La Sopa Smith

Not Blind Sided, Blown Away

2009-12-08T13:21:00.000-08:00

- Have you seen the movie The Blind Side? You have to see it. Now. Today. If Batman won't go with you, I will go with you! - My sweet friend Jilly Girl (if this is your first visit, everyone has super anonymous nicknames on my blog) said this to me last Monday. Batman & I went to see the movie, and it was like we were watching our life unfold on screen! But we didn't feel like we were being Blind Sided so much as we were being Blown Away! Blown Away by the fact that we realize more and more with each passing day that we just can't out-give God. We think we have experienced all the goodness He can possibly have in store for us, we've been so richly blessed, and then it's like he's our daddy on Christmas morning & he's more excited for us to wake up than we are because we've grown warm & comfy in our beds. We re-enter consciousness knowing that God is good, and anticipating that He has a little something for us under the tree, but really we aren't expecting much as we sleepily tip-toe down the stairs. We have no idea the magnitude of love the Father has for us.

So here's what happened:

I went to the local grocery store for my morning coffee on Thanksgiving. You know how God works in mysterious and wonderful ways...? I ended up having one of those *divinely appointed* conversations with a sweet 19 year old girl (Sorpresa Bellísima - "Bella" for short) and her friend (Super Estrella) who work there and that we've been getting to know over the last year or so. It went a little something like this (in a very tiny nutshell, because in truth I am never this efficient with words):

Estrella: Sra. Smith, you have to tell Bella about your kids and how you got them!

Me: Well, we adopted the boys out of foster care, and Hermosa was a private adoption who came as a complete surprise.

Estrella y Bella: Do you still want more kids?

Me: Oh, sure! In fact, just 2 weeks ago a pastor got our name from a friend & called to tell us about a baby boy, but it didn't work out. It happens once in awhile, because people know we are open. It doesn't get us down too much when things don't work out, because we sincerely believe that God divinely ordains families to be together, and even in an adoptive situation God already has a family chosen for that baby or that child. So if it isn't us, we just wait. We don't worry about missing out on a child that is supposed to be ours because we know God will work it out.

Bella: I am so glad you told me that story! I actually grew up in & out of foster care.

Me: Oh, wow! And were you adopted?

Bella: No, I wasn't.

Me (fighting very hard my desire to go around the counter, grab her and take her home with me immediately, instead attempted to calmly ask): So are you in touch with your family? Where do you live? What are you doing for Thanksgiving today?

Bella: No, I am not in contact with them. I rent a room from a couple in town, and I am spending the day with a family who has been more like family to me than anyone. I mean, they're not my family, but they say they're my family and they're really great.

So, knowing she was taken care of for the day, and also knowing that if I stayed around another minute I was for sure either going to cry or go grab her and bring her home... I said, "Happy Thanksgiving" & left. When I got home & told Batman he couldn't believe I didn't bring her home right then :) I couldn't even go hug her neck after she told me because I knew I wouldn't be able to let her go if I did!!

Well, long story short... that conversation led to us inviting Bella to church & lunch the next Sunday and then spending pretty much every moment of free time we had together over the course of the week. She got to be in our house both clean & not clean, with the kids both behaving & not so much, and nights when I cooked as well as nights we broke the diet & drove through Taco Bell. We wanted her to really see us as we are and have a glimpse of an idea as to whether she might be able to see herself in our family. Then, on Saturday night after much prayer and seeking, Batman and I asked Bella to join our family through adoption (you can legally adopt a 19 year old, who knew?!) and she said YES!!! We moved her in Sunday, and now we are in the process of getting her settled & preparing to spend our first Christmas together. In January we will begin the legal process of making her ours forever.

Bella is a dear sweet girl, who had endeared herself to us already over the course of many months. She grew up in & out of foster care, and ultimately petitioned the court for emancipation at 17. She's been on her own since then, living with friends or renting a room from a couple who's children are grown. She is a full-time college student, and she has a strong faith. God has protected her in so many ways, and she has done a great job of taking care of herself. We just want to lighten her load & let her be taken care of for a change :)

The night we approached Bella with joining our family, one of her many questions was "why?". She said she knew why it made sense for her to want a family and to want to be with us, but that she didn't know what in the world would make us want her, especially at her age. I thought for a second of how to respond, and then it came to me. I took her by the hand & brought her to the dining room table. I told her that that one seat had been empty for way too long & that we thought it just felt right when she sat there. We're simply a better family when she's here. I think she got it then. At least a little.

It is now my hope and prayer that I remember being her age well enough to be able to be there for her in all the right ways. Help her make good decisions, guard her heart, finish school, etc. Obviously parenting a teenager is new to us, and we will soon have 2 of them as Capitán turns 13 before she turns 20 :) but we are buckled up for the exciting ride and holding fast in prayer and scripture to guide us. Already she has added so much to our lives and hearts. We are blessed indeed.

Oh, and if you haven't seen The Blind Side yet, go see it asap! We really did feel like we were watching our lives unfold on screen in many ways (except for the part about the parents being uber wealthy and the kid being a big black football player, that is!! wink.)

To Know Him More

2009-08-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning's worship service began with a hymn I was not familiar with, and the first lines of the piece brought me to tears:

We have not known You as we ought
Nor bowed before Your pow’r

I was immediately convicted of sin, not necessarily something committed, but omitted as my great- aunt, Pig, used to say. "I look back over my life and it is full of sin; not so much of commission, but of omission. Don't let that happen to you." She said that to me when I was young mom of one little baby, and I thought I had taken her words to heart. I thought I was busy about God's work, serving others. I'm not implying that I am not also guilty of sins of commission, just that her words motivated me to be on the lookout for what I needed to be doing, and not leave those things undone. And then these two lines revealed the truth: I've been a Martha. Busy, but not with that which is necessary.

-And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving.- Luke 10:39

Lord, forgive me. I do so want to know you more.

Four Things I Know About Benjamin Franklin

2009-07-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

by Paco

1. When he was 7 years old, his mother gave him some pennies and told him not to spend them foolishly. He bought a whistle and paid four times as much as a whistle was worth. When his mom told him, he threw the whistle down and cried!

2. He had sixteen brothers and sisters.

3. His father was a candle-maker and soap-boiler.

4. He loved books, so his father thought he should be a printer like his brother, James. He became James' apprentice, but James did not treat him kindly. Benjamin ran away to New York and then he went to Philadelphia.

Stewardship by Jirafa

2009-04-11T08:10:00.001-07:00

Stewardship is taking responsibility of the things you have been given or put in charge of. Some examples of things in my life that I am responsible for are the dishwasher, my room, my bird, and the money I earn. All of these things are my responsibilities and privileges, but they really belong to God. In this essay, I will talk about three areas of my life in which I can be a better steward – money, time, and possessions.

I wake up every morning and do my morning routine, which includes making my bed, making sure my room is clean, taking care of my bird, and emptying the dishwasher. By doing the dishwasher, I earn a commission of .50 per day. I also earn money by doing other things such as yard work for my parents or neighbors, taking care of my sister while my mom does other things, and this year I had a business selling Christmas wreaths. I give 10 percent of my earnings to the church as a tithe. Sometimes I also give an offering, which is when a person gives more than their tithe. One way I can be a better steward with money is to learn how to increase it, and so be able to afford to give more and save more for important things in my future. Matthew 25: 14-30 tells the Parable of the Talents, where three servants each received a sum of money from their master who was going away on a trip. Two of them used the money wisely, and one did not. I would like to be like the two who used the money wisely and heard the master say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” I want to be faithful in a few things so that God can put me in charge of more.

In my study about stewardship, I also read scripture about how God feels about the things he trusts us with and what we do with them. He is interested in much more than just what we give to the church. He is interested in how we spend our time, and whether we spend it diligently or foolishly. He is interested in whether we take responsibility for our actions or if we do not. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” I know I do not always use my time wisely, because sometimes I dawdle when I'm supposed to be doing my schoolwork. And sometimes I spend more time playing than I spend taking care of my responsibilities or reading God's Word. Colossians 3:23 tells me to work with all my heart as unto the Lord, not for men. If I would obey that command, I would be a better steward of my time.

A way I can be a better steward of my possessions is by remembering that they belong to God and not to me. I should treat God's things the way He would have me treat them. One example is my bird. I feed him, keep his cage clean, and take him out to play with him and give him exercise. Another example is food. I can be a better steward of food by only taking as much as I can eat, and by putting food away when I have finished. That way the food will not spoil. I also want to make sure to eat only healthy things so that my body stays healthy, as the Bible says that my body is God's Temple. In that way, my body is a possession that I need to be a good steward of.

This study of stewardship has been very good for me. I now have goals of how I can be a better steward for God, and I hope to accomplish them so that my life will be pleasing to the Lord.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

His Eye is On the Sparrow

2009-04-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

Every year we have a little family of sparrows that nests in a hanging basket on our back porch. It's really fun, and I've wondered if it's the same family group year after year? I should do some research on that...

