A Kindred Spirit

Yesterday my brother-in-law forwarded an email to me that just had to be shared. I can't help but feel if I had known Erma Bombeck personally, we would have been kindred spirits. Hope you enjoy!!



IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER
by Erma Bombeck
The following was written by the late Erma Bombeck
after she found out she had a fatal disease.


If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television - and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love you's".. More "I'm sorrys" ...

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute... look at it and really see it ... live it...and never give it back.

© Erma Bombeck

The Life of Lucy

Here lately I feel like my life is an "I Love Lucy" rerun. Yes, I grew up watching Lucy and her "red" hair brained antics. I sometimes could laugh 'til I cried. Funny how when those things are happening to you, it doesn't always seem funny . . . at least not at the time!

A week ago Thursday we were scheduled to sing at our homeschool "kick off" cook out. After setting up all our equipment, we had eaten and were trying to get the sound check finished. We were making ready to begin our short program, when our middle daughter approached us with her ashen brother in tow. The boys had been playing and my son had run into the back of another boy jamming his thumb joint into an amazing position. Needless to say, the concert was cancelled, we spent several hours in ER that evening, and many hours the next day in and out of the doctor's office and outpatient surgery. Thankfully, it all ended well - nothing really serious, and my son should have his splint removed this coming Monday.

But that didn't end it. Saturday we were scheduled to sing at the finale of a church revival meeting, but our lead guitarist had come down with some horrendous flu - high fever, chills, etc - and none of us wanted to get around him much. Besides we didn't want to infect the whole church! The following Monday night found us in the same position. Scheduled to sing at another revival, still a fevered guitarist, we cancelled that gig as well.

I guess the clincher was last night . . . three of my gang and our recuperating guitarist were on their way home from town, when they thought they had either hit a large hole in the road or maybe had a blown tire. As they started to slow down, they saw the wheel pass their truck. It was like something out of the old "Herbie" movie!! They pulled off the highway, leaving long gashes in a newly paved road - no kidding, the paving equipment and workers were close enough that even I could hit them with a rock. Apparently while they were traveling without the wheel, the sparks from the metal on pavement caught the median grass on fire - we have been VERY DRY here lately. Someone who saw it all happen must have called the fire department, because a fire truck pulled up shortly to extinquish the grass. It wasn't much of a fire, probably more precaution than anything. But what a HOOTENANNY!! Again it all worked out well, within an hour or so they were back on the road.

I could fill a book with all the comical things that seem to happen around here. Perhaps I could be the next Erma Bombeck. I can't wait to see what this next week holds!!! :D

" . . . for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content"

A New School Year

I was always one of those "nerds" who loved the start of school - buying school supplies, getting new books. And so, I look forward to the beginning of our homeschool year as well. We have been dabbling at school for several weeks, but I guess you could say last week was our "official" beginning. I spent a lot of time over the summer revamping our school room, reorganizing the kids individual school space, and rethinking my homeschool approach. Years ago when my first two children were homeschooling, I was an avid Charlotte Mason advocate. When they hit high school we had to implement some changes, but it seemed to work for us (that was before the days of Ambleside Online). After my girls graduated, there were some mistakes along the way that I didn't want to repeat with my other kids, and so I started over with the gamut of ALL the homeschooling approaches. For years, we tried bits and pieces of everything . . . textbook approach, Classical education and the trivium, self education and the Robinson curriculum, but always I adhered to Living Books as much as possible. All that said, this year we are back to Charlotte Mason. I spent much time reading Charlotte Mason's materials this summer. I am not sure I ever fully understood her approach and now I still feel like a novice. But plug ahead we shall!!!

We have implemented quite a few books from Ambleside Online and because it is my nature, we are doing a lot of my own thing. My friend Lisa, over at Shady Brook Acres shared with me the drawer system and I am finding it to work great for me. Each student has their own "crate" of books and I daily pick from those books to fill their "drawer" which comprises their daily assignments. I also have a crate full of books that we read together during our "morning time" together. So, here is what our schedule looks like this year.

