Circling Through This Life

Yes, Yes we are still alive here! It has been ages since I posted.  I had such plans for posting far more frequently. I even planned to join in a new round of Blogging Through The Alphabet which is now hosted by the lovely Amanda at Hopkins Homeschool  and Kirsten from Doodlemom . Since I am weeks behind I thought I'd do an update of sorts Alphabet Style! A is for Academics! Boobear applied to a few local grad school programs. I am so thrilled and proud to announce that she was accepted by her first choice school and will be starting the Masters in Social Work program this fall! Turtlegirl finished up her 2nd year at University and will be heading back in the fall for her third year.  She received recognition from the Foreign Language Department as an outstanding second year German student!  Did I tell you that she is now officially a Pre-Law student? She's majoring in Philosophy with a minor in German. Tailorbear rocked her first year at technical col...

This week’s letter is C.  Join me as I join Cristi and Meg and I blog about My Love Affair with C oconut Oil. Many years ago a friend of mine introduced me to coconut oil. I confess I was not keen on it. I am not fond of coconut flavored anything so why on earth would I want to use coconut oil!!!???  Now of course coconut oil is all the rage.  And for good reason. I’m not going to extol the virtues of coconut oil but instead I am going to share a few of the ways we use coconut oil and how I’ve gone from a “seriously? coconut oil?”  to a “Yes, seriously, coconut oil. Try it!” perspective. Coconut Oil is a great substitute for butter. Yes, for me it took some getting used to but coconut oil as a butter substitute is a hit here. Cinnamon Raisin Bagels are quite yummy during Orthodox Christian fasting seasons such as Advent and Great Lent and my girls love them spread with coconut oil. No, I confess coconut oil as a spread is not as yummy as cream cheese on a bage...

Marcy from Ben and Me has retired from hosting Blogging Through The Alphabet. She did five rounds. Five! So my friend Kristi  from A Potter’s Hand Academy   has taken up the baton and is now hosting a new round of Blogging Through The Alphabet. She started last week. I missed the memo. But that’s ok. I’ll just start now and I’ll start from the beginning with the Letter A. The first thing that came to mind was Advent or in the Orthodox world, Nativity Fast or little lent. Since my post for the letter B is about the books I want to read during Advent, I’m going to combine the two letters. For many Orthodox Christians in the USA, the Nativity Fast will start on Saturday November 15. Well, actually for all Orthodox Christians the fast will begin on November 15 but one is November 15 on the Revised Julian Calendar (New) Calendar which currently follows the civil Gregorian calendar that we are all familiar with.  The other calendar is the Julian Calendar (Old) and currently...

It’s only October.  We still have to get through Halloween, my anniversary, and Thanksgiving before we even get to December.  So why am I writing about X-mas?  Because this week’s letter over at Ben and Me ’s ABC Blogging is X.  I admit I was stumped.  Yes I could use a word like exciting or exhausted and focus on the x part of the word but I wanted to see if I could actually find a word in the dictionary from the x-section.  Did you know that the x-section is barely two pages? I came across X-mas.  Did you know it was in the dictionary?  I don’t think I’ve really thought about it but I guess it makes sense. Let’s look at the dictionary definition: “n. Christmas.” Ok so X-mas means Christmas according to the dictionary.  It certainly has been widely used in December as a replacement for the word Christmas . I know many people, wonderful Christian people, who refuse to use x-mas and prefer to write out Christmas each and every time. It se...

Sometimes I feel afraid to admit, even to myself, what I like to read. It’s my pride I think. Pride is the sin I struggle with  the most. So back to what I like, I evaluate what I like and wonder if it’s good enough, smart enough, or whatever and then I become fearful that I’m trying to like something to please someone else or worse that I’m becoming pretentious. I also wrestle with these kinds of thoughts: “if I admit that I like reading mystery fluff like what Mary Daheim and Donna Andrews writes, does that mean I am less intelligent?” or “Do I want to read Three Musketeers or Les Mis because I think it will make me feel more intelligent?” I wrestle with ideas like “do I like Shakespeare because I like Shakespeare or because I think that liking Shakespeare makes me look smarter or more intelligent?”  (I like Shakespeare because I like Shakespeare, but I like that I feel smarter because I like Shakespeare.) I wrestle with being honest and true to myself and fighting the i...

Is it sad that when I think of the word vacation I hear Belinda Carlisle singing “Vacation. All I ever wanted. Vacation have to get away.” And then I see the Go-Go’s video for the song run through my mind. I’d make you all miserable with me and link up a You Tube video but I couldn’t find a legal version of the official video and I wasn’t happy with the live versions of the song.  Go on and thank me. I’ve spared your ears. You’re welcome. Back to Vacation.  I don’t just want one.  I think I need one. It seems the older my children get, the more busy our lives become and I feel like everything is just GoGoGoGo (no not the Go Gos  even though I did mention them already and I do like them but that’s a blog post for another day.) When I think of vacations, I think of travelling to a different location and of staying in hotels and eating in restaurants. I think of visiting museums or parks.  I think of spending time with family that lives so far away. Childhood va...

