What's In My Teapot?

There has been a newfound freedom these early May days for the student and the teacher in our little school! Elasa is very nearly a graduate of first grade (bring on the celebratory fireworks!!!) and since we don't have to count days yet, it's just a matter of finishing up books. Reading, phonics and handwriting are done, leaving just math, and on that we are in the final light unit. My hope is to complete that as well in the next several weeks, doing several lessons a week. Maybe one of these days I will review first grade in hindsight and how it all worked for us. Until then, if you're curious about what first grade looked like at the beginning of the year, you can go to this post . You would think that with school wrapping up, I would have a whole hour or two free for reading and other luxurious pleasures, right? Well, nice thought, but not quite reality! The curious thing is that the time that I would normally be teaching gets sucked right up into other cho...

Happy first day of May! The season we've all been waiting for is in full bloom and going all too quickly, and while I know how easy it is to get caught up in the work that needs to be done (cleaning, finishing up school, digging in gardens and herb beds, keeping the family clothed and fed), I would recommend finding ways to slow down and enjoy these lovely Springtime days! And I have just one such way to tell you about: I got word from Dorcas Smucker that the Ki ndle edition of Footprints on the Ceiling is free today and tomorrow!!! This is a very generous offer and available to anyone who has a Kindle, so feel free to make use of it yourself and pass the word along! Just remember that the offer stands  today (May 1) and tomorrow (May 2) only , so be sure to download it now if you're interested! If you're not familiar with Dorcas and her book, you can learn a bit more by reading my review of Footprints on the Ceiling , or checking out her very interesting ...

What do you get when you combine a collection of stories about life around the table with a variety of  recipes that will leave you licking your lips- if not digging deep into your own culinary skills? Why, Bread and Wine , by Shauna Niequist, of course!  Now, I am just going to tell you upfront that I am "cheating" a bit this month by picking and choosing from the handy-dandy list of questions in the book-club section at the back of the book!!! I didn't know when I chose this book that the review would come on the very day that I was giving achievement tests to nine  third graders in the morning, or that I would be faced with nine workbooks to check, or that I would be finishing the book on the day that the book review was due, or that I would not have tried a single recipe...but here  we are! Sticking to schedule, but giving myself a few breaks in the brain department while I am at it!!! Why try to come up with my own unique questions when I can have...

Bible-school is over, and I am sure there is a mixture of disappointment and relief at it's passing. The good news is that I heard very positive reports about Bible-school, so I think we can put the year to rest, so to speak, on a good note! I was one of several hundred people who sat in a crammed auditorium this morning and listened to the Bible-school students sing in the chorus, their special finale, and I was inspired and blessed. In my first post about Bible-school, I said that one of my desires for the week was that Christ's kingdom would advance and that we could reclaim some of  what the devil has stolen, and this morning I felt an air of victory, buoyed by the testimony of another young man from our church who has decided to follow Christ. It may feel like a lot of work and effort on the behalf of many, and that would be true, but I think each and every person who had even the slightest bit of involvement would say that it was worth every moment if we have gai...

Today my sister and I spent approximately 5 very enjoyable hours at a homeschool curriculum fair in Frederick, Maryland, and I came away with new wind under my sails! I guess you know you're a homeschooling mom when you go to a curriculum fair and feel like a kid in a candy shop, but there's nothing like brand new school books and other fun educational things to get a person excited!!! It may seem a little odd to be worrying over second grade before we're even through with first, but taking care of curriculum decisions now means that you can think about the next year based on how the current year is going, plus enjoy summer vacation when it arrives knowing that you're books are ready when you are! I looked at curriculum a bit, but actually spent the majority of my time fascinated by all the "extra-curricular" books, games and gizmos and picking up a few things I thought would be good additions to our family library and homeschool experience in general, l...

It's Friday evening and I thought I would be at our special Bible-school service right about now! Instead, I am home with Parker, who has a fever and a runny nose, while Wesley is at church with the other two. So, in between setting up a wooden train track and reading a child's book about ambulances and feeding Parker yogurt and peanut butter cereal (he wasn't hungry for supper, but later seemed to think it was breakfast time!), I have caught snatches of the service going on at church (information for using our conference line is found  here ) and tried to come up with a few thoughts pertaining to Bible-school! It's a little hard to write about Bible-school when I've only gotten a glimpse of the students on one occasion, and then while I was busy and preoccupied with serving a meal, but the exercise of writing things in connection with Bible-school and youth in general has helped me to be with them in spirit... and it has reminded me to pray. After writing ab...

We made it! We fed the young people and we fed ourselves and we had enough for everyone (with leftovers!) and we chatted our way through the cleanup so that it took way longer than it should have and we returned to our respective homes thankful that Bible-school comes only once a year!!! How's that for a success story on feeding the multitude? Just in case you wish to know more (and since I promised details!) here are a few things for the record... We served right around 95 people (10 were children and the rest youth through adult.)  Keep in mind, though, that a group of young people never eat as much as you think they should during Bible-school, with their well-fed and under-active lifestyle, so if you were preparing this menu for a crew of young people who had just put in a hard days work, you may want to figure accordingly!!! Enchiladas: we made 101 and had several pans leftover (exact amount unknown) but I would still make about that many again if I was aiming to f...