MORNING TIME:
Poetry - Selections of Emily Dickinson / we do this EVERYDAY
101 Hynm Stories - 1x a week
Minn of the Mississippi by Holling
Do Hard Things by the Harris twins
Story of the World - Vol.3
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
Walk the World's Rim by Betty Baker
RedWall by Brian Jacques

By way of explanation, we do a short poetry selection everyday and talk about it if necessary. On Monday we pick a hymn, sing it, and read from the book. The rest of the days I read from several of the other books, mixing and matching as I go. Poetry included, we probably read from four books daily.

The kid's schedules look very similar. (The order of the readings is Monday thru' Friday (M,W,Th,F). We have a homeschool co-op on Tuesday. J is my son, A is my daughter)

BIBLE ~ J-Old Testament, Gospel, Acts, Animals of the Bible
A-Joshua, Luke, Acts, Pilgrims Progess
MORNING TIME
MATH ~ J-Teaching Textbooks (for my review visit www.homeschoolhootenanny.com), A-Algebra 1 through a homeschool mom.
LITERATURE / BIOGRAPHY Reading ~ Lit. on M & Th, Bio. on W & F.
WRITING / PENMANSHIP ~ A-writes something everyday; J-Penmanship.
SCIENCE / NATURAL HISTORY ~ J reads from science selections M & Th, from Natural History W & F, A-Natural History on M, Physical Science (Apologia) thru' co-op.
GRAMMAR / SPELLING ~ J using Sequential Spelling, A using Analytical Grammar and Spelling Power.
READING ~ J reading Historical Fiction(HF), Shakespeare, HF, American Tall Tales. A is reading on the same schedule except on Friday she reads Kon-Tiki for Geography.

Book Selections ~ For J
Aesop's Fables
Story of Inventions
Matchlock Gun
Ben & Me
Burgess Bird Book
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
Pilgrim's Progress - Abridged
Physics Lab in the Home
American Tall Tales

Book Selections ~ For A
David Copperfield
Secret of the Woods
Early Thunder
Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold
Tales of Shakespeare
Pilgrim's Progress

25 Years and Counting!!!

I am very happy to announce that today is Jim and I's 25th anniversary! Our silver anniversary! I have told him that he has put up with me longer now than anyone, including my parents.

It is so easy to cruise along in life and pass by the "overlooks", if you will - can you tell I live in the mountains =). You know, the places along the road where you can stop and enjoy the view! Truly breathtaking views! Thanks, Lynn, for reminding me how truly BIG this is!!!

Friday night some very special friends of ours took us out to eat to celebrate. First of all let me give a plug for the place we went. For those of you in the area, you have to check out Black Bear Cove Resort . We have been in Tennessee for many years and I did NOT know about this resort. It was just beautiful . . . the food was excellent . . . and we had a lovely time. The resort is run by a Christian family and I hope you all will show your support to this small business.

Next I have to share the beautiful card that was also given to us . . .

A good marriage is measured by more than just the number of anniversaries you've shared -
it's measured by the content of your years together . . .
By the many people whose lives you've touched and who have touched yours.

By the dreams you've seen come true and the ones you're still working on.

By the joyful times when life was easy and the trying times when love saw you through.

Thanks again, Lynn, this card moved me, it spoke of things in my heart that I could never express on my own.

Our Heavenly Father is so amazing! I am so thankful for a God fearing husband, who is a wonderful father (and grandfather! =D), who is my soul mate, who loves me, and completes me!

School planning

I still cannot believe we are midway through July already. It is so amazing to me how quickly summers go by. Even though we have continued to work through our school work this summer - at a very relaxed pace - it has still flown by. In one of my previous posts I mentioned organizing the school room and reading Charlotte Mason materials. Well, the school room is coming nicely. I am reorganizing all my book shelves and trying to recategorize some of the books. So far I am pleased - I still have a way to go, but I am much closer now than when I started =) !!