It always happens like this: Lush, beautiful ferns go on sale, and I buy 2 immediately. I hang them on the back porch - taa daa! I'm ready for spring. Then, a few days later, it freezes. And I forget about the ferns. I bring them in too late, and the damage is already done. I hang them back out, hoping that I can revive them, but no. I finally decide to throw them away and start over, and when I take them down there is a nest in one. So, of course, I cannot replace that plant! I carefully try to keep it watered and leave the nest alone, meanwhile the plant itself dies a slow pitiful death. Well, this year I decided to "mask" the nest-bearing plant, because it is in the worst shape of all of them thus far. I bought 2 more ferns, and hung one in front of the nest-bearing plant on the same hook. Out my kitchen window, I can see mama bird sitting on top of her nest, and the pretty plant hanging on the other side gives her a prettier backdrop than the dead plant she's in.

Last night I brought in the pretty, green, living, ferns because it was supposed to freeze. OH, it was so so hard to leave the dead plant with the baby birds outside! They hatched a few days ago, and I was so worried about them in the cold. But there was nothing I could do... if I brought them in, the mama would be worried sick. Where would she go all night? She might even reject them when I put them back out in the morning if she didn't die of a heart attack in the night (I don't know if birds do that, but my own mind gives them human thoughts & emotions). Through the night the pathetic little plant hung there, and mama & babies kept each other warm. This morning, after she left to find food, I took a peek just to make sure they were okay, and a little eye peeked back at me!

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" Matthew 6:25-26 (ESV)

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31 (ESV)

Whether You Eat or Drink

2009-04-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked the meeting of a new challenge for our family as we avoid all grains and sugar... The Lord's Table with our church consists of unleavened bread and grape juice, aka grain and sugar! What to do? Well, I made our own! Using almond flour, eggs, carrots, ghee, and a little honey, I made our bread. And since there really was no way for me to ferment grape juice (reasonably), I made ginger tea & then cooled it down. We took our bread in a little baggie, and bottled our drink so it wouldn't spill. When the time came, my husband passed some bread to each of us and then we poured our drink into a cup which we shared. The ginger had much the same effect as the grape juice typically does; a little "bite" that reminds us of Christ's work on the cross, taking on the punishment for our sins. It made me consider, that if Christ can do that for me, I can certainly make it through this diet for my son.

"So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)

Fun Food

2009-03-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

When your food choices are limited, sometimes presentation makes a heap of difference! I found these cute little pancake molds in an Avon catalog for $14.99. I think they've gone to $9.99 now. There is a butterfly, a heart, and a duck. So when the kids have their squash & nut butter pancakes, they can pick a shape. This was Paco's duck, along with his "leaked" eggs ;o)

This is one of our soups - Paco's favorite way to eat it is when he can see each vegetable and know what it is. He gets suspicious of me if things are blended or chopped too finely...

My kids think I'm weird for taking pictures of food, but I like the visual presentation. This is Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's recipe for Tuna Salad found on page 125 of Gut and Psychology Syndrome. When I was making the salad, I wondered why I was taking pains to layer everything as opposed to just mixing it all together. Then when I was finished I knew why - it is so pretty! And it was pretty tasty, too :o)

Happy GAPS cooking!

"La Sopa Smith" Takes on New Meaning!

2009-03-26T09:03:00.000-07:00

Little did I know when I started "La Sopa Smith" that our soup habits were going to take on such major changes, nor that our title would take on a whole new meaning!

When I started this blog, it was really more to keep in touch w/my homeschooling friends; to share what we're up to, what we're learning, etc. It was also to have a way to share our journey and the kids' school happenings with grandparents & other friends & family. Just the things that we want to share publicly, really. The struggle of what to write or not, what to share or not, and whether to just take my tag off my email signature since I'm updating so infrequently, etc., sometimes made it easier for me just to pretend I never started a blog in the first place - hah! And I don't really have just *one* focus like some blogs do. A cooking blog, a homeschool blog, a faith journey blog, a financial blog, an organization blog, etc. This is just our life, so I guess just skip what doesn't interest you?

Here is yet another attempt for me to get motivated to start writing again! We are making a lot of soup, and I mean a LOT of soup! Broth, to be exact :o)

Paco's doctor has him on a diet called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I then found another diet, the GAPS Diet (Gut and Psychology Syndrome), which was developed by a doctor who had tweeked the SCD to make it more healing. The companion book, written by a mom in Canada, is called Gaps Guide. So the first book is all the medical background, and the second puts it all in practical step-by-step terms. We are in our fourth week on this diet, and I am amazed at the changes in Paco! So I just had to share. I may continue to share :o) It's a difficult road, as those of you who know us personally have witnessed. And for those I'm just getting to know, I hope that as we share you will be encouraged along your way as well. I truly am amazed that we already have this sense of healing less than a month into it, but we do.

If you or someone you love has digestion problems, any kind of what our society calls "mental" or "emotional" problems, has ADD/ADHD, or is on the Autism/Apserger spectrum, or even has eczema, please take a look at those two websites. Between the diet, some supplements, and detoxification, you can find healing! I always knew that somehow Paco's diet played a part in his issues, but I never understood that therein lay not only the cause, but the cure! I won't go into all the details, as that is done very well between the links above. But I do want to spread the word to anyone who, like us, has been searching for an answer for so long.

I have not turned away from raw food preparation completely, as ultimately I expect to get back there. However, where we once swore off meat completely, now I think we will always include meats and animal fats. Right now I have bone broth cooking on the stove almost 24/7, chicken or beef (you can also do fish, but Batman has a severe fish allergy). And to that we add a variety of meats and veggies. We've been going through the progressive additions, and now have added ghee, eggs, nut butters, avocados, olive oil, and roasted meats. Yesterday I made carrot juice that the kids drank down to the last drop! In the next few days I will make some grain-free bread (made with nut flour) and prepare a few raw veggies.

What I still need to do is learn how to ferment vegetables... for now, probiotic supplements are our only source of probiotics. But we'll get there! Next time I post, I'll include some pictures.

Charlotte Mason Words I'm Pondering

2009-02-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

The wonder that Almighty God can
endure so far to leave the very making
of an immortal being in the hands of
human parents is only matched by the wonder
that human parents can accept this divine trust
with hardly a thought of its significance (Vol. 1, p. 333).

It is as the mother gets wisdom liberally from
above, that she will be enabled for this divine
task (Vol. 1, p. 348).

Mothers and fathers do not well to forget that
their children are, by the very order of Nature,
their disciples (Vol. 2, pp. 66, 67).

God Rest Ye Merry

2008-12-26T09:06:00.000-08:00

Beautiful post that our family needed today... Thanks, Sheila. God Rest Ye Merry.

Another Bittersweet Christmas

2008-12-14T11:25:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I'd rather be writing about whether we should or should not do Santa. This morning (okay, I admit... it was really this afternoon) when I woke up, I had a lot in my head, and thought it might be a good time to blog. But a lot of what is there is not stuff I want to write about, because giving voice to something makes it more real than I want it to be. Like if I don't say it, it isn't happening (although I know that isn't true, it's happening). I had the same feeling this time last year, when we lost our dear Great Aunt, Pig. I wasn't able to write about it until January. That post is here: The Last Bath

And now we're back to a similar place, but this time with my Pap-Paw, one of my life-long best friends. He had a terrible fall on Friday night, and when I arrived to see him in the ER my first thought was what fragile packaging we are wrapped in. I thought of a car in a horrible accident that is so badly damaged that we don't fix it, we trade it in for a car in better condition that can take us another 100,000 miles. And I wanted to tell God that this body He gave Pap-Paw is all worn out and very banged up now, so we'd like to just order a new one, please. And thank you. But before I could get that silliness into a prayer, I knew we can't trade our bodies in for new ones. Well, we can. And Pap-Paw will. And I'm afraid it will be sooner than I'll ever be ready for.

The body repair guy, well, the surgeon, did the best he could. And today Pap-Paw is recovering, whatever that means when you're 98. Yesterday when he began reaching out into the air, my heart sank. I've seen that before, and it was in Mam-Maw's final days and again in Pig's final days... I've asked each of them what they are seeing, but they can't say. I guess I'll have to wait and find out for myself.

I know he won't read this. But I have to say it while I can. I love you, Pap-Paw.

Offerings at Christmas

2008-12-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

This is a very quick post, and I apologize to all my readers (all 3 of you?) that I haven't written in so long. We just kinda go through busy spells where I can live or I can write, but I can't do both - do you? And I can't bring myself to post just for the sake of posting - I feel like I have to have something to say, something to offer...

Here are my offerings for Christmas - if you live in my area (you know who you are) and would like to be involved in a ministry to assist families in need on a personal level, please please let me know. Check out Scotty's Gifts and get in touch with me via email or leave a comment here & let me know how to contact you.

