so here goes

Too Many Books...cont.

Sooo...where I'm at with the books. I counted my books and came up with about 340 give or take a few, not counting our "educational" books. First step done.

Now, interestingly enough, a "glitch" has been added to my "get rid of books" challenge. In the last 2 weeks, we have had bags of clothing given to us for the girls and along with the clothes....more books!!  Over 100 books in all. Seriously? And for the most part, they are great titles! Oh boy. Hmmmm....maybe the new books will help me let go of some of the others that we don't care so much about. I suppose I could have said, "No thank-you", but are you kidding? Free books are always welcome here! Who knows what great finds you will be blessed with, right?

So.......I suppose I should start. Yep. That's what I need to do.

I've come to at least one conclusion.

At our house, books are a lot like bunnies.

I love bunnies!!

Too Many Books? Really?

I love reading.

I love books.

I don't think think there is such a thing as too much reading in one's life.

I have also been homeschooling our kids for 15 years. That takes lots of books. Right?

Well, I have come to the recent painful conclusion though, that there is, a possibility, a slight chance, maybe, that one could have too many books. *GASP*

It's painful to even write that. However, while recently wanting to change placement of one of my bookshelves ((I have three, not counting the various books sitting in numerous wicker baskets around the house.) it entered my mind that it may be time to purge and reduce my collection. *sigh*

There are more books scattered around on tables and Gracie has her own book shelf in her bedroom with numerous baskets, of course, filled with the books she has taken from our bookshelves to have a selection of her own. Some of my childhood favorites, I might add....;)
Because I have recently been subscribing to the "less is more" mantra, I am hereby challenging myself to get rid of 1/2 of the books in the house. Yep. 50%. Can I do it? Probably. I dare say, not without sincere pain and suffering, but probably. So, the first challenge I set before myself is to count them, so I know how many I have to get rid of. I don't have a time limit. Yet. Let's see how it goes. If I pull this off, I will probably have to reward myself! Maybe with....a new book!! Well...maybe not. Maybe a Kindle would be a better idea.

 I think I'll go through the kid's books first.

Snapshot Saturday

Learning Happens

Found this in my drafts. It's several months old. I want to share it. Better late than never...:) 
                                                          _________________


So here's what our day of learning looked like today for the girls. 


They watched episodes of Cake Boss, joined me in the kitchen and helped me clean and prep (and play with the "guts") a whole chicken to get it ready for the crockpot for dinner, then spent the afternoon hours cooking with the easy bake oven using regular cake mix and milk, experimenting with fondant. (Home Ec 101) They also watched a couple episodes of Billy the Exterminator on possums and squirrels. (Zoology) 

Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study.  Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life.  ~Henry L. Doherty

Finding Out Who We Are...

Have you ever asked yourself, "Who am I"?  I have. We get caught up in the business of life; taking care of the people around us; feeding the needs of the relationships around us; and sometimes our ears get attuned to who other people say we are and what they expect from us. I've been asking myself these questions for a couple years now, and especially over the last year.  What do I like? What do I enjoy? Who am I? What do I want to do with my life. What is fun to me? What do I want to be when I grow up? Seriously. What did God have in mind when He made me?

" For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you."  Psalm 139:13-18


One of the books I have been reading is by Paula White, titled,  "You're All That! Understand God's Design For Your Life" In the introduction, she says,
                 _________________________________________________________________


 "There are moments in our lives when we experience crisis, distractions, violations, labels, victories, successes, and setbacks. You will probably agree that in the gift we call life, most of the decisive battles are fought from within. It is only when you confront yourself, remove the blinders, and deal with the real issues that have produced a "counterfeit" life that you can live the abundant life designed for you by a loving God.

What you are willing to confront, God is willing to heal.
What you are willing to change, God is willing to grow.
What you are willing to leave behind, God is willing to transform.


God gives each of us highs and lows. We learn through them. We grow through them. As we go through times and seasons of victory and emerge on the other side, if we trust in Him, we discover more about who we are, who God is, and how God works.