As far as Charlotte Mason goes . . . I have been reading the first volume in her Homeschooling series entitled Home Education. I have been mostly reading the sections on habit training as I feel there is a need in our home right now to recover this material!! I also have a preschooler again and so I will be reading those sections as well. I have spent a lot of time on the Ambleside Online site. It is a veritable feast of information for those who desire to follow Charlotte's homeschooling methods. I have also found a few more blogs that I have found inspirational in her concepts - A Healer's Geste, Living Charlotte Mason in California and an excellent article from Ordo Amoris on Homeschooling the Freeborn.

I guess I am one of those people who truly enjoy planning school. I wish I could say I was always as good in the execution of it =/ !! Ya'll have a blessed day!!!!

Members of One Body

I had the privilege several weeks ago to make the acquaintance of some folks that had been very instrumental in my daughter's survival last year. The meeting made such an impression on my life.

I do not consider myself a writer and only hope I can express myself well enough for your understanding.

As many know, last year my second daughter was in a devastating car accident. It could easily have been fatal. Just this morning I read of a similar accident - a single car running off the road for unknown reasons, over correction by the driver, rolling the vehicle several times - the older couple did not survive. I do not want to take any praise and glory away from my heavenly Father, whom I know was in complete control the whole time. But something else that has impressed me are the people - the body parts - if you will, that He used throughout.

Okay so back to our meeting . . . we have spent several months thanking folks and making visits to churches, etc. that were either praying for our daughter or offered some support during that time. On our list were the first responder folks to the accident. We had been trying on and off for some months, having trouble hooking up with them. But finally I was able to catch them both on the phone and set up a meeting.

We drove out to the country - not very far from the accident site - to go to the home of one of the responders and the other responder was going to meet us there. What we found was family!!! Not of the blood kin kind, but of an even stronger kind, an eternal one! Mr. Dake (the first responder) and his wife could have been my grand parents - wonderful, God-fearing folks. They were over joyed to get to "meet" my daughter, having assured us they would not have recognized her in public. Seldom do they get to see the "after" picture. Christy, the other first responder, met us at the Dake's home. She also lives out in this same community. Of course, they knew each other. As a matter of fact, I believe they were related distantly. We had a wonderful visit! I did feel like I was amongst family! These folks played a VERY IMPORTANT part in my daughter's accident. Had they not been serving this very small community (Mr. Dake for some 20 years) my daughter's fate could have been different. Regular, everyday people we pass on the street, not actors or sports icons - making a HUGE difference in lives around them - they did in MY life, in MY daughter's life!! My husband wrote an article during the time of the accident entitled "I Saw Jesus today!" I guess I have been reminded yet again that sometimes WE NEED TO LOOK FOR HIM A LITTLE HARDER EACH DAY!! He is indeed there - in the many "body" parts around us! And we NEED to APPRECIATE them MORE!!!!!!!!!

Summer Time!

It is amazing to me how time goes by so fast!  It has been over a month since I posted.  We have been so busy!  We had a wonderful trip to OK for a business/pleasure type trip.  Our fellowship with dear friends out there was TOO SHORT!!!!  We came back to a full weekend of concerts.  Though it may be a little late, I am spring cleaning like crazy!  Hoping and praying to get my school room and other areas ready for a new school year.  Used sales, curriculum fairs, reading all the Charlotte Mason materials I can get my hands on, weeding the garden, mulching the flower beds, etc., etc., etc..  

Several weeks ago we had our first garden skillet - new potatoes and onions.  Today I picked my first red tomato out of the garden.  In another few days I will be canning green beans.  We have already had our first blackberry cobbler - actually they were dewberries (kin) - and thanks to a friend who had an over abundance of fresh milk, we also had homemade ice cream.   Summer is always such a fun and FULL time!!!

This summer I opted to continue school to a certain degree.  We are sharing a morning time session together after I spent time reading a couple of blogs that I found inspiring.  One was shadybrookacres.blogspot.com and the other was morningtimemoms.blogspot.com.   My current reading basket with the kids includes Choosing Obedience by Kaye Freeman, Do Hard Things - A Teenage Rebellion against Low Expectations by Alex & Brett Harris, Minn of the Mississippi by Holling Clancy Holling, Story of the World, Volume 3 by Susan Wise Bauer, North with the Spring by Edwin Way Teale, and last but not least, a collection of poems by Tennyson.  We have had a great time reading through these books.  In the evenings we are trying to read as well.  We just finished a book by Gary Paulsen - one of his Brian books - and have now started Walk the World's Rim by Betty Baker.  I find this time with the kids very enjoyable . . . it is interesting that we each have our favorite book, you know, the one where they are begging for another chapter =)

This weekend we have family coming in for a visit . . . we are all looking forward to it.  Until next time . . .

