Multitude Mondays

This weekend we had an opportunity to go on an overnight Care Group Leaders' Retreat, where the care group leaders at our church got together to share a bit of what's going on in their lives and be refreshed and encouraged. It was a wonderful time, and another reminder at how much I have to be thankful for:

• getting away overnight without the kids, all expenses paid
• getting to spend time with the other leaders at church
• sharing some of the joys and challenges of life with each other
• giving and receiving prayer and encouragment
• the amazing families who cared for our kids while we were away
• the yummy food!
• returning to some very tired kids on Saturday
• Sunday morning worship
• taking a family walk in Harford Glen
• writing letters to faraway friends
• a quiet breakfast with Toby to star the week

Lovin' Pintrest

Have you seen Pintrest yet? Oh my. I put it off for as long as I could, but I suppose it was inevitable - so many have spoken of how useful/fun/inspiring it was, I had to jump on the wagon. I am such a sheep...

In short, Pintrest is simply a virtual pin board that you can share with others. See a great recipe? Pin it to your food board with photo and link, and others can thank you for sharing. Found a cute hairstyle or craft project you'd like to try? Pin it. It's less involved than a blog and more focused than facebook (no banal status updates - hoorah!). It's a tool, and such a fun one 

Of course, it very much has the propensity to be a massive time-suck, absolutely. If you can guard yourself against it by being strict with when or how long you're on (just like any other website), Pintrest is a great resource.  From food (my busiest "pin board")...

...to clothes...

...to nifty things to try...

...to just plain funny.

If you can handle the responsibility, get on there and get set up. And be a friend - that way I can follow what you pin on your board. Clearly, I am such a follower.

Multitude Mondays

Sickness has now entered our home. At the moment, it's only one, but knowing how these things tend to sweep through a family, I don't think it'll stay that way for long. Whether it's preparing for difficulty or smack dab in the middle of it, it is just as important as ever to be aware of God's sovereign hand in my life and thank Him for all good things:

• daily quiet time
• an extra blanket on the bed
• freshly baked bread
• finishing a family read-aloud book
• the excitement of choosing what to read next
• people who serve faithfully, without ever asking for acknowledgement
• friends who will sacrifice their comfort to serve our family
• a child that voluntarily offers to help another
• old movies
• homemade tomato soup

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Gather of lights with whom there is o variation or shadow due to change.

James 1:17



34

That's me now. I am 34 years old. Somehow, I have the feeling I should have "it" (whatever "it" is) a little more together by now...A goal for next year, perhaps?

A lovely birthday I had on Tuesday. My husband cooked my favorite breakfast - bacon, egg and cheese on a toasted everything bagel. Great way to start the day. School was followed by the mailman delivering what might be my favorite gift - a yarn ball winder! Out of the box it came, was run downstairs, set up in my work room and I quickly turn a few messy skeins of yarn into happy little yarn "cakes". It's difficult to articulate the feeling well, but there is just something about seeing those little "cakes" that just makes me happy.

In the evening my husband took me shopping at Christopher and Banks. For me it's a great store that straddles the divide between being too old and "full-figured" for Old Navy and too young for Chicos. Some things look a little too old for me, but most items are great, and their shirts are cut just right for the likes of me.

Shopping was followed by dinner at Neel's Kabob Factory in Bel Air. If you're not into Indian food, you probably won't enjoy this, but if you like to try something new, this might just be the ticket. The food was great (as was the price with our restaurant.com coupon)! We started off with falafel, which I'd never had before. They were quite tasty, though a little bland. They do provide tamarind and mint dipping sauces, which compliment nicely. Whenever I have Indian I usually go for a Chicken Biryani (chicken and rice dish) or a Chicken Rogan Josh (tomato-based, I think). I wanted to try something different this time, so I went for the Chicken Tikka Masala - delicious. Wonderfully creamy and flavorful and not too spicy (I ordered a 3 on their 1-10 scale). Complete with garlic naan, it was just right. They had a pretty varied menu, too - vegetarian options, halal meats, lamb dishes and even goat. I like new things, but I'm not yet brave enough for goat and I just don't care for lamb, so chicken is where I live.

Another thing I don't really care for is Indian sweets - I find them too sweet. Now they did have some cheesecake options, but I wasn't in the mood, so we wandered off to the new Wegman's around the corner from us to see what they had in their fresh bakery section. There was plenty of options, but for me there was really only one thing - the mini key lime pie. I think key lime pie is one of the best things going. Toby had a moon pie, I think - it looked a little weird, so I didn't pay too much attention, but I think he liked it.

So, that's my birthday, turning 34. Thanks to all who sent cards, gifts and well wishes - each has helped to make it a sweet day of celebration that God would give me not only that much time, but so many rich blessings into such a space of time. He is, indeed, so good to me.

Multitude Mondays

In no particular order:

• How the end of one season means the beginning of another
• How an unexpected nap time for little ones can mean unexpected relaxation for me
• Being able to pray for my children
• Seeing their need for Jesus early!
• Finishing my sweater
• Sharing work space with my husband
• Sitting in a cool breeze
• Seeing the sunlight stream across my favorite quilt
• Having the rower more accessible in my bedroom

My new favorite sweater

I am so excited to have finished this. It's been a while in the making, but it's finally done! Yay!