My other offering is a short post by my friend Laura at The World is Our Classroom. You'll never look at the Red Kettles the same way again...

Merry Christmas.

Old Things New

2008-09-12T06:42:00.001-07:00

A few years ago, we had one of Sr. Smith's (aka Batman's) co-workers & his family over for dinner. Pablo (the friend) gave me a compliment that I just loved the wording of, "You have lots of cool old stuff in your house!" And I appreciated it because I do truly love old stuff - especially if it once belonged to someone I love, or if it connects us to a family member that we never knew but know we would have loved had we had the chance. Like my engagement ring, for instance. It belonged to Sr. Smith's maternal grandmother. I never knew her, but wearing her ring makes me feel like I belong in her family. And this wash stand in the picture above was Pig's. She gave it to me in high school, and it was painted green then. Sr. Smith refinished it for me during our engagement (it gave him something to do - haha!), and now it is in the entry of our home topped with a doilie passed down from my great aunt Nora, an assortment of nature items, a couple of vases, and a new guest book that we recently started keeping (thanks for that idea, Javamom!). But old things also remind me not to be too connected to my "stuff". They remind me how quickly life on earth passes, and how this world will eventually pass away...

Now on to some of my old things...

I have to comment on these nature items... the pressed flowers sitting on this plate are 14 years old. Last week I dug out my old leaf/flower press that I made in graduate school the summer I got married. I was taking a Science in the Elementary School class, and our class made presses & then went out on a nature walk to collect items to press. Jirafa is taking Botany this year, so I pulled out the press for him. When we opened it, I couldn't believe my eyes - it was full of flowers! I picked a few for our nature display, and let him have the rest for his Botany book cover. Very cool.

The final picture here is a little basket of wildlife nests we've found along the way. A wasp nest from Brambleside last summer, a dirt dobber nest from our neighbor, and the last 2 sparrow nests from my hanging plants on the back porch. The other day Paco & I did our outdoor "Autumn cleaning" which included retrieving the last nest. The birds had found some great soft lining this year! I carefully removed it from the plant, and Paco (ever the observant) said, "Look! There's something down there" pointing down in the leaves. Well, sure enough, 3 little eggs had been kicked out of the nest and were sitting whole down below where the nest had been. So we have included them in our display as well.

"You turn winter into spring

You take every living thing

And You breathe Your breath of life into it over and over again

You made the sunrise, day after day after day

But there's a morning coming, when old things will all pass away

And everyone will see You make all things new"

- from "All Things New" by Stephen Curtis Chapman

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

Pizzas & Pijamas - Our Back to School Party!

2008-09-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

It's back to school on Labor Day! Whoo-hoo! We decided to have our first day today as Sr. Smith would be able to join us. Typically when Daddy has a day off of work we are not doing school, so this just felt like the right way to get started this year.

To kick off our new year, we had a pizza & pijama party in our school room last night. After we ate, I gave each of the kids their new assignment notebooks and we went through them and our new schedule together. They were so excited to read through it all. "Look, Jirafa, a 15 minute break at 10:15!" Okay, so they weren't nearly as excited about the hours of work that preceded and followed the break, but they had fun thinking about what the first day would be like.

I plan to write about the changes I've made to how we work through our day, and new things we're doing this year. But for now I'm just posting about the party and pictures of our school room (aka "the loft"), which has been re-vamped to be more user-friendly. We hope to use it more for our actual work, whereas in the past we've sort of spread out all over the house. Of course, in the winter we'll be snuggled up by the fire :o)

Okay, here are the pictures from our party...

Braces and black olives...! Jirafa is starting year 5

Extra cheese, no sauce, with garlic shake! Paco is starting Year 3.5!

Each boy has his own bin filled with current books; the rest are on the shelf above his bin. Jirafa takes his bin to the large table, while Paco prefers the small table. Grab & go on Wednesdays!

Here's a view of most of the room - Sr. Smith built all those shelves & the window seat (which has four compartments that open for storage).

He's too good to me :o)

If you look to the bottom right hand corner of this picture, you can see the corner of a chair; Jirafa's table is up against that wall w/two chairs. A map of the world hangs above it. To the left you can see some smaller black shelves, those are just from Wal-Mart until Sr. Smith has time to build more shelves; to the left of those shelves is a map of the USA, followed by Doorposts charts on down the hallway (which is where I'm standing with the camera). Hermosa's picture books are on the shelf that faces the rocker where Sr. Smith is sitting, and behind him on the wall is the dry-erase board.

Well, that's a peek into our little world over here. Blessings to everyone starting school, whether at home or another school of your choice. Have a great year!

Consignment Sale on Cash

2008-08-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start blogging about some of my money-saving finds both to share them with others as well as to keep myself going on our adventure of "living like no one else so that later we can live like no one else" (a la Dave Ramsey).

For a long time now, Sr. Smith has the habit of taking out cash every payday, giving it me to sort into my envelope system, and keeping some pad in the checking account "in case I end up short and need to put something on the debit card". Well, no more. I am determined not to need that padding!

This morning my friend & her daughter & my 3 headed to a consignment sale where I thought I was going to find "smashing deals". Well, not quite as smashing as I'd hoped, I still found great deals after some hunting around. I started looking through clothes for Hermosa, then made it over to jeans for the "King of Holes in the Knees" (jirafa) & found him a few tops also. We sat down near the Thomas train bed (the girls thought they were riding a choo-choo) & started going through our piles looking for holes & tears, and I pulled out a pen & an old receipt to write on. I started with the jeans for Jirafa, because that's where I was getting the biggest savings ($7 vs. $20 or more per pair), and wrote down each price. Then I sorted through Hermosa's & picked my favorite things. I kinda had $50 on each of them in my mind depending on what I found (my budget was $100). (btw, Paco hasn't outgrown what he has, so that's why I didn't shop for him - he isn't going around without clothes! He also gets whatever is passed from his brother) Well, when I wrote it all down it came to $99.50. I was so proud to stay in my budget!

Then when I got up to the register I told the guy working it that if I'd added right I had just what I wanted & .50 to spare - "Did you figure in tax?" He said. Oops. I didn't know they were charging tax. I quickly did the math in my head, and pulled out a pair of khaki's for Jirafa that were $8.50 to remove from my pile. "We take credit cards, you don't have to stick to cash," said the man very nicely. "Nope, cash only," I replied. He grinned when my total was $99.05.

But I grinned bigger :o)

Here's what I came home with:

4 pair size 14 jeans (3 Levi, 1 Wrangler)
1 pair size 14 camo pants
1 sweater (Gap)
2 long-sleeved cotton tops (Old Navy & Cherokee)

6 complete fall/winter outfits (pants and tops) for Hermosa. Some of these had an extra top for versatility, and one of the pants is cream colored corduroy which can go with other tops as well.
The brands of these are also good, high quality (Gap, Gymboree, Old Navy, Carter, and some boutique things I didn't recognize). And they are all super cute, modest, and comfie.

The kids will wear these hardly-worn items just as long as they would have worn them had I bought them brand new, and I paid less than half of what I would have paid in the store, even if they were on sale. The girls working the sale were wearing shirts that said, "Retail is for suckers," to which I'd add, "So are credit cards!"

Some may think I didn't get as great a deal as I could have gotten at a garage sale, for instance, which may be true. But I got a deal I'm happy with, and I stayed within budget, which right now is the goal.

Now if I could just get Jirafa to take better care of his jeans...

Jirafa is a Pretty Cool Kid

2008-08-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

I just have to post this conversation Jirafa and I had whilst working on Paco's Term 1 assignment list. I had asked Jirafa if he had finished the last few chapters of Our Island Story, or if he had stopped at the chapter about how Canada was won. (mind you, he read this book year before last)

Jirafa: Can I look at it? Oh, no, I don't remember reading this. This chapter is about America. Was it not on my schedule?

Me: I don't guess so. (I'm not looking at the book at this point, he is) Maybe since that's where American history picks up, we just switched books for American history. Not much point in doubling up.

Jirafa: Will you put it on my free reading list for this year? I want to read it. It will be interesting because I bet it will have a different perspective. Cause, you know, how This Country of Ours was written by an American, and Our Island Story was written by someone from Britain? I've noticed that sometimes, that people from different countries think differently about the world. They have their way of thinking, and we have ours.

Last year I started this blog soon after the start of the school year. God had given me some much needed encouragement that day, and it was just what I needed as we started our new year. I don't think I realized I needed a little shot in the arm just yet (we start our official school year next Monday), I'm still finishing up my planning. But to hear Jirafa make a statement like this, completely unsolicited, just gives me more gas for my tank.

I can't help but wonder what people are thinking when they ask about how our children will know about the "real world" if we don't put them in public school? I guess part of what really jazzes me about what he said is not just that he realizes that there are lots of possibilities for how to view the world, but also that he actually intimated that he has his own way of looking at the world. So he sees himself as having a perspective, yet he wants to hear what others have to say.