Give Them Back to ME!

We are having a most beautiful day!!  After a weekend of threatening storms - none of which turned out to be much where we are, thankfully - today the sun is shining, the birds are incredibly happy in song, and everything seems to be a shade greener.  My garden was to be planted last week, but with the cooler temperatures, I opted to wait a little longer.  Hopefully, it will stay warm this week and the ground will dry up enough that I can go ahead and get it in.

I am happy to announce that I finally finished The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson.  It was an excellent book.  So far, I have found most of Bruce Wilkinson's books very inspiring.  I wanted to share today something that jumped out at me while reading this last book.  He talks in the book of a time when the Almighty asked him for his children.  Of course, his first response was "No!".  Why do we find it so hard to give back to the Father what is already rightfully His?  Well, needless to say, I was immediately taken back to last October when my daughter had a terrible car accident.  There were times during her hospital stay that it was very clear to me I had NO hold on her life.  I could no more keep her here with me than I could speed her recovery.  I was in a position of NO CONTROL!!!  Not that I ever had any anyway, but now it was obvious to me.  HE held her in the palm of His hand, and ONLY HE could restore her.  During those weeks in the Critical Care Unit of UT, I did an awful lot of crying out.  The Almighty was asking me to let her go!  And there was a struggle to do so.  There was a time during our stay that I did eventually surrender Lai back to Him . . . whether that meant letting her go on to be with Him or later when I thought she might be permanently damaged.  But the Father is SO Good!!  I have my daughter back.  I received so much more back than I deserved.  But that is the way the Almighty works, isn't it! 

My exhortation today is to myself . . . now that she is home, still doing a minor amount of recovery, I find myself fretting at times over her struggles.  Did I not just give this child to you, Father?  And not so very long ago.  I can say wholeheartedly that I do not care to go through that experience again any time soon.  Help me to remember, Lord!  And help me to give you all my children . . . daily!!

A Quiet Evening

"The best laid schemes of mice and men oft go astray . . ." Robert Burns

I have been trying to finish a wonderful book by Bruce Wilkinson entitled Dream Giver for a couple of weeks now. It takes me a while sometimes!! This evening while I am trying to read I can hear a Tim Hawkins video in the background, "no, Thomas, no! That's not the way we do things, no!!!" My three year old is being chased around by my thirteen year old - squealing and carrying on! As they go by, my eleven year old is shooting them with his Nerf gun. Next thing you know, the remote control car goes careening by being chased by the three year old, now with the Nerf gun!!! UUUUGH!! I am wondering how many times I have read this paragraph? Saturday night or no, I think it's time to put the kiddos to bed.

Welcome to my Humble Hootenanny!! Where there is NEVER a dull moment!!

Oh well, tomorrow is another day . . . and I am so thankful for library renewals!!! :D

In the beginning . . .

I have always been a bit of a late bloomer (or maybe a slow learner) -- taking 6 years to finish a 4 year degree, marrying at 24, being close to 50 and having a three year old, all these could be proof of that -- but having a 13 year old daughter that has beat me to blogging is more than I can handle. I did try blogging a year or so ago when we had a business I was trying to market, but when the business folded so did my efforts. Anyway, I guess I am going to try again. I am not sure where this will lead . . . it will probably be more like rambling, since that is what I am prone to, but we shall see!

"For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land . . ." Song of Solomon 2:11 & 12a

I love spring!! But it comes and goes so quickly. Above is a picture of my forsythia just a few short weeks ago. Her profusion of blooms was wondrously splendid! But alas, like the parting of a dear friend after a short visit, it saddens me to see her change to a state of verdure. I will look forward to her return next year and, Lord willing, with a little propagation on my part, she will return with many children as well!