First, it was going to be the February Lady Pullover. I got up to the neckline and had to put it aside for a while. When I got back to it, the neck shaping just wasn't looking right. Ripped it out and redid it a few times. No good. I even took it to my favorite yarn shop and got their assistance, which was definitely helpful. In the end, though, I learned that I knit funny. It turns out that not only do I tend to knit in a style that means I have to modify instructions for lace knitting, but I think I've also been wrapping my yarn the wrong way. Non-knitters won't care, but I think you knitters out there will get how that's troublesome.

So, I gave up. Sad to say, but true. But, there is hope - now that I've figured out what I tend to do wrong, I will likely go back to this pattern - it's so pretty!

Now, this yarn has been a dream to work with, and I love the color, so I had to find a project worth the yarn, so I had a go with this. I am so pleased at how it's turned out!

I am also extremely pleased that I can honestly say that my sweater is a size medium - I can't remember the last time I wore anything up top that didn't have an "L" in it!

This sweater is a wonderful testimony to the mystery of blocking. I've not always done it before, but the more I do it, the more I am convinced of how helpful it is. "Blocking" (as I understand it) is simply the method of moistening the fibers and allowing them to relax. You can spray or soak, then pin the garment. It then goes from being kind of tight and a little stiff to being relaxed and soft. In this case, before blocking it was kind of snug, a little short in the sleeves and you couldn't really see the yoke detailing very well. Now, it's perfect. And I love it.

A Spelling Resource

So, since pretty much everyone is back in school, I figured now is a pretty good time to talk curriculum.

This year, for the first time, I am teaching spelling as it's own subject. That is to say, I'm not doing an all-in-one language arts program that tries to cover it, and I'm no longer hoping copywork will do the job for me. ( I know it does work for some, but not for us.)

I didn't want to spend money on something very comprehensive this year, so to the Internet I went, and came across K12. What a great site! They've got loads of resources for reading, comprehension and spelling, plus games and worksheets. Since I'm feeling the need for doing some catch-up, the girls are doing the second grade spelling list. The list is 16 words each week, and the method is:

Day 1 - Write each word 3 times.

Day 2 - Alphabetize the list.

Day 3 - Write 2 or 3 sentences with 2 or 3 spelling words per sentence.

Day 4 - Test.

Day 5 - Write any misspelled words 3 times each.

And that's it. It's been going well, too. The girls don't like writing the words out a lot, so they make an extra effort on the test. They like working together to alphabetize them, so that makes it fun.

Each week's list contains a couple easy words, for encouragement purposes, a large chunk or words that follow a similar pattern (ou- words or ol- words, for instance), and then a few challenges. A note of warning, though - there are some real toughies in there. Last week one of the words was "resources". I think that's pretty challenging for a second grader, which is partly why I don't feel too bad for treating it as meeting a remedial need. Having said that, it's probably a good one to use for the more gifted spellers out there.

This site has also has some great worksheets and drills for grammar and comprehension. I'm thinking about incorporating the comprehension worksheets, particularly since they go along with the weekly spelling lists for extra reinforcement.

Okay, homeschooling parents, what other spelling tools have you used to great success? What have you wasted time and money on?

Multitude Mondays

Sometimes, things don't quite go to plan. Sometimes, I stay up late and get up early. The kids bicker, chores are ignored and I miss the garbage men. Sometimes, I need to say "thank you" for the simple things:

• amazing stories of international adoption
• sweet and sour meatballs
• tortilla chips
• another birthday
• yummy cupcakes
• a marvellous babysitter
• movie night with my husband
• bacon
• getting a little nervous around the praying mantis visiting the deck
• knowing that He is good, in all things - great and small

More Stripes

For the same lady at swim school, another grandbaby sweater.

 This time I used KnitPicks Swish instead of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. Yarn was almost as nice and half the price. I couldn't pass up such a deal, and it was really nice to work with.

It would seem I have a thing about wooden buttons, too. I can live with that.

Vacation Options

Last year, we were looking to go on vacation, but didn't know the best way to go about it. A hotel would be too expensive and we didn't want to camp with Dan being so little (about 6 months old). Friends told us about this website called HomeAway, where you can rent anything from a little studio apartment to a large multi-family chalet. We tried this place in West Virginia and had a great time. Great little house, a little off the beaten path, which was fine with us. We were able to pay for the rental by paypal and the owners were very helpful both before and after our stay.

So, having had such a good experience the first time, we went through HomeAway again for this year's vacation. This year,we stayed here. The funny part was realizing that the owners live in Newcastle. As it happens, Scousers have great taste in holiday homes, because this was another great place - plenty big enough for us and having everything we needed. Unfortunately, we had to leave early due to Eleanor coming down with some sort of tummy bug - we didn't want to risk the rest of us getting it and having to cope with an 8-hour drive at the same time!

The HomeAway website is very well set up. Plug in some of the features you'd like (bed, bath, etc), the area you'd like to go to, and the price you'd like to spend - then you can start shopping! It's got reviews, which are very helpful, mapped locations, and all sorts of other helpful details that can help you make your choice. 

I think 2 years of good experiences warrants a recommendation, so if you're looking for holiday options, HomeAway is worth a look.