And what's my perspective? I think Jirafa is a pretty cool kid.

Can I Be a Student Again?

2008-07-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

I mean, with that being my only responsibility. Like, at the doctor's office where it asks for occupation, can I put "student"? I mean, I want to still be my husband's wife and my kids' mom, but can someone else do all my other stuff for one semester - oh, like a sabbatical that professors get! That would be so groooooovy. Because here's what I would do/learn:

1. How to do square foot gardening (I am reeeeally embarrassed about what my garden looks like - no pictures coming out anymore. You have to go to my backyard if you want to see it.)

2. Sign Language - I would take this class at the community college and then practice practice practice with friends at church.

3. Really invest in my Spanish. I started a Bible Study with friends who speak Spanish, but I might also read a couple of the books on my shelf. Like spend an hour or two each day reading or speaking in Spanish.

4. Photography - I would take a class, and learn how to use all the features on my camera (maybe even invest in a really nice one). I'd also learn how to transfer my old vhs tapes to dvd and how to edit them. Then I'd have a nice little collection of home movies that we could watch on our laptops.

5. Piano Lessons. Self explanatory - I am one of the many who took several years as a child only to let them drop and regret it later. And I have such a beautiful piano in my living room!

Okay, so that looks like a pretty good semester of classes, right? hehe... if only.

Cultural Comforts Article

2008-07-18T06:54:00.000-07:00

I have removed a post I put up last week entitled, "Homeschoolers Threaten Our Cultural Comforts" because I decided that while it is an interesting perspective, it does not represent every homeschooling nor every non-homeschooling situation. And I have thoughts swirling in my head out about what I would like to say in response to this article, but don't have time to compose them right now. In the meantime, if you want to read the article you can find it by googling the title. I may write something about it in the future. I just decided it doesn't belong on my blog unless I have a good response post to go with it.

Introducing Mac

2008-07-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago our family answered an advertisement for a guinea pig that needed a new family. Paco Zapato had been wanting a guinea pig for several months, and this one was the perfect fit for him. The guinea pig's name is Mac, short for "Double Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut" - he's all black save one patch of white under his chin. And add to the physical description how super sweet he is, the name fits him to a tee. Sorry about the blur on these photos; I am frustrated with my camera at the moment (if my camera could talk would it be frustrated with me? I am sure it is user error...)

But here you see Mac & Paco getting acquainted in the living room. Paco built him a little shelter with a porch, and he was very happy to just stay there for awhile. The next photo was snapped quickly after I heard Hermosa saying, "Hi! I name Mac! Hi! I name Emily!" She was introducing her baby to Mac.

A New Meme

2008-06-04T14:36:00.000-07:00

Now that I've been twice tagged (by Katie & Javamom) I can hide no longer! This is a really neat one.

If you came to my house, you would see:

Lots of my husband's projects - the tile, fireplace, window seat, shelves & cabinets, and the boys' new loft beds being built in the garage. Watercolor paintings by Grandpa Musick, Quilts on the wall (some hanging on an old ladder) by Pig and Grandma Smith, several stained-glass windows by my very talented SIL & BIL, the 1920's piano where once lived a television, other antique and hand-me-down furniture, Hermosa's vintage nursery with walls that I painted. Books, books, and more books, old photographs, lots of scrapbooks/photo albums, a juicer, dehydrator, Bosch, and toaster oven that take up most of my kitchen counter space, our first garden, and windows that I wish I knew what to do with. Depending on whether you were expected, you might also see a pile (or more) of laundry, school things sitting out, toys strewn about, and a fort or other playtime creation or mess.

We'd probably feed you:

Burritos made with homemade tortillas - you'd build your own and have the choice of black beans, potatoes, possibly pastured ground beef or chicken since we've added some meat back into our diet, shredded cheese, avocados, lettuce, red onion, tomato, cilantro, and Sr. Smith's salsa. If we had dessert, it would be no-bake chocolate oat bars.

And we'd offer you this to drink:

Filtered water, a variety of teas, fresh vegetable or fruit juice

We'd undoubtedly ask if you'd read:

The news, Jane Austen, Beatrix Potter, Robinson Crusoe, Dave Ramsey, David Allen (Getting Things Done), Laura Ingalls Wilder, C.S. Lewis, A.A. Milne

We'd want to play this music for you:

A cd we picked up from Pine Cove called, "The Second Life of Mattresses" - it is an ecclectic mix of worship music played by college students who have worked at Pine Cove. We all love it! We'd spare you our piano playing, although Hermosa might treat you to some groovy harmonica.

We'd want to tell you the latest about:

Our adventures with our cousin Ari staying with us - Scarborough Faire, movies, playtime, stories written and acted out, and other outings. The search for a decent commuter vehicle to replace Old Red (the 1995 F-150 truck that was our first major purchase after marriage), and of course our new church!

We'd probably suggest a game of:

Boggle, Nertz, or Scrabble - we're into games over here! We'd play anything you brought as well.
If you brought your tennis shoes you'd be hit up for basketball in the driveway.

We might show off:

The garden, the sparrow nest that is now empty, some of the boys' work, Hermosa's ability to recite a number of nursery rhymes or Psalm 100, the loft beds

If it was a long enough visit, we might watch:

The kids ride bikes, scooters, peddle-cart, trike out front. We wouldn't watch a movie or tv because we don't have a tv, and the screen on the laptop computer is really only adequate for 2 or 3 people to watch it.

What would a visit to your house be like?

Ginger, Laura, Lindy, and Brittany, I'm tagging you! If you don't have a blog, I tag you, too. Use this meme as your first post!

I'm Not Good at Wordless Wednesday!

2008-05-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

- Robinson Crusoe's Habitation (by Jirafa) -

- Lego Stairs (by Paco) -

- Hermosa's First Pigtails -

Something to Nourish a Child's Brain

2008-05-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

A great quote (from Charlotte Mason, of course) that describes our approach to homeschooling is printed on the back of a t-shirt my children have. "Nourish a child daily with loving, right, and noble ideas... which may bear fruit in his life." Actually, just about all the offspring from my fantastic CM Book Club have this shirt! But I digress... yesterday I had one of those moments with one of my kids that made me "know that I know" that we're doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing.

I won't go into all the "offenses" committed, but we can just say that the eldest Smith son had not exactly represented Christ well in word, deed, or attitude. It was along the lines of responsibility, work ethic, and authority. He had taken advantage of a situation and yielded to his flesh, spiraling downward and fast. After restitution had been made, notes of apology written, and consequences meted out, this young man sat alone, obviously deep in thought and not very proud of his behavior. In short, he was disappointed in himself. I felt he had suffered enough and that he could benefit from some encouragement, so I invited him to come sit with me on the couch. It was one of those mother/son moments where you see the spirit vs. flesh struggle weighing heavily on the heart. Where you want to be able to step in and fight the devil yourself on his behalf, but you know that it is better to teach him to handle that battle dressed in the armour of God. As we sat & talked, Jirafa made an observation that astounded me - and it was right on the nose. "It's like I'm like Rip Van Winkle - I do everyone else's work but my own." Wow. All the nagging and prodding (see Volume 3) I could muster could not have brought him to that conclusion. In the reading of a meaty book, months of digestion, and a few reflective moments on a bad day, Jirafa learned something about himself that is going to actually lead to change... er uh... bear fruit... in his life.

I love it.

A New Meme

2008-04-29T07:50:00.001-07:00

Katie tagged me for a meme, and since I have a moment to breath right now I'll play along.

This meme asks me to tell three random things about myself.

1. This year my husband and I have been together half of our lives. I know you are wondering how many years that is, so here's the math: 18 growing up + 18 together = 36!

2. I count syllables on my fingers when I'm listening to people talk (like a sermon, lecture, presentation, etc.). I add an extra word or expression if it doesn't end evenly :O)

3. My most recent sense of accomplishment came from potty training my 2 yo daughter.

Now I'm tagging you - Laura, Jubilee, Queen Shenaynay, and anyone else reading this!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

2008-04-28T19:17:00.001-07:00

Nana & Pap-Paw survey the onions & potatoes...

Good day, cucumber plant!

Mesculum, aka Spring Mix!
Peruvian corn stalk - I really hope these make!
A potato plant - I really want to see the action underground these babies!

It is amazing to me how we can put little seeds in the ground & water them, and then God does his thing and all of a sudden we see green things growing. This is our first attempt at a garden, and it's very exciting... enjoy the pictures! We'll post more as things progress. Maybe we'll even have some bounty to share - I can't wait to have a salad out of my own garden! For you garden pros out there, forgive the grass you see on the sides and whatever other mistakes we are unaware of - we are learning together... and welcome any suggestions!

La Hermosa Princesa Esperanza's First (published) Narration

2008-04-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

She's only two, but lately is narrating lots of things. So I will publish this evening's narration of her birthday party, which was this afternoon. Her words are preceded by an * so that I don't have to keep typing our names. I will add that this conversation took place in her rocking chair right before bed.

