GodTube had a free viewing until the 29th, and I’ve heard good things about the movie, so I decided to tune in and watch “Come What May.” (there is a great trailer on that link!!)

“In the movie, Caleb, a Christian student attending Patrick Henry College, is caught in a moral tug-of-war as he challenges Roe v. Wade at the National Moot Court Championship. At the same time, the character’s mother, a feminist attorney, argues the case at the U.S. Supreme Court, but on the opposing side.”~ quoted from worldnetdaily.com here

I love this movie:

* because, most importantly, it brings out the truth about when life begins…there’s no getting around Caleb’s argument.
* it promotes modesty & family values
* it was created by homeschool students, who were then instructed by movie professionals (how cool is that?!)
* and because it’s location is Patrick Henry College, which just so happens to be where I have wanted my girls to ever since hearing about it nearly 2 years ago - I know…they’re ages 5 and under…I’m a planner
If you get a chance…check out a clip, which I’ve so conveiniently embedded here

The past two days have really been Autumn-like….cold, windy, with an occasional rain. Even though I don’t like venturing out into the cold, I’m so excited that the colder weather is here! I’d rather stay inside where I can feel the warmth of a fire, drink hot cocoa, and smell a cinnamon-apple-something baking.  Speaking of apples, we still have so many apples from our apple picking outing about a week and half ago. I came across this apple bread recipe and, after trying it out, thought it would be perfect for the girls to lend a hand in.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I always use olive oil)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups apples - peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

1) In bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.

2) In large mixing bowl, place oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and apples.

3) Stir into flour mixture - mix (I also add just enough water to allow all the flour to mix in.)

4) Divide mixture between two greased 8-in. x 4-in. bread pans (I used a muffin pan). Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until bread test done.

5) Cool for 10 minutes on wire rack before removing from pan.

What recipes do you like to make during the Autumn season?

These days, meals come in prepackaged boxes…everything from potatoes to cakes…just add water, perhaps an egg or two, and voila! - dinner is served. Our society is just go, go, go! Maybe it’s due to the fact that I live in the country, but I love baking from scratch. It’s less expensive, healthier (I know exactly what ingredients I’m putting into a dish…and can pronounce them for that matter), a great experience for the girls (educationally & emotionally…a wonderful chance to bond with my girls), and fun! If it can be done, I will do it - or at least attempt to :)  I didn’t have the luxury of having this taught to me. Instead, through trial and error, I learned how to bake from scratch just in the past year - it’s become very important to me that I pass this down to my daughters.

On Friday, Lilli and I made chocolate pudding from scratch. We used the “Hasty Chocolate Pudding” recipe from Allrecipes.com. Here it is in step by step instructions, with photos
Ingredients:

1 c. white sugar
2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
6T. cornstarch
4c. milk
4t. vanilla

(note that T.= tablespoon and t.= teaspoon)

1. In a microwave safe bowl (this can be done over the stove as well but it would just take longer - see my “go, go, go” comment above…lol), whisk together the sugar, cocoa, & cornstarch. Whisk in milk a little at a time so the mixture does not have any dry lumps.

2. Place in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on HIGH.

3. Stir. Then cook at 1 minute intervals, stirring between cooking times for 2 - 4 minutes, or until shiny and thick. Stir in vanilla.

3. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming (the pudding will be HOT, so be careful!)

4. Chill in the fridge. Serve cold. Enjoy!

What do you like to pass down to your children?

Toward the end of her Kindergarten math curriculum, Lilli learned about the value of money. Lilli has had her chore chart in the past, where a sticker next to the completed chore was her reward. Now, she is ready for the big time! She is now five years old and we think she is ready for a weekly allowance.

We actually began giving her an allowance the last week of May. Each daily chore is worth a certain amount of money and when she completes it, she can stick (a photo copy of) that coin next to the chore. At the end of the week, we count up how much “money” she has earned and that is her allowance. If all her chores are completed, she will have earned $2.80. However, if she has completed all of them every day, I give her a bonus $0.20 to make it an even $3.00.

