Pagan Homeschoolers

Summer of Lessons, Sorrows

2008-06-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

Our older son's birthday is at the very start of summer. Sometimes even before then for his school friends. This year, he was devastated because he caught a serious cold right before his birthday. His party? Canceled. :< We spent several days sequestered indoors, waiting for the worst to pass, and once we were getting better his best friend stopped by ... to let him know that his sister had died.

Baby Birds

2008-06-23T21:06:00.001-07:00

This post is a little old now. Just forget to "publish" it.I didn't realize that birds grew up so fast. We found a nest above our mailbox on May 16th.May 18th, the babies hatched.We went outside today, and they are flying! (And so are the parents, so if you come up our steps, watch out!)

Tangelos

2008-04-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

Every time we go to the grocery store, I try to get the kids to try at least one new fruit or veggie. They were having trouble deciding when we stumbled upon tangelos - Disney Tangelos - so we grabbed up a few. Tangelos turned out to be a pretty old hybrid ... the first dating back 3500 years ago in Southern Asia. The "Orlando" tangelo was developed in 1911 and is a mix between a tangerine and a

D-Cluttering

2008-04-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

I looked around the house today and wow. Winter sure makes my house a wreck. In the family room, just looking around, I have a bottle of olive oil, a zoingo boingo, a fan, a suitcase, a 12-pack of bottled water ... I think I should stop now.Meanwhile, my daughter comes through with a sponge she's cut into a chunky shape and turned into a doll. "This baby's going on sale!" She says, and disappears

Adventure the World blog

2008-04-08T16:18:00.001-07:00

Nathan (ATW Creator) has also started a blog for Adventure the World. Stop by and say hello!

Adventure the World

2008-04-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

Nathan has finally started putting his video game together at Adventure the World Guide.

Spring Garden '08

2008-04-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

So, we've officially started our garden. Yeh, it's 34 degrees outside, but the seeds are out in force ... and so are the pellet starters. Lian was very excited to make them puff up with water, and thanks to Nate and Strata we have just enough seeds to make it worthwhile. Today Denn has the day off, so I think we'll wait until tomorrow to get started.People who know me, know I like to plan things.

Beer Can Butteflies & Bitey of Brackenwood

2008-03-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

Jennifer at Tree Hugging Family posted recently about Paul Villinski. He's turning trash to treasure ... an instinct thriving in many children today. What are we doing to keep that spirit alive in them? When your children come to you with ideas on what to do with this pop tab, or this old sweatshirt, how do you react? We need to help these instincts flourish, and to continue to look for ways we

Our Daughter Read her Very First Book

2008-02-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

For people whose children naturally read early, or who are enrolled in school, you may be bewildered by this post. We don't push our kids to read, and we don't force reading instruction on them. Deciphering symbols is a skill that man has mastered of his own accord for tens of thousands of years. We provide the opportunity to read, and positive reinforcement/assistance when it comes up, but other

Lian's Birthday

2008-01-13T08:58:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's official. Our baby is 6 whole years old!

Poor Quality Signal

2008-01-10T07:14:00.001-08:00

Ever since cable switched to digital, we've been suffering from FREQUENT "Poor Quality Signal" breaks. Several per minute. :/ If this keeps up, we may just cancel our cable service.

Oh my Word! Talk about a Learning Experience

2008-01-08T13:52:00.001-08:00

Yuck. Gross. I should stick to those resolutions once I set them, people. Namely, my avoidance of fish and seafood in general. One, it's filled with toxins, and two, most commercial fishing is very bad for the environment. But no, I wanted to make salmon filled ice balls for the family. What a mistake. My DH picked up some canned salmon at the store, and when he opened it up ... it was a mishmash

Simple Lunch - Japanese Style

2008-01-08T13:13:00.001-08:00

I frequent a board for work-at-home moms and we started a list of things for homeschoolers to do in 2008. Hopefully we'll have a list of 365 things by the end of the year. Another mom had posted "Make 2 dishes from another culture" so today, we're making rice balls with salmon filling. Yum. The process sounds extremely easy. Steam rice. Lay a cup of it on a plate, push a little filler in the

Date Night

2008-01-06T15:26:00.001-08:00

Yes, I took my 9 year old out to a bar. Well, kinda. Applebee's really isn't a bar, but there was a party atmosphere kickin' last night like you wouldn't believe. It's important to get away with each kid sometimes. Nathan's the oldest, and sometimes he feels pretty left out. We hadn't had one-on-one time in a long while, and Applebee's is his favorite restaurant (thank you, Aunt Heather). We sat

Obama & Huckabee for Iowa

2008-01-03T19:41:00.001-08:00

The Iowa Causes were held tonight. I had a migraine all day and didn't go, but the candidates are offering free childcare. You other states take note. :)Obama and Huckabee came out on top.