My prayer is that this book will help you discover your uniqueness in God and locate the true person God created you to be and intends for you to become. No one can be you but you! I pray you will not only recover the truly valuable things that have been lost, but perhaps, also gain what has never been! I pray that you will discover the rare, original, magnificent, fabulous, beautiful person God designed you to be! You are a one of a kind, irreplaceable, and valuable beyond measure. You truly are all that!"

                   _______________________________________________________________


WOW! I want her as a friend...:) And, that is just the introduction! So.... I'm digging in, doing the work and on a mission to answer my own question,  "Who am I?" 


I've been told all my life that God loves me. I know God loves me. Now, I'm ready to find out how much! 


   Do you know that God loves you? Do you know how much? It's time to find out!  :)



O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.  If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"  even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." Psalm 139:1-12


I pray, Father, that out of your glorious riches you may strengthen me with power through your Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith. And I pray that I, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that I may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within me, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. day, for darkness is as light to you. Ephesians 3: 6-21

Glossary of Terms for Learning at Home

I found this on a homeschooling site and enjoyed it so much I wanted to share. If you 
don't have much experience with families that learn at home, this may offer just a glimpse 
how some of us think....:)
              *******************************************************************
Imagine if we studied subjects and vocations that satisfy our own inner needs, instead of subjects far removed from our daily lives, and chosen by people who don't know us or anything about us.     ~ Parenting at the Helm

The Happy Home Education Glossary

                                                             by Linda Johnson          

Advanced Placement – When everything actually winds up in the right place when the living room is cleaned up for guests.

Block Scheduling – Making sure everyone gets a turn with the blocks; often especially important related to Legos.

Busy Work – See “curriculum.”

Class Dismissed – Your youngest finishes high school.

Comparable Growth – Having a younger child stand next to the mark on the wall made when an older sibling was the same age.

Compulsory Attendance – The state of being a family member who, like, wakes up here.

Curriculum – That which is occurring in your family’s life at the moment. You woke up thinking “history today,” only to discover you’ll all learn all about what happens when the toilet backs up.

Detention – Bed time!

Dissection – Hmm, this whole chicken will do nicely and we’ll be that much closer to having dinner ready.

Drop Out – What you get to see with all of your child’s baby teeth.

Fluent English Proficient – What you’ve been doing with your child since s/he lived en utero.

Homework – Everything family members do. (Duh.)

Job shadowing – What your child gets to do with you every day.

Math Manipulatives – THIS is why they’re called M&M’s!

No Child Left Behind – Because your spouse would realize he’s missing upon returning home from work.

Nurse’s Office – See “teachers’ lounge.”

Parent-Teacher Conference – Any moment of the day you find you’re talking to yourself.

Pep Rally – All of the kids gathered to inspire you out of bed in the morning.

Pupil-Teacher Ratio – Unless you have an only child, a reminder that you are outnumbered.

Race to the Top – What your children do when they see the slide at the playground.

Resource Specialist – She who can find missing Legos in the dark using only her bare feet.

Science Experiment – The green stuff waaaaaaay in the back of the refrigerator.

Sheltered English – What ill-informed home education critics may accuse you of.

Special Education – that which you are striving to provide your child with every day of homeschooling.

Spelling Test – An afternoon of playing Hangman.

(The Only) Standardized Test that Counts – The test that tells you if you’re having another student.

Student Teacher – What your child becomes when he shows a sibling how to snag the out-of-reach cookie jar.

Teachers’ Lounge – that small room in your house where they expect you to close the door (for at least 24 seconds).

Teachers’ Aide – (Coffee) time!

Title 1 – My title 1 was “the best Mommy in the whole wide world.”

Traditional Calendar – bwwhahahaha!

Year-round Education – What you naturally provide because you know your children are learning every single moment they’re awake.


http://www.parentatthehelm.com/7388/the-happy-home-education-glossary/