Her chores are to:
* Make her bed (worth a nickel)
* Help with the dishes after dinner - either setting or clearing the table (worth a dime)
* Clean her toys up before bed (worth a quarter)

So far, Lilli has done an excellent job completing her tasks and has learned that “money doesn’t grow on trees.” She usually wants something when we go to the store and I remind her that she only has “X” amount of money…would she have enough to buy the certain item? If she does, then she can make the decision to purchase it or not. If she doesn’t have enough, then she understands that she needs to wait until she earns her next allowance.

Lilli’s allowance has also taught her that Mommy & Poppa are not going to literally “pay” for her mistakes. She recently broke a few of her headbands (by stretching them beyond their capabilities) and said, “that’s ok, you will buy me some more.” Umm….no (The look on her face was priceless, no pun intended…lol). I reminded her that if she is not respectful of hers or others things, then she needs to replace them using HER money. On our next outing to Wal-Mart, Lilli picked out new head-bands, marched up to the cashier, & opened her purple purse to pay for her item. She was even more excited when she got change back. I suppose we’ll learn more on that reasoning in first grade
So how does a five year old keep track of how much money they have? They don’t…lol. Michael found a free online allowance management called Zefty. Lilli has a piggy bank where she keeps her money, but I am not going to bust into it to count it every so often to let her know how much she has. Zefty allows me to virtually make deposits and withdrawals as necessary. If Lilli wants to know how much money she has, I can log in and let her know within seconds. As Lilli gets older, she can log in herself and manage her own deposits and withdrawals.

*** A BIG thank you to Bethany for encouraging me to start tithing with Lilli - even at this young of an age. She answered some of my questions in an email, and I am so thankful for her wisdom. ***

“Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
~Proverbs 22:6

Jess over at Making Home posted this after hearing about it from a friend of hers, Leanne, who found it in an Austrailian homeschooling journal, –”In the Kolbe Little Home Journal (Fall 2005), “Homeschooling Family Finds Ways to Adapt to a Public School ‘Socialization’ Program.” I just had to share it:…tee hee:

“When my wife and I mention we are strongly considering home schooling our children, we are without fail asked, ‘But what about socialization?–’ Fortunately, we found a way our kids can receive the same socialization that government schools provide.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I will personally corner my son in the bathroom, give him a wedgie and take his lunch money.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, my wife will make sure to tease our children for not being in the ‘in’ crowd, taking special care to poke fun at any physical abnormalities.

Fridays will be ‘Fad and Peer Pressure Day.’ We will all compete to see who has the coolest toys, the most expensive clothes, and the loudest, fastest, and most dangerous car.

Every day, my wife and I will adhere to a routine of cursing and swearing in the hall and mentioning our weekend exploits with alcohol and immorality..–.. And we have asked them to report us to the authorities in the event we mention faith, religion, or try to bring up morals and values.”

Thanks, Jess, for a great way to start my day….laughing

That’s right! Lilli’s last kindergarten lesson was today - she is now officially a 1st grader! For most school aged kids, this means summer break…no more school…party time! Sure, why not just LOSE everything you’ve learned and waste time at the beginning of the next school year trying to “catch up” to where you were when school ended only a few months earlier. So even though Lilli doesn’t have any “formal” lesson plans, I will definitely be printing off some enrichment sheets to keep her up to par (which she is since I gave her a couple different “end of the school year” and “1st grade entry level” tests). And the wonderful thing is, Lilli LOVES to learn! What a blessing!

Spring is here…the flowers are blooming, birds are chirping, and our pond seems to be the “cool place to hang out” for all the frogs and turtles this side of the mountain.

A couple weeks ago, during a rainstorm, Michael spotted a turtle crossing our yard to meet his friends. But before he could join that party, Michael brought him to the front porch to say hello to the Clarke ladies.

We have yet to catch any frogs…they are just too darn fast! So in the mean time, we decided to make some frogs of our own:

I’m sure you can figure out how we made these critters just from the photos alone, but here are the directions anyway
What you will need:
Green, Red, Pink, & Black Construction Paper
White Crayon
Glue Stick
Scissors

1. Fold green construction paper in half and cut a half circle, starting at the crease (when you open the cut out half circle, you will have a large circle). This is the frog’s head

2. Repeat with the pink construction paper, however make this half circle smaller. This is the inside of the frog’s mouth.