Hermosa, did you have fun at your birthday party?

*MMM... Park!

We went to the park, didn't we? What did you do at the park?

*Kites!

Yes, you flew a kite. What kind of kite do you have?

*Hermosa Kite!

Yes, it's your kite, but who's picture is on your kite?

*Dora panties!

Yes, Dora is on your panties, too. What else did you do at your party?

*Jump! Darbie!

Yes, Darbie came and jumped with you. Who else came?

*Aunt Mille sick.

No Aunt Mille isn't sick. She is at her house far away. Grandma is sick and couldn't come.

*Grandma sick. Aunt Mille okay?

Yes, Aunt Mille is okay.

What else did you like at your party?

*Party cookies!

Yum! Did you have presents, too?

*Uh-huh.

What kind of presents did you get?

*Two!

Pause.

*Night night, mommy.

Not-so-Wordless Wednesday

2008-02-27T19:28:00.001-08:00

Q: Did you know that Daniel Boone had 3 ears?

A: Yes. A right ear, a left ear, and a wild frontier!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-02-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

Grace Week

2008-02-10T21:19:00.000-08:00

We have just finished our first official "Grace Week", and we all agreed that it accomplished what we were hoping for. A change of pace, a moment to rest, an opportunity to process what exactly it is that we are doing. We plan to include a monthly Grace Week for the remainder of this school year and then re-evaluate.

For those unfamiliar with Grace Week, it was started by Queen Shenaynay over at The Beehive. She did this with her daughters in their early years of homeschooling, and recently when I felt I needed a break it whispered itself in my ear, Grace. If anyone needs grace, it's me! So I did a little homework and came up with a plan. We already school year-round, so the schedule part fit perfectly. Up until now, we take breaks as we need them, a little longer break at Christmas and between academic years, and we just keep going. However, our breaks usually are just like summer break was for me growing up - do nothing. Well, what has ended up happening is I have a list of projects, way too much free time, and the kids have way too much free time, and when school gets going again we all struggle to get back into the swing of things only to find that I didn't accomplish all of my projects and they are still looming over my head! It kind of defeated the purpose of the break when it was so hard to get going again. But Grace Week is different. It's a break from the rigor of the schedule, but it is a very purposeful break. Here is what we did:

We had a little family meeting at the beginning of the week, and I laid out my expectations of the children. There would be daily Bible time, daily personal reading time, and daily exercise time. The reading could be any book of their choice, and so could the exercise. The daily Bible time was intended to be personal as we are beginning to encourage the boys to have their own daily time alone with the Lord. That part did not happen this week, so it will be a focus next month. The exercise ended up being basketball out front, bike riding, long walks, and jumping on the trampoline. Also dancing :O)

We also laid out some projects we would do together. This time it was bake bread, prepare the ground for a garden, and memorize Psalm 100. The first two did get accomplished, the memorization is still a work in progress.

Finally, we each had individual projects. I had the boys choose something they had learned that they were very excited about and create a project to present to Daddy & I after a special dinner on Saturday evening (prepared by Jirafa and myself). I really did not know how these projects would turn out, but after hours of work they each came up with something that blew us out of the water! Jirafa made himself a costume and presented a first person dramatization of George Washington's retreat from the Battle of Long Island. He used pillows "dressed" in clothes (armed with guns & swords) as additional characters and reinacted parts of the battle for us! To distinguish himself as George Washington, he even made a wig out of white paper and put a hat on top! Paco made two large drawings - one was King Philip and the Spanish Armada. The other was Queen Elizabeth and the English Navy. He described to us how the little English Navy defeated the Spanish Armada, sending them fleeing quickly away. They both were so proud of their presentations and are already talking about doing another one! Yay! It was a very entertaining evening for Daddy & I.

As for my own projects, I got two closets cleaned out, kept up my excercise routine, and worked a day on potty training our little princess. It turned out she wasn't quite ready, but rather than feel bad that we didn't accomplish it I am going to feel good that she & I got so much one on one time together.

So, for the rest of the semester we will work 3 weeks on our regular curriculum/schedule, and then we will take one Grace Week. We don't need 4-6 weeks off in the summer, and little 3 & 4 day weekends don't quite give us enough time to both accomplish a project and rest. Thank you, Queen Shenaynay for sharing this magnificent idea with the rest of us! Our family is rested, refreshed, and energized to start back on our "school schedule" tomorrow.

Later I will have to collect the thoughts swimming in my head about the correlation between this idea and the grace offered to us from the Lord. For now, I just wanted to get the facts out there and share our experience with Grace Week.

123 Meme

2008-02-04T17:47:00.000-08:00

Something New! A Game!

My friend Laura posted this on her blog, and it just is too fun to pass up. I had never heard of "meme" before, but I'm intrigued.

For those of you who are new 'meme-ers', a 'meme' as defined by 'The Daily Meme' is:

In the context of web logs / 'blogs / blogging and other kinds of personal web sites it's some kind of list of questions that you saw somewhere else and you decided to answer the questions. Then someone else sees them and does them and so on and so on. I generally consider these to be actual questions and not some multiple choice quizzes that determine some result at the end (what color you are most like, what cartoon character are you, what 80s movie are you).

Here are the rules for this one:

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more (no cheating!)

Find page 123

Find the first five sentences

Post the next three sentences

Tag five people

I had to pass over a devotional book of less than 123 pages and some math books before reaching a "real book" - hah! The closest book to my desk, which is where I am, is Getting Things Done by David Allen... Page 123... Five sentences down, and here are the next three:

- That item may be more attractive to your psyche because you know right away what to do with it- and you don't feel like thinking about what's in your hand. This is dangerous territory. What's in your hand is likely to land on a "hmppphhh" stack on the side of your desk because you become distracted by something easier, more important, or more interesting below it. -

Okay, the Bible IS the only living, breathing, inspired Word from God, right? I am SO busted!! We are having Grace Week right now (which I will blog about this weekend), and one of my personal goals for the week is to get my inbox to "zero". Another is to clean out my closet. Today, I cleaned out my closet - it is done. To my dismay, I found my "old" inbox... the one that is essentially a "hmppphhh" stack all by itself. Can't I just throw it all away and pretend it never existed???? Uhhhh....

Okay, your turn!!! Put your meme on your blog & comment to me so that I know you did it & can come read it! Or if you don't have a blog, email it to me or post it as a comment. I want to know what everyone's closest book is! How do I pick 5 people? Do you have to do that? I want everyone reading this to do it - so if you've read this count yourself tagged.

Let The Game Come to You

2008-02-04T04:30:00.000-08:00

This is one of Sr. Smith's "staff development" quotes. Carletta over at Successful Homeschooling likened her husband's encouragement in their homeschooling to staff development that a school principal provides for his teachers, and I love the analogy! So I'm going to use it ;o)

"Let the game come to you." Charlotte Mason has taught me so much, and our homeschooling is what it is because of her writings. It will be better as I learn more and follow her methods more closely. One thing I struggle with from time to time, though, is that every so often you'll find that she comments that these methods will work well with children of normal development. She uses older, less PC ways to say this, but you get the idea; she's referring to the fact that there are children who don't learn as quickly as the majority of the others. And she is acknowledging that there may be some modifications necessary for these kiddos. We find that her methods work fantastically with both of our school age children, but what needs to be tweeked for one is the amount of work required, and the timeline in which to expect it.

I'll give an example. Last week my Paco made a huge turn in his reading. Paco is 9 years old, and was diagnosed with a syndrome at birth. I won't go into all of that; it isn't common & hardly anyone has heard of it anyway. But the ramifications are that he struggles with almost everything that we take for granted. And he pretty much operates about 12-18 months behind most of his chronological age peers. So when I start getting worried that something isn't happening, or a goal isn't being met, that's when Sr. Smith gently reminds me to, you got it, let the game come to me.

So last Tuesday I sat down with Paco and asked him to get a book of his choosing. We took turns reading Nate the Great. I read a sentence, then he read the same sentence. This went on a few pages until he told me to stop reading. He only wanted me to help him with the hard words. So I skimmed ahead & alerted him to any I thought he might struggle with. We did this for about 30 minutes, and then we went on to other things. That night, he asked his Daddy to read a Flat Stanley book with him, and he explained about our method during the day. He taught his Daddy how to help him!

Fast forward another two days. Paco came and got me, and wanted me to listen to him read from the House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne. The original one with line drawings that is so precious. Now, this had been something I read to him in Year 1 - but now he wanted to read it to me! He opened it, not to page 1, but to page 17. He had started reading it on his own during his free time! CM'ers know where I'm going with this, I think, but I'm going to spell it out for non-CM'ers. His little heart and soul were not satisfied with the twaddle he had picked up earlier in the week - yes, he read and was entertained by those books. And really Nate the Great is pretty good. However, he went for something meatier of his own accord. The light dancing around in his eyes as he read to me was amazing. He was enthralled and could hardly contain his excitement! He looked at the line drawings of Pooh and Tigger at their first meeting, and made a face to mimic what he saw in Tigger. Then he said what he thought Tigger must have been thinking based on the expression on his face! This is huge for a child who has difficulty reading body language, nuances, and social cues. HUGE!

