well, believe it or not, for months now, I feel like I should take up crocheting.  This wouldn’t be such a wayward idea but for the fact that I’m extremely busy, even more extremely disorganized, and I’ve been praying for answers.  Where do I start from here?  I really want to be more organized, God.  I want to be better, more self-disciplined.  Okay, crochet?  I guess He wants to be start anew, doing something basic.  Start anew.  Start fresh.

My history with arts and crafts is very short.  And ugly. Either I refused to make anything as a child, or I made something mediocre and I hated every minute of it.  The only thing I remember vaguely enjoying was crocheting.  I thought it was a relaxing endeavor.  Even then I didn’t finish an teensy weensy square.  My teacher finished it.  It’s still hanging in my parents’ Christmas tree, 23 years later.  To this day, this 31-year-old doesn’t know how to sew, knit or do anything useful with her hands except write, type, cook, bake and play the piano.  

So together with the K materials I ordered for Brandon from Rainbow Resource Center, I got the Klutz Crochet book.  I thumbed through it but haven’t started anything yet.  Tomorrow I’ll make some time to take a look again and pick a project.  What I love about it is that it has many pictures, simple instructions, and all the materials are included.  Sometimes God just wants you to crochet your life back together.

If you can’t seem to get the house clean and despair that your kids will grow up with a penchant for disorganization themselves and whose attitude will match your mess, don’t fret.  Disorganized, messy parents take notes!  There are certainly tangible benefits to your messiness, dirtiness, disorganization.

Here are four advantages:

1.  Your children learn to be more observant.

      When kids live in a messy house, they don’t just play “I Spy” from books, they play it in real life, and every day!  Where’s the cup?  Where are my shoes?  Where’s the dog?  All that looking sure makes their brain keener and better at finding anything.  Hey, maybe you have a future detective in your house.

2.  Your children will know they will have to pick up after themselves.

     Yes, you read that right.  Most parents who raise slobs actually are not slobs themselves.  That’s because they pick up after their kids!  Junior leaves his dirty laundry on the floor?  Neat mom tells Junior: Put the clothes in your hamper.  Junior says yes, he’ll do it.  A day later the mess is still there. Neat mom can’t stand the mess, so she nags, nags.  Chances are Junior still doesn’t do it.  So what do most neat moms do?  They do it themselves.  When mom or dad pick up after them, Junior doesn’t learn up his messes.  My son, on the other hand, cleans up willingly because the responsibility is totally his.  He knows Mama’s not going to do it.  

3.  Your kids develop a strong immune system.

A little dust here, some hair there, and a forest of dust bunnies.  Your kids’ body is developing strong defenses against bacteria and other stuff while a neat-freak’s home (read: clean and dust every single day) is not at all like real life.  Of course, it’s important not to go overboard.  I don’t suggest leaving raw meat juice on the floor for your infant to play in.  Safety first, and all basic precautions must be taken.  But beyond that, hair, dust, and a healthy dose of dirt can actually make them stronger.

4.  Your kids will learn about all the home-based fauna.

And I’m not talking dogs or cats, but rather insects such as benign spiders, ants and moths (hopefully not cockroaches) and here in South Florida we also have geckos.  They can interact with them and learn about their physical properties and behavior firsthand, plus learn to share a home with them. Buy a local animal field guide and you’re set.