When I think of school uniforms I think of Catholic schools first and then I think of fancy, expensive private schools, like the ones out on the East coast or in England. Homeschool and school uniform should not be in the same sentence or should it? If you home school, then like me you might be aware of the “home schooling mom’s uniform,” the denim jumper.  I don’t wear denim jumpers. I did try it out. I got over it. I have baked my own bread and I own a grain mill but that’s all beside the point. As you can read I am easily distracted. I start out talking about school uniforms and I end up mentioning baking bread. My 15 year old daughter is also very easily distracted. We’ve been brainstorming ways to help her stay focused. She wanted to try wearing a school uniform. Though purchasing a real uniform is not part of our budget plans, we were able to brainstorm some ideas and reach an acceptable option.  We thought a vest would be a good option.  She could wear whatever...

At the end of 6th grade, as part of the big graduating from elementary school, we had this party and this whole what do you think you’ll be when you group up thing. I say thing because it wasn’t an assignment but it was something, maybe a survey, maybe a vote? I don’t remember but what I do recall is that it, whatever it was, said that I would grow up to be a teacher. I was not displeased with the idea. I loved playing school.  I set up my stuffed animals in a row and I stood in front of them and I taught. I played school with my friends. We took turns being the teacher. Fast forward to high school and I began to contemplate college and the future and “what will I do with my life?”  I loved German. I visited a college with an excellent German program that included spending time in the “German Village.”  I know I considered attending but as a catholic girl, I wasn’t too keen on the required Lutheran chapel services. And it was cold.  Ever been to Northern Minnesota...

Do you ever feel like everything you do is wrong; that you can do nothing right?  I do sometimes feel like that.  I can’t seem to keep my house clean enough or be consistent enough with getting enough school done in a day.  My laundry system is failing (ok ok it’s currently non-existent). If I have a great day with school and chores, I somehow can’t manage to get dinner cooked. When things start feeling overwhelming ~ the lesson plans aren’t done, the laundry is piling up, menu plans are a distant thought in a galaxy far far away ~ it becomes important to think about the things you are getting right. For me, anyway, I need to step back and look at what is going well or when I am doing things right . This past week I finished reading Getting Rid of It: Eliminating Clutter from Your Life by Betsy and Warren Talbot.  I liked the book OK (that’s a two star rating on Goodreads). I don’t think a 40 something year old, home schooling mama who doesn’t have an outside car...

I know it’s Saturday and a Random 5 on Friday just doesn’t really flow on Saturday but this is certainly not the first time I’ve posted a Random 5 on Friday on a Saturday. I also need a q topic for ABC Blogging so this post has a theme. Cats are, I think, quirky by nature but some some kitty habits are strange even by cat standards. As a married couple Honeybear and I have adopted 4 cats and had one cat adopt us. Each cat has been completely different in personality and each one has had a least one quirky habit! 1. Cats like to play. That’s not quirky.  Cats like to jump up on things.  That’s not quirky. But Daisy liked to play with pens. She loved them. She loved to bat them all over the floor and chase them. She preferred pens or pencils over traditional cat toys like balls of string.  What made her really fascinating to watch: she would help herself to her toys. She would jump up on the desk, pull a pen out of the cup, drop it on the floor, jump down and begin her p...

I am a planner.  I mean I like to have things planned out. I don’t have to be locked into the plans and the plans frequently change but I need to have structure. I need to have a frame or map to get me started.  As part of the Back to Homeschool Blog Hop I am doing a series of posts about planning.  What do I plan before we head Back to Homeschool: planning the calendar , planning our course of study , and using both paper and digital planners . When the girls were very small I didn’t stress too much about calendars. We have have always leaned more towards a year-round approach taking time off as needed. We would just start the next math book or the next level of whatever subject when we finished the first one. I did take the time to put in specific breaks such as federal holidays that Honeybear is off and scheduled breaks at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.  Our first day of School would be in late August or early September and we would aim to be finished by Me...

I know today is already seven days into August.  (Say what??!!!  August?  No. No. No. I do not want summer to end. We’ve had some hot days but not so hot that I wish them away!)  Ahem where was I? Oh yes seven days in to August but it’s not too late! For what?  To join in on this really neat decluttering challenge that my friend issued. Bethany is a minimalist already. This is is just one more great character quality that I admire about her.  She’s laid back, generous, has a great attitude when faced  with those bitter lemons of life, and on top of it all doesn’t allow things to take over her life. I could learn a lot from her.  Hey wait.  I’m supposed to the be the older woman. Oh well.  Anyway Bethany posted about the Minimalist Game on her blog, The Land of Curly Hair . I decided to join her. So What Is It? How Does It Work? So there is this blog called The Minimalists and they encourage people to play the Minimalist Game . I t...