And more!! Sr. Smith told me later that, yes, Paco had pulled out the book the day before and read to him when I wasn't home. He read the hard words all by himself! And he had laughed and made the comment after reading that Pooh had "whispered loudly" - "Hah! That's so funny. How can you whisper loudly?"

So I offer two gleanings from this experience:

One, Charlotte is right that just as we do not waste our time with that which does not nourish the soul, neither does the child when given the choice. Second, Miss Mason cautions us not to speak too much. To let the children's minds digest what they take in without our manipulation of how they are to interpret this and that. It's her way of telling us to let the game come to us.

And truly, if we give it time, it will.

The Last Bath

2008-01-23T18:59:00.000-08:00

My dear Great Aunt, whom our family affectionately called Pig, passed away in early December, just a few days shy of our family Christmas gathering also known as "the tree". Pig's husband, Uncle Russell, went to be with the Lord years ago, but he coined the phrase, "See ya at the tree!" We definitely felt the empty places around the tree this year... of those that once gathered with us but who now gather in heaven.

I had never been with someone when they passed from this life to the next, but that time was so sacred. I will never forget it.

In talking with the Hospice Aide, holding Pig's hand or stroking her hair, talking to her or just quietly being there, I had a lot to think about. I knew she was leaving us, we all did – there wasn't a hope that she would wake up and ask for a cup of coffee or ask me why I was there so late like she had done the week prior. Then she had told me to go home to my family. Not now. No, she was tired and ready to go home. I was almost asking God to come and get her quickly, so that she would be free of the body that was betraying her. Free of the pain of letting go. Because she was really doing that – she was letting go of us with each meal she refused, each sip of water that she could no longer accept. Even as she kept back her words, using her strength only to communicate the most important things, she was leaving us. The last word I heard her say was “wonderful”. And forever I think when I say that word or hear someone else say it, I will hear Pig's voice quietly in my ear, “wonderful”.

Nanette, the Hospice Aide, came about six hours before Pig left us. She was such a joy; truly an angel on earth. One of the keenly sensitive and discerning among us. A washer of feet. Early in the evening she shared with me that there seems to be something about the last bath; that each time she has given someone their last bath a change seems to occur. And she didn't pretend that there was something magic about the bath, or that she had any special power or anything. She gave every bit of glory to the Lord, and said she is humbled to be about His work with those close to death and their loved ones. I know it is a calling on her life, and I am ever thankful that she answered.

Back to the bath... I really thought Pig had already had her last bath when Nanette and I were talking. She seemed so close to the end. But at about 10pm, Pig began to moan. They had lots of medication in her to ease the pain, to clear up the fluid building in her lungs, and to ease her coughing. She had been quiet and still for hours. We had been timing her breaths since early in the afternoon. I walked over to the bed and took Pig's hand, and began to sing It is Well and Amazing Grace. Nanette picked up the harmony after a little bit and we sang together. Pig opened her eyes and looked at me during Amazing Grace, and then she relaxed and closed them never to open them again. She was saying goodbye.

I commented that since she had quit talking she had moaned when she had needed a change of clothing, and sure enough that was the case. Pig had not had her last bath afterall. Mom had left a clean gown, and Nanette and I gently and lovingly bathed her and got her changed. Of all things, I was thinking about my great grandmother, whom I never knew, and who was probably the person who had given Pig her first bath soon after she named her Mildred Maxine. Perhaps even before. And I pondered what her thoughts must have been at that time; I am sure they were much like mine the first time I bathed my own daughter, my first newborn. Such love and care; worried about her umbilical chord, careful that the water wasn't too cold or too hot. Thankful when it was over that she hadn't slipped out of clumsy hands! And then peace afterwards as she slept all warm and pink and beautiful. I felt the same looking at Pig. This dear great aunt who had co-grandmothered me and all of us with my Ma-Maw. Who had co-mothered my aunt and my own mother. I felt sure in that moment that just as I had not considered my daughter's last bath the first time I bathed her that my great-grandmother had not considered Pig's last bath or who would be there to bathe her and watch her sleep afterwards. My hope was that she would be proud – that she would know the love that poured out of her daughter to all of her descendants, that we would surround her in response to that love until the very end.

It was some time later; I was alone in the room with Pig crocheting a scarf for a friend. I felt it an appropriate way to quietly pass the time, as Pig had sat patiently with me as a child and taught me the art of yarn, later the art of quilting. And I just thought I'd check the time. It was midnight, the first moment of December 5th, 2008. What would have been Pig and Russell's 67th wedding anniversary had come and gone. Some of us had sweetly commented that perhaps she was waiting to celebrate the momentous occasion in person with him in heaven... but that had not been the case. I walked to her bedside, stroked her hair, and told her what day it was. Then it occurred to me to time her breathing - almost immediately when I told her the day I had seen a change. From 12:02 – 12:03, three breaths. My heart sped up as hers slowed down. Nanette returned to the room, and I said I thought she was on her way. I began quoting from Luke chapter 2, the Christmas story. Nanette began to pray. At 12:04 Pig drew her last breath, and then I watched as the pulse in her neck quietly faded to a stop.

What I wanted then was to see what she was seeing! Hear the angels singing, see Jesus in the middle of the light of His Glory, maybe our other family members lined up to welcome her to heaven - who knows what it's really like. On my end, I just watched her breathing slow. And then she just didn't breath anymore. And even though with all of my heart I wanted her to breath again, I knew that it was her time. I told her I loved her and to go. Go and spend the merriest Christmas of her life – in the arms of her savior.

Pig and Russell, Mam-Maw, Rebecca Lynn. We'll see ya at the tree.

Jirafa Narrates from Abigail Adams

2008-01-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober, Chapter 12

John and Abigail Adams were grieving at the loss of their daughter who was stillborn. And the war was getting worse and worse. The congress was thinking that the British were going to attack Philadelphia, but no one could be sure. Finally they fled to Yorktown, Pennsylvania. And then finally congress voted that John Adams and Samuel Adams could take a break and go see their families. They left on the 11th of November, and arrived in Braintree on the 27th. It was 1777.

So John Adams had been away for several years, I don't know how many, maybe a year, but it had been halved into two parts. And he had said that the next time he came back that he would stay for awhile. But he came back and had to go away again for a short period of time to try a law case, but while he was gone Abigail received some letters from Congress that said he was voted to go to France and meet Benjamin Franklin for some reason I can't remember. And then John Quincy, which was their son, asked to go with his father. So Abigail had to get a whole bunch of stuff ready in a short period of time.

Before John left, he gave Abigail a locket of a lonely woman watching a ship go by, leaning on a stone that said, "I yield whatever is is right." Abigail's Uncle Norton lived near where they were going to leave from, so they went there. John and John Quincy then left in a boat called the Boston, to go to France. And his father gave him a notepad to take, a diary type thing. A journal. Four and a half months passed and Abigail thought they were dead because there were rumors that the boat had been seized by the British and every man killed. And also that Benjamin Franklin had been assassinated. But it wasn't so. They couldn't write to her from the boat, because there was no other boat to take the letters back to her. Secondly, many boats were seized by the British, and plus it was winter, so it was harsh weather. So that meant that few letters were able to get through, even though they were writing every time they could get a ship that would take it on. So she was very happy, overjoyed it said, I think, when she got a letter from them. And then Abigail's other son had to go to school about that time, and then Nabby their daughter who was then 14 was begging to go see her father and brother. But Abigail did not let her go.

I can't wait to hear more later, Jirafa!

A Narration from Paco

2008-01-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

Paco and I read the first part of Master of the Harvest from Margaret Gatty's Parables From Nature, and this is his retelling of the story thus far:

Once upon a time there was a man and a woman. The man was a farmer. And the man did not like the ground because it was dry. He did not like the sky because it wasn't raining. He didn't like the corn because it didn't poke up yet. And his wife was calm, and she told him to be calm and have faith and hope. The corn seed heard the boss farmer whining and said, "Why is he so whiny? We've done the best we can!" Then it rained, and the corn raised up and grew. And the farmer felt good, but he didn't say thanks to anybody. And his wife didn't feel too good because she was sick, and her husband did not have faith.

Buen Trabajo, Paco!

Some Highlights from the Fall

2008-01-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, partly to wrap up last semester and feel fresh for starting back to school tomorrow, and partly because I am sick and don't feel like doing much - I'm playing with the bells & whistles of the blog world. I created a slideshow - whoohoo! It isn't that exciting, but alas I hope you enjoy it. If you want to read the captions, after clicking the "play" arrow you will see a little conversation bubble at the bottom left of the window - click that & you'll see the captions. I wrote too much on some of them to be able to read the whole thing before it changes - so sorry!

