A Bouquet of Newly Sharpened Pencils

I love that movie line in "You've Got Mail" where Meg Ryan talks about the smell of a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils.  I think we all secretly love that smell. My kiddos keep asking me when we are starting school. They are actually counting down the days. Oh, if only that excitement could hang around all year long.  Each year I desire to keep it fun for them. I love to learn and I think they do too, just maybe not in the usual structured way.

Have I mentioned in previous posts that I am a curriculum junkie?  Well I am. I can look at "most" any curriculum and think that it would be so fun. I love to try them out but I always tell myself that if it isn't working I don't have to stick with it. One of my favorite curriculums has been "Learning Adventures" by Dorian Holt. But I feel with my varying ages it just isn't a good fit for us right now. Last year I tried "My Father's World" after blogs made it look so very inviting but I found it to be a bit dry.  I love, love, love Unit Studies but again making it work with a toddler, preschooler, kindergartener, 1st grader, 3rd grader, 4th grader and a couple of high schoolers just isn't easy.

This year I am going to give "The Good and the Beautiful" a try. The Language Arts part of it seems a bit too dry and bookish to me but I have also been pretty lax about that subject for a while so I think it is time to hit the books on it. The History looks like it will be good but I am planning to add in some Unit Study type activities as we go along. I like the looks of their Nature Study and I like that they are heavy on reading good books....not garbage.  It is written by a Mormon lady and we are NOT Mormons but there is nothing in there with that bent to it. 

I am also excited to try out Beautiful Feet's Geography. We will be reading some fun books and hopefully, going on some field trips prompted from our reading.

I love homeschooling my kids!

I Love My State...however

Our family has loved living here in Oregon for the last 20 years. Here where we are it is always green and the summers are not unbearably hot. We live most of the summer without air conditioning, the evenings are so cool and the rain isn't as bad as people imagine it to be. God made a beautiful place when He created Oregon...However, the politics in our state are atrocious. It has always been a liberal state but lately things have been stepped up a bit. I am not on Facebook to share this but I felt that some how it needs to get out so I will do my very small part and share it here.

This is an article I received in my email this morning:

http://heidistjohn.com/blog/current-events/devastating-distraction-the-snare-of-offense

Please read it. Not only does it share what Governor Kate Brown is doing in our state but there are also lessons here for us as Christians. Feel free to share the article. Also in the last few days Gov. Brown has passed into law that guns may be confiscated if the owner is thought to be a threat to themselves or others . Our liberties are being taken away bit by bit while we aren't watching. What can we do? Pray, pray, pray! Teach our children to pray. When it feels like government is stepping on our every freedom we need to show our children by example to turn to the Lord!

Time on My Hands

Since stepping away from Facebook, two things have happened....I have more time on my hands now but I have lost a way to share my life with you all. I have picked knitting back up, which isn't such a big deal since all I can knit is dishcloths and baby blankets that are basically giant dishcloths.  And I have renewed an interest that I have had for a while in herbs. I think it is so amazing that God gave us plants that we can eat and use for medicine. I have been looking into herbal schools but the majority of them are extremely expensive. In my searching though, I found Heart of Herbs. They have affordable prices that actually allow people the opportunity to attend. It is all distance learning so that makes it even better.

On that vein, I decided to start harvesting and drying what herbs I have around my home, while waiting to take their courses and to encourage me to go ahead and start learning herbs and their uses.

Red Raspberry leaves, which are considered one of the oldest and wisest herbs for women's health and some yummy chocolate mint leaves drying on my front porch. The Raspberry leaves will be dried and stored for use as a tea for us Ladies of the house when that time of the month comes when life gets difficult.  One of my next projects for Hubby is to make me some herb drying racks.

If you are interested in herbs, one of the best books I have found so far is The Herbal Apothecary.  Be sure to get the book, not the Kindle version...books are so much better to hold and feel.

Anyone want to comment and share their experiences with herbs and some resources that have helped you along in your learning quest?