I’ve decided to combine the Random Five on Friday meme with the ABC Blogging meme.  I came up with Five Not So Random N Things. 1.  Nativity Fast ~  In the Western Church the four weeks before December 25 are known as Advent.  In the Eastern Church the 40 days before December 25 are called the Nativity Fast.  December 25th is The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior.  Yes, we all still refer to it as Christmas but I love that it is known as the Nativity. For me that helps keep a religious focus.  The fast is to prepare ourselves for the great feast.  2. St. N icholas ~ When thinking about Christmas it is hard to not think about Santa Claus. Santa means saint and Claus is short for Nicholas. Santa Claus but the American Legend of Santa Claus has very little resemblance to the very real man (whose life is shrouded in legend) who is known as St. Nicholas .  He was a Bishop of Myra.  His feast day is celebrated December 8th but h...

Here, west of the mountains, in the PNW it rains a lot from November to April and quite a bit in June.  Though we often lack motivation during those months we usually just stick to our school routine.  We had a rainy day this week and I needed an M post for ABC Blogging so M is for {10 Suggestions for} Making the Most of a Rainy Day!   Summer rain is different.  After weeks of gorgeous sun and some really hot, for us anyway, days, this rain is draining.  None of us are motivated to do anything productive.  We still have school do but it just feels different in the summer. Together the girls and I came up with a list of Ten Suggestions for Making the Most of a Rainy Day.  These would be things we could do during the summer when it rains and we just have no motivation or desire to be productive. 1. Play a board game~ We love games around here and we have plenty of them.  I included several of our favorites in my post about Games as Gifts . 2....

I have frequently said that Honeybear loves me far more than I love him. I am not a great wife. I am not the woman I want to be.  He’s not perfect.  Far from it actually.  Sometimes I get dragged down into that selfish place of if-he-really-loved-me-he’d-do whatever it is he’s not doing that I want him to do. True love doesn’t look like the fairy tales (well setting aside Once Upon A Time which is a fabulous show but very twisted with the fairy tales).  Love is an action.  It’s a choice.  It’s often sacrificial and always concerned with others not self.  When I look at love from that perspective,  I can see the different ways my husband does love me. So here are 3 Ways to Love Your Spouse 1.  Listen to Music You Barely Tolerate.   For 21 1/2 years I have thought my husband shared my interest in the music of U2.  He’d even turn up the radio for me. I just found out this past weekend that he really doesn’t like them. He tolerates ...

If you’re looking for ideas for conquering the bad attitudes in your children, you’ll need to keep looking. This post is for me to help me kick my bad attitudes to the curb . Some days I am just a grouchy, horrible, prone to angry outbursts, witchy woman who, unfortunately, finds offense everywhere.  *sigh* Instead of seeing the good, I focus on the bad . Instead of “oh, look, they’re shipping the dvd!”  I think “really?  they’re just now shipping it and I still won’t get it for another 7 days??!!”  I sink into a self-pity party and travel to woe-is-me-everyone-is out-to-make-me-miserable-land. It stinks. It’s wrong. I don’t like it. My poor children. I don’t want them walking on egg shells wondering if they’ll get their heads ripped off because today’s the day that nothing will please mom . My children are talented, intelligent and I hope well educated, but they are also human and that means words hurt.  On Mom’s a Witch days, glances and tones hurt. My chil...

I did not grow up with a canner. My mother did not can. My maternal grandmother did not can or least not when I knew her. My paternal grandmother did can but she lived so far away and I saw her so infrequently that the closest I ever came to canning with her was the fall that I made applesauce (which I didn’t can, but froze instead). I didn’t have any idea of what to do. My mother didn’t know.  But I called granny.  Not only did she know how to make applesauce she walked me through it.  While we talked on the phone she told me what I needed to do. Somewhere I have her hand written instructions for making apple butter. The first bit of canning I ever did was with a friend from church.  Boobear and I went out to her house and we made jam. I fell in love with canning. Later that summer we canned peaches.  The next year my girls and I canned peaches.  Last year we invested in a pressure canner and Honeybear and the girls canned green beans and carrots. This ...

If you would have said to me 6 years ago, maybe even just 5 years ago that I would some day write a post sharing about my love of Eastern Orthodox Icons, you would have gotten an earful about the “graven image” part of the 2nd commandment and how wrong I thought the whole idea was. I’ve come along way, baby! It wasn’t easy though. I really wasn’t sure I could become an Orthodox Christian because I just didn’t understand icons or iconography or why they were important.  Why would I want to have these hanging in my house?  Do I have to kiss them?  Why? My very first visit to on Orthodox service was overwhelming.  The walls are covered in icons! There are three analogions (podiums).  The one in the center held a wreath with a cross. This wreath holds a teeny tiny fragment of the True Cross and I have since learned is only displayed at certain times.  The other two analogions are the left and right side as you look at the iconostasis.  When facing the ...