A Note to All my Friends

2008-01-01T09:38:00.001-08:00

Take note, this is as much to me as it is to anyone else. If someone else benefits, that's great, but it's more meant as a kick to my butt. LOLEarn $5 every day. Money that is never touched.Money that is never spent.Not even in emergencies.Not even when you think you should spend it.If there ever comes a time when it's really needed, there will be no time for debate, no guilt, no hesitation, no

Family Game Night

2008-01-01T07:51:00.001-08:00

Nathan decided we needed a new family tradition for 2008 - Family Game Night. Starting at 8:00 p.m. we each picked out one game to play, went through at least one full turn (where each of us played once, the game chooser getting to play twice if necessary - rule added by Lian) and then the next person would pick a game.After playing for a little over an hour, we put on a movie and waited for the

Should you buy a Theme Park Season Pass?

2007-12-31T04:00:00.000-08:00

We decided to take my Mother-in-Law to Adventureland for Mother's Day last year. We liked the visit so much, we went ahead and got season passes. I can honestly say that by the end of the summer, I was so totally sick of that theme park! Being about two hours away, it also put a huge dent in our savings going back and forth every week. Yes. I. Did. Say. Every. Week. Were the passes worth it for

A Year in Bookmark Review

2007-12-28T04:30:00.000-08:00

It's time to clean out our browser bookmarks again, and it never fails to trigger memories from throughout the year. We do this twice a year, so the first half of '07 is done and gone, but the second half found 136 links in our bookmarks keeping track of experiences I may have forgotten otherwise.* abcsong.gif Super-cute print-out for the traditional ABC song that our kids used to help figure out

New Year for Pagan Homeschoolers

2007-12-26T06:47:00.001-08:00

I wouldn't say I'm THE pagan mama on the planet. My kids have a very casual sense of spirituality. We aren't into the robes and rituals, the altar items and herbal remedies. We're very much a typical American family with a little spice of the ancient world here and there. In 2008, I don't hope to teach them more about any such thing, but I do hope we all experience more that brings us closer to

Soldiers Form Statue of Liberty .. NOT in Fort Dodge, Iowa

2007-11-11T07:42:00.001-08:00

From Urban Legends: "During the WWI years, Arthur S. Mole and John D. Thomas made some incredible human pictures by using thousands of sailors or soldiers in uniform to create images."18,000 soldiers gathered in Fort Dodge at CAMP Dodge in Des Moines, IA in July of 1918 to take this photograph. It's close to where we live, so our kids were especially excited about it.Geeeez ... get it right,

NBTS Picnic

2007-09-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

The annual Not-Back-to-School unschooling picnic in West Des Moines was last week. We showed up very late, didn't meet many adults, but the kids dove in and made some friends. It was awesome, especially for Strata who stumbled onto a "girls' club" where everyone was pretending to be a new butterfly.

Working Smarter

2007-09-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure who coined the phrase - maybe it was Oprah - but "Work Smarter not Harder" is an excellent goal to work toward, and you can make progress on it every day. As a parent, or someone in an office, or even just someone living life. There are ways we can streamline the processes that take us from Point A to Point B. You might say it's one of the reasons humans have come so far. We find

Wildcam event tonight and tomorrow

2007-08-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

Thought someone might be interested....=============================================Dear WildCam Fan, As many of you know, WildCam Africa launched its 2007 season earlier this month. We have already witnessed sightings of a lioness and her multiple cubs, as well as Fattie the crocodile going after birds on the shore. To celebrate the return of WildCam Africa, please join us online for our “Third

It's been awhile

2007-08-19T21:42:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have flown by so fast. Here we are at the start of school. All our kids' friends are headed back to class, and though I know that they are better off not caught up in that system, I know we're going to have an adjustment period. However, DS1 is in football ($70 this year for FLAG football!) and DD is in dance. They'll have opportunities to meet friends who share their

Of Cowboys and Indians

2007-07-23T11:23:00.001-07:00

A week or two ago, the kids and I took my husband's mother out for the day. We'd been to the Webster County Fair and, even though the kids had enjoyed it, we knew there wasn't much more to be had. We opted for a stop at the Fort Museum (Fort Dodge, Iowa) instead.The Fort is a replica with a surprising number of artifacts and original buildings from the 1800's. In fact, one of the buildings from

Do you believe in signs?

2007-07-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

You'll have to help me figure this one out. In the last two weeks, we've had several things break. Today it was the dryer. I do 12 loads of laundry a week. Add to that, most of our yard is shady so hanging out the laundry might not work very well. To counteract it, I've hung clothes up on the kids' bikes and scooters and have been moving them throughout the day. lol Of course, the bike with my

First Sleepover

2007-07-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

Last night our 9 yr old had his first ever sleepover at a friend's house. It went great but I was on pins and needles the whole night!