3. Align the creases of the two circles together, with the pink inside the green, and glue together.

4. Repeat step 1 for black construction paper for his eyes (these half circles should be significantly smaller).

5. Fill in as much white for the eyes as you’d like on one side of the black half circle.

6. Glue opposite side of the black half circle onto the top of the frog’s head.

7. Cut out a LONG rectangular strip of red construction paper and scrunch it (as if you were making a fan). This is his tongue.

8. Glue one end of scrunched tongue close to the top crease in the pink circle. (When you scrunch up the tongue and close his mouth, the tongue should pop out when you open it back up…this gets quite a laugh!)

9. Enjoy your new friends!

It’s Monday…and since I haven’t blogged in a WHOLE WEEK I’ve decided to do a recap and skip Music Monday (however I did hear a Def Leppard song yesterday while over my neighbors’…reminded me of 1st grade, rockin’ out in the back of the bus - which, by the way, I could only ride in the back because my cool cousin was in 6th grade - while listening to my tapes on my walk-man…wow- 20 years ago?! Now that’s a flashback!).

Weekly Recap:
* My Dyson came in!!! How crazy is that?! I’m ecstatic about a vacuum cleaner. But really, with two kids, two dogs, & an “outdoorsy” hubby, our home tends to be a cheerio/furball/dirt magnet. This Dyson makes me want purposely spill things- just so I can use the vacuum! I know, I have issues
* I’ve put my knitted baby blanket project on hold for the past two weeks and was swayed by a certain 4 1/2 year old to knit her a Kitty Cuddly. Lilli has been pestering me for a while about this - in fact, ever since she lost the knitted bunny “Bow” a few months back. I think she finally realizes that if she loses something, she has to do without it…it may not always be so easily replaced. It took me 3 days, but “Kitten” was finally born… & Lilli keeps him safe on her bed Something I didn’t expect, though, jealousy from Corinne. She wanted a kitten too! So, a couple days later, “Mini-Kitty” was born and all was well in Corinne’s world.

* Organic Seeds! That’s right, planting season is right around the corner and I want to be prepared! Thanks to http://www.organicaseed.com , we’re right on track. Michael is looking forward to the cucumbers that will be pickled, I’m looking forward to the green beans, and Lilli is THRILLED about the strawberries! As the months pass, I will be sure to start blogging about this subject more often
* We had a visit from my dad! He stayed with us a night, while on a business trip in DC. Michael and I enjoyed his company and the girls had fun spending time with Opa. It was cute seeing Corinne hold his hand as they walked and Lilli making sure he sat next to her at dinner.

* I finished the book, Power of a Praying Wife. My good friend Vicki has asked me to start a small group with her (for which I am still humbled) that focuses on how to be true Christian wives…not as the world thinks wives should be, but how God has commanded wives to be. I’m really excited about this opportunity and am so thankful that God has surrounded me with such wise & godly Christian women. Vicki gave me two books last week: Power of a Praying Wife & Divine Romance. I should have DR read by the beginning of next week and prayerfully God will reveal which book He wants us to start with. I’m interested to see where He leads us
* Lilli is a reader! That’s right, my 4 1/2 year old can read! In fact, she puts letters together and makes up her own words! Her latest book is “Kit” from the Calvert School’s Early Phonics Storybooks. Here are a couple examples from the book: “Kit has a hat” & “Kit can sit.” She is so smart and I pray that her thirst for knowledge continues to grow.

* Lady had her check up and is looking good. She weighs 13 1/2lbs and is in great shape. Within the month, she will be getting spayed.

* Baby Clarke is growing! I’ve felt little flutters here and there and have noticed a more prominent bulge (thank goodness…I don’t like that beer-belly look…I’d rather prefer the I’m-hiding-a-small-melon look…lol”) Here’s the latest:
* By week 17, your baby weighs about 4.97 ounces (140gm) and is 5.12 inches (13cm) long.
* He or she has a much more normal “human” appearance now. She holds her head more erect and her body and limbs are longer in proportion to her head.
* Pads are forming on his tiny fingertips and toes. Soon those individual swirls and whorls will be apparent.
* Her eyes are looking forward now, but they are still firmly closed.
* Meconium (composed of products of cell loss, digestive secretion and swallowed amniotic fluid), is accumulating in the bowel. This black gooey substance will become your baby’s first poop!
* The umbilical cord is growing thicker and stronger and continues to rush blood and nutrients to your growing baby.
* Her skeleton is tranforming from cartilage to bone. The bones remain flexible to make the journey through the birth canal easier.
(info courtesy of www.pregnancy.org)