Tomorrow we start with a "special" day because Jirafa has a 10:30 appointment with the orthopedist for his elbow (I can't bring myself to call him the 'orthopedic surgeon' because that implies Jirafa will be having surgery, which we really don't think he will). So after breakfast & chores we'll have our Bible time, which is a hymn, scripture (we're making our way through Proverbs), prayer, and then the Pledge of Allegiance. Our next door neighbor has a 20 ft. flag pole in his front yard, so we go out there to say the pledge, cool eh? The boys have almost learned the pledge in Spanish, so we take turns now doing English sometimes & Spanish sometimes. They haven't done either in almost a month, so it may be slow moving tomorrow. After the appt., we should be able to get a bite to eat with Sr. Smith, put Hermosa down for her nap, and then get our full day of lessons in while she sleeps. We're missing our friends Alice (in Wonderland), George Washington, Robinson Crusoe, Queen Elizabeth, and more! It will be fun to get back into our work.

Glimpses of 2007

2008-01-06T21:07:00.001-08:00

Let it Be Resolved...

2008-01-04T13:36:00.000-08:00

Queen Shenaynay over at The Beehive has issued a challenge, and I am taking her up on it. You can find her blog in my links, which I have updated to include some fabulous women that I am blessed to count as friends and fellow sojourners in this journey that is homeschooling and life. I encourage anyone reading this to take the time to read "My Resolutions for 1997" at your earliest opportunity. You don't even have to read the rest of my post - hers just sparked mine and it will spark one in you, too, even if you don't have a blog ;o)

I'll preface by saying that her post struck a chord in my soul, because I find myself often explaining to others that while I've made lots of great changes in my eating habits, there are still some I need to make, and that I just haven't had that "the buck stops here" event in my life (like cancer) that makes me do the right thing every time. But I tell ya what, after reading this post, I think I've had it. I think I will let her experience and her willingness to be so transparant with her past 5 months not be in vain - I will vicariously have "that moment" through Queen Bee and resolve to do not just what is better, but what is right.

With that, let it be resolved...

That I will rise each morning before my children, and take a walk at least 4 times per week. It is simply grit that keeps me from doing this consistently - and I have grit so I need to use it!

That I will seek to use my Spanish more - an idea is to join a Bible Study with Spanish speakers. I will also make more of an on-going effort to impart this knowledge to my children - the poor things have something in common with the cobbler's children...

That I will go before the Lord before disciplining my children - not punish them in haste or just seek peace & quiet.

That coffee and sugar have to go. When I have a treat it has to be a treat, not an everyday indulgence. And to do this I am going to remember what Queen Shenayay said, "Every day that you treat your body right counts". It doesn't hurt that Sr. Smith has given up Cokes and started running - he's my hero!

That's it for now. But only because little Hermosa is willing to let me hold her right now, and I don't want to pass that up.

Feliz Navidad

2007-12-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

My cousin Juanita Pelota sent this to me this morning, and I just have to share it - I know it is a lame excuse of a blog entry, being that I did not write it myself, but still it is festive and fun and bilingual - something we need around here right now!

T'was the night before Christmas and all through la casa
Not a creature was stirring, only the masa.
Mama making tamales con mucho cuidado
In hopes old Santa would feel obligado
To bring all the hijos, both buenos y malos
A nice batch of dulces and other regalos
Mis hermanos and I went to sleep in our camas
Some in calsones, some in piyamas
Cuando out in the yard I heard un gran grito
That I jumped to my feet like a frightened cabrito
And who in the world do you think que era?
El mero mero with his venados estaban afuera
Santa Claus in a sleigh with a big sombrero
I watched as they came, and this little fat hombre
Was shouting and whistling, and calling by nombre
"Ay PEPE, AY JESSE, AY CUCA, AY BETO
AY PANCHO, AY CHATO, CHUY Y NETO!"
Then standing straight up, with his hands on his pecho,
He flew to the top of our very own techo
With his round little belly like a bowl of jalea
He struggled to squeeze down our old chimenea
Then huffing and puffing, and a little cansado
He picked up a bag that looked so pesado
He filled all the stockings with lovely regalos
For none of the hijos had been very malos
Then chuckling aloud, seeming very contento
He turned like a flash and was gone like the viento
As I heard him exclaim and this is verdad,
"MERRY CHRISTMAS A TODOS! FELIZ NAVIDAD!

-author unknown

Across Time

2007-10-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

My very wise teacher friend informed me this morning that titles aren't supposed to come first - that the best titles come once one has finished the work. So, no more sitting waiting on a title for this blogger!

Lots has happened in the 3 weeks since I last posted, and I'll not spell out my daily doings for everyone since we all have full plates. Just weekend trips, day trips, school, parties, etc. We were rear-ended at a stop sign on the way to the State Fair, but thankfully no one was injured and we have a rental while the van is being repaired. So when you don't see a post, no worries!

My thoughts for the moment are spurred by Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober. It is Super Jirafa's biography reading this term, and I am reading it as well. I am truly fascinated. Many times among my homeschool mama friends someone has lammented, "Oh, to have been homeschooled...", and one of the primary reasons is this: I am learning SO much that I missed in school. The history that I once found monotonous, has come to life for me (and my children), and I can't get enough of it!

Reading Abigail Adams' letters written just over 200 years ago, at close to the same age that I am now, really brings tears to my eyes. She was a young wife and mother, schooling her children at home while her husband was away. And she stood with her 7 year old son (the future President John Quincy Adams) overlooking what remained of Charlestown during the Battle at Bunker Hill. I read the news and see scenes from Iraq on CNN. She had it in her backyard. A couple of nights ago I got to talk to one of my childhood friends, and both of our sons talk about joining the military one day. How proud, yet how anxious that makes us!

The part of the book that struck me today is on page 60 (for those of you with kiddos in AO year 4). "As she (Abigail) committed her thoughts to paper, she gained a clearer understanding of her own role as a wife and mother." Wow! That's me on my blog (or in my journal, which hasn't made it's way here quite so much)! I have to add, however, that it is more in the sitting at the feet of others that I learn and grow the most. The point of this revelation is that we are not so different than those who came before us. We can learn so much from them. I look at Abigail and how she pressed forward, remembering the prize set before her, and it encourages me onward as well. Imagine that she wanted John to burn her letters, but he saved them "that they may exhibit to our posterity a kind of picture of the manners, opinions, and principles of these times of perplexity, danger, and distress." Indeed.

My final thought on this topic for today is a similar revelation concerning children. My CM book club recently discussed our children's constant question of, "Is he a good guy or a bad guy?" as we read through our history books. And there is a quote in this biography from Abigail's son Charles, who at age 5 asked his mother, "Mar, who is for us and who against us?". And it struck me again how very much we are like those who came before us, even the children. Across time, that's what they really want to know - who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.

I'm an Inspiring Personality

2007-10-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

I have started this post sans title, hoping the right one will emerge as I type out the story of my thumb. I'm so graceful (not) that I've heard many comments on my condition over the years. But we'll start with this - this is the second time I have almost lost the top of a thumb in the kitchen - the last time was my left thumb (I'm right handed), and my weapon was a knife. It was midnight, the dawn of Christmas Eve, the first time I was cooking a holiday dinner for my family... and we'd ony been married about a year & a half. But the knife went through the nail, I had stitches through the nail... it was a horribly painful, throbbing, bloody mess. The wait in the ER was certain to kill me, I was sure. There was so much blood - couldn't they see that I was dying?? But, alas, I did not. Fast forward - where are we now? - twelve years...

Two weeks ago my inlaws had come up for lunch and to share their pictures, stories (and gifts!) from their recent trip to Switzerland. Yes, they are quite the globe trotters now. Fancy this and fancy that ;o) But I digress. Sr. Smith and Sr. Smith Senior (he he - coudn't resist that one) had run up to grab some bread from the grocery store in the next town. Sra. Smith Senior (hey, I'm liking this now - it sounds very dignified) and I were chatting it up, and I was slicing vegetables. Now, I do this ALL the time. I have this great weapon called a mandoline slicer - it makes perfect slices of whatever I put through it, and all the same exact thickness. If you google mandoline vegetable slicer I'm sure you can find a picture of this modern weaponry designed for the kitchen. Now, a VERY important component to the mandoline is the GUARD. You're supposed to hold the vegetable on the guard and then slice. But I get a little too comfortable with my weaponry (hey, it's been 12 years since my last major slip) and don't always follow the directions... Little Paco had just come through wanting to "help" and I had very carefully shown him the very sharp blade of the mandoline and explained how under no cirmcumstances whatsoever was he to touch this. He took off up the stairs, and I started slicing the Green Bell Pepper. In case you're wondering what we vegetarians eat, this was to be a vegetable and rice stir fry. Almost everything else was done. Bell Pepper was the last thing. Oh, but engrossed in conversation with Sra Smith Senior, I had cut the Bell Pepper in such a way as to make the guard impossible to use. Drat. Well, that's okay. I'll be real careful. So I'm talking and slicing and slicing and talking, and I think, "Yeah, you really ought to be using that guard..." OUCH! There went the end of my right thumb. Yeppers. Through the nail. I realized what I had done and stopped before lopping off the whole tip. Quick pressure. No blood! No pain! This is nice. Can I just pretend this did not happen and finish the stir fry, please? Um, no. It must be dealt with. So Sr. Smith & his dad make it home, Sr. Smith has already determined the very long wait at PrimaCare, and he heads down to Rescue Nurse, my sweet neighbor. Because Sr. and Sra. Smith Senior were prepared with butterfly strips in their first aid kit, Rescue Nurse was able to patch me up in no time. Whew! The rice was made, the vegetables stirred, and Wala! Dinner was saved, and so was my thumb.