Everyday Magic

2007-07-04T06:09:00.000-07:00

When we were children, various aunts and cousins would cross state lines and gather among them a bower of fireworks of the likes couldn't be had in Iowa stores. Illegal as all get-out, we were never bothered on our family farm, 15 minutes or so outside city limits. We don't meet there anymore, but every year we still buy sparklers for the kids to burn after the city fireworkers display is over.

And ... they multiply

2007-07-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

Kids during the summer seem to multiply faster than rabbits. N's new friend had a boy spend the night tonight, and they've been here, there and everywhere.

Off again, On again

2007-07-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

Our daughter decided tonight that she was ready to lose the training wheels ... and then, that she wasn't. It's okay. It gave her a chance to put her muscle to the test. I have a feeling we'll be taking those training wheels on and off a lot this summer.In other news, the kids met a new friend who lives down the street.

L's photos

2007-06-30T15:03:00.001-07:00

Our youngest is 5, but has been taking his own pictures since he was around 4 or so. Good pictures. Here are my favorite two from the dog walk.

Dog Walk K-9 Demos

2007-06-30T12:50:00.001-07:00

Today was the North Central Iowa Humane Society's dog walk fundraiser. Most of the shelter dogs were there today, and a small crowd with their own dogs. We didn't take Ole, but we did take our camera. In addition to catching a lot of great photographs, we also got two movies of the police dogs brought in by the Sheriff's Department. The kids thought the bite suit looked funny, but I think it's

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2007-06-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

It's hard to find that happy medium when we think of our children. They aren't a different species. We don't have a right of ownership over them, to use and abuse them however we'd like. They are tiny humans developing into adults, and they have the same feelings as each of us. They value being listened to, appreciated, recognized in real ways for their hard work - they celebrate being trusted,

Hellos from Walt Disney World

2007-06-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

My sister and her daughters are spending roughly two weeks at Walt Disney World, and it looks like they are having a blast!

Merry Midsummer!

2007-06-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

The sun crosses the Tropic of Cancer, the longest day (and shortest night) of the year begins, the Crab takes reign among horoscopes. These are ways people outside Pagan tradition may see the Summer Solstice, one of the 8 mainstream holidays of NeoPagan religions, and a traditional date for holidays throughout most of religious lore.Midsummer goes by many names. The least accurate being "the

Happy Birthday DD!

2007-06-19T22:00:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it, but my daughter is seven years old.

Look Who Showed Up?

2007-06-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

A female dobsonfly showed up on our garage. They must leave some scent behind to attract each other, because she was in the exact same spot.

I'm officially "the cat lady"

2007-06-18T21:03:00.001-07:00

We went back to the shelter to see the cats today. There was a new orange and white boy, a surly old fella, but he seemed pretty keen on the kids. We decided to go over to the doggy side and take a few pooches for a walk outside. While we were turning our leash in, we walked in on one of the workers feeding newborn puppies.There was a volunteer there walking the mother - a pitbull (trained and

Lesson in Responsibility

2007-06-17T15:34:00.001-07:00

Today we went to the Oleson Park Zoo in Fort Dodge, Iowa. The petting zoo is open weekends and Thursday afternoons, and admission is free to the public. Of the animals you can get up-close-and-personal with there are muntjac deer, pygmy goats, sheep, rabbits, miniature horses, and the llama shown above.There are also animals on exhibit that can't be touched - porcupines, skunks and bobcats,

Mystery Solved

2007-06-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Daniel Marlos, at the aforementioned, bug identification website, http://www.whatsthatbug.com, had this to say about our mystery bug:"We are very surprised that we haven't gotten more requests this yearfor Dobsonflies. June and July are generally our peak months forsightings. Male Dobsonflies have those signature mandibles that makeit virtually impossible to confuse this species to any other."So,

It's a Mystery

2007-06-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

I went out for my early morning walk when I saw this curious bug on our garage. It's about 5 inches in length, and not very thick. I went in and got DD to come look at it (ds's didn't want to) and neither one of us knew what this bug was ... so we're on a treasure hunt of sorts. If anyone has an idea as to what this bug might be, please leave us a comment. We'll be out and about on the web today

A Funeral

2007-06-15T16:25:00.000-07:00

The kids and I were out in the yard, even my 9 yr old who was in a really bad mood, when we stumbled upon a baby bird. Must have been blown from a nest in our tree. When the kids see a dead animal, they feel a special kind of sadness, but to be a baby bird ... there was something extra."Can we bury the bird, mama?" This, from my 9 yr old. We found a quiet spot at the side of our house, and dug a