* The best thing about this week was by far my date night!! Michael and I have made it a point to have a date night at least once a month. As a parent, it is so easy to get caught up everything else: the kids, house, dogs, job, you name it and “forget” about your own needs. It’s also easy to “forget” to have a date night…something else (see list above…lol) always comes up. Michael is more than a dad, I am more than a mom…we are each other’s other halves with our own interests (no, Elmo is really not my favorite actor and no, I really don’t like playing with cardboard boxes and pretending it is my fort). So we’ve marked our monthly date night on the calendar…in permanent marker This past weekend we went to Red, Hot, & Blue and had a GREAT time! The food was awesome, as was our waitress Liz. But the best thing about our date was just being able to share a conversation, laugh, & be silly together for a couple of hours…just the two of us. I was woo-ed all over again

That’s it in a nutshell! Readers, I pray your week is richly blessed!

PS. I posted this blog in Linux…woo-hoo (sense the sarcasm, Michael )

As Pastor Mike read from the Book of James at tonight’s service (side note: the Saturday evening service is awesome….definitely our favorite…and it allows me to volunteer in the nursery for the Sunday morning service), two verses stood out for me:

“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” ~James 3:1 (NIV)
“The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.” ~James 3:5 (NIV)

Verse one made me chuckle, since I homeschool. It seems like every time someone finds out I homeschool, I am immediately put under the microscope and am bombarded with 20 questions. I’ve humorously learned to deal with it….remember this post?? Tee hee
The second verse hit me seriously though. How many times have I or have wanted to “one up” someone with a hurtful, sarcastic, mean, etc. comment to ”show them” or “get them back” for something they did to me. The end result is simply not good. Feelings are hurt, relationships are damaged, and my own spirit becomes less mature with each offense. Lately, I’ve found it easier to brush off the silly stuff….people are going to try to ruffle my feathers & rock my boat. I guess that’s part of maturity: recognizing poor behavior, not engaging in it (taming your tongue), and brushing it off. Why add fuel to the spark and create a huge inferno? Like Smokey the Bear said, “Only you can prevent forest fires!” (Cheesy…I know, but true!)

You can read all of James, chapter 3 here.

I got this from from Jess, who got it from His Abiding Love, and it had me laughing for hours…I’m still giggling about it (it is meant to be light-hearted…but I find most of it true ). Enjoy!

The Homeschooler’s Wish List

1 Please stop asking us if it’s legal. If it is - and it is - it’s insulting to imply that we’re criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?

2 Learn what the words “socialize” and “socialization” mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you’re talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we’ve got a decent grasp of both concepts.

3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.

4 Don’t assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.

5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a “reality” show, the above goes double.

6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You’re probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you’ve ever heard.

7 We don’t look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they’re in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we’re doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.

8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.

9 Stop assuming that if we’re religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.

10 We didn’t go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.

11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I don’t need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can’t teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there’s a reason I’m so reluctant to send my child to school.

12 If my kid’s only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he’d learn in school, please understand that you’re calling me an idiot. Don’t act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.

13 Stop assuming that because the word “home” is right there in “homeschool,” we never leave the house. We’re the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it’s crowded and icky.

14 Stop assuming that because the word “school” is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we’re into the “school” side of education - and many of us prefer a more organic approach - we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don’t have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

15 Stop asking, “But what about the Prom?” Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don’t get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I’m one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.

16 Don’t ask my kid if she wouldn’t rather go to school unless you don’t mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn’t rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.

17 Stop saying, “Oh, I could never homeschool!” Even if you think it’s some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you’re horrified. One of these days, I won’t bother disagreeing with you.

18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you’re allowed to ask how we’ll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can’t, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn’t possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.

19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child’s teacher as well as her parent. I don’t see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.

20 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he’s homeschooled. It’s not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.

21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she’s homeschooled.

22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.

23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.

24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won’t get because they don’t go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.

25 Here’s a thought: If you can’t say something nice about homeschooling, don’t say anything…it doesn’t concern you.