The title did emerge! And you're probably thinking, "What in the world does an Inspiring Personality have to do with hurting your thumb?" Well, a lot. Sr. Smith and I had a date Friday night to a homeschool meeting (when he starts a blog he can explain that it was not a date) where we learned about personality types and how knowing about our personality will help us understand ourselves and our family members - thus promoting better relationships. I tend to have these little "accidents" because my personality is not so concerned with the details. That's why I married Sr. Smith ;o) He's probably the reason I went twelve years in between accidents, truth be told.

I Am, I Can, I Ought, I Will

2007-10-03T20:51:00.001-07:00

This is Charlotte Mason's Motto for Students, and tomorrow I am going to share it with the boys. Here is the rest:

I am . . . a child of God, a gift to my parents and my country. I'm a person of great value because God made me. (Eph 2:10)

I can . . . do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God has made me able to do everything required of me. (Phil 4:13)

I ought . . . to do my duty to obey God, to submit to my parents and everyone in authority over me, to be of service to others, and to keep myself healthy with proper food and rest so my body is ready to serve. (Mark 12:30-31)

I will . . . resolve to keep a watch over my thoughts and choose what's right even if it's not what I want. (Psalm 119:30-32)

Maybe we'll make a poster and put it on a wall somewhere so we can have it to ponder when we pass it... I just love the empowerment in those 8 words! Our circumstances or feelings do not have to control us - if somehow the younger soup ingredients can learn this earlier than their parents (who, by the way, are still learning...).

"Pecos Bill" - by Paco Zapato

2007-09-27T08:48:00.000-07:00

This is an oral narration by Paco, of a tall tale he is reading...

Pecos Bill was eating some deer. A pack of coyotes gave him the meat to be friendly. Bill got lost by falling out of his family's wagon. It was 4 weeks before his family knew he was gone because there were more than 12 kids in his family. He was a year old when he got lost. Then he lived with the coyotes.

Total Momsense

2007-09-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, Moms - you have to watch this video at the bottom of my page. Click on the 3rd one, the far right, as the other two are only partial recordings. You gotta watch the whole thing! Unfortunately I can only tag things from YouTube in groups - everything that has my search criteria comes up, so it is impossible to only show one video unless that video has a title that is different than all the others... Oh well! This is just a free, hodge podge kind of operation I'm running anyway ;o)

Okay, we found this the other day (Super Jirafa and I) and got a chuckle. Then he and Sr. Smith heard it on the radio - apparently Anita Renfroe is becoming quite popular! We watched it again this morning and as we were laughing at it I asked Super Jirfa if I sound like that. "No," he said, "That's what moms sound like whose kids go to public school." My mouth is hanging wide open because I think I sound JUST like this!! God's grace must be translating what comes out of my mouth before it hits my childrens' ears, because I feel like I bark orders at them night and day! I think this woman is hysterical, and I know I've heard many of those exact words out of my own mouth, my mother's mouth, and countless friends whose children are public schooled, homeschooled, or not even in school yet! We'll give Super Jirafa some grace to grow up and live a little... but I had to post what he said because it just cracked me up. It made me wonder how we've portrayed public school before him... but also eased my soul a little to know he isn't negatively affected by my sometimes negative comments ;o)

I also added a link to our favorite homeschooling resource, Ambleside Online. Super Jirafa is working really hard trying to finish Year 4 by February, so that he can start Year 5 & finish it before next fall. He really wants to start Junior High next year, so we're letting him. And Paco Zapato is in Year 3. Yesterday he had drawn the coolest ship with vikings on the dry erase board, but of course by the time I went to get my camera he had erased it and was drawing a steamboat... I'll try to get a picture posted if he'll leave anything alone long enough!

Well, off to get the school day started! Columbus and Franklin and DaVinci - Oh my!!

Eat at Chili's today!

2007-09-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

"100 % of the profits from Chili's today will benefit the Chili's St. Jude Research Hospital being opened in the next few months. This is such a worthwhile organization and one of the leading research hospitals for Children's Cancer. There is so little being done for Children's Cancer research that it is great when these opportunities come along!" quoted from my friend whose precious 4 year old son is battling cancer for the second time. Take a night off from your kitchen, and eat as healthy as you can from the Chili's menu ;o)

My thumb is thankful to be kept away from sharp utensils for the night - I'll write about that & give you all a chuckle (or the heebie jeebies) at my expense later. Suffice to say, all is well thanks to my wonderful nurse neighbor ;o)

Teachable Moments

2007-09-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

Well, my day started on the porch as all the best ones do, and I decided I needed to memorize a verse about fatigue just in case I get weary this week while Sr. Smith trots about the country doing something important for internet telephony. I wrote it down, read it several times, tried saying it from memory a couple times & got it. "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand" Isaiah 41:10. Then I heard the sound. It wasn't a crash. It wasn't a thud. It was the unmistakable sound of glass spreading about in a thousand directions across the tile floor in the kitchen. And I knew that inside that kitchen was Paco Zapato - sin zapatos nonetheless. I went in, and when I asked if he was okay, he started confessing immediately, "I was playing with my apple. I threw it up there and I almost caught it!" What the apple had landed in instead of Paco's hand was my 2 cup pyrex measuring cup, which was what I heard hit the floor. Sr. Smith came around the corner to check the scene, and I just smiled and quoted Isaiah 41:10. I put barefoot Paco on the stairs and started cleaning up.

Fast forward about 20 minutes. I still wasn't finished on the porch, but Super Jirafa and Hermosa were up and looking for adventure. So they came outside to walk around on the sidewalk. Poor Hermosa - she must have grown in the night, because she had no balance. I don't know exactly how many times she fell down, but she kept getting back up and out there. Until finally Tio brought her to me with a bloody lip and skinned knee. Bless her heart. Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to her "well" check in the morning! Isaiah 41:10...

The First Day of School...

2007-09-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

The first day of school was always something that gave me knots in my stomach, both as a student and as a teacher. But not once we started homeschooling four years ago. Being home with my kids during their school years was exactly what I never knew I always wanted. This year was different, though. I was more prepared by far this year - with a great schedule, a list of books I couldn't wait to dive into. And my kids were eyeing the books on the shelves like candy, "Please, can I just read a few pages?" Yet, I was also more anxious. Why? Maybe I'd put everything together so perfectly hoping for a perfect year, and didn't want to be dissappointed? I don't know. But as I sat on the front porch with my Bible, Señor Smith came out on his way to work. He sat down beside me for a moment, and I just started crying. I'm sure he felt full of confidence entrusting the soup ingredients to me and going out to earn our living at that point! But he actually did. And he gave me such encouragement. "You have been doing this for years. Yes, it is hard some days. Yes, we will have struggles. But we aren't doing this for each day to be perfect. There is a long term reward here, and look at how far we've come." I knew I married the right guy ;o) Well, off in Old Red (the truck we bought 12 years ago) he went. And I opened my Bible. Here is what I wrote that morning....

Jesus had a difficult task ahead (that puts it mildly - he was looking at death on a cross), so he prayed. He prayed and asked God to be glorified through him, among other things. He prayed for me, for all believers. Not that we would be taken out of this world, but that we would be protected from the evil one. I am so weary, and feel so anxious starting this school year today. It will be our fifth year - it isn't new to me. I opened my Bible thinking, "God, I bet you are going to speak to me today about my fears regarding school." I almost dared Him to try. And sure enough, I was on John chapter 17. So like you, God. Do I have a cross to bear? Nothing like Jesus' cross. Which gives me some perspective and does help. Do I have a difficult task that God has called me to? Absolutely. But Lord, please glorify yourself through it. I lay out my weak, sinful flesh, and give it to you as clay to mold. Give me a gentle answer when my children disobey or argue. Let our work together bring honor to you. Let me be a light before my children. To model your love and patience and mercy. Let me so show them your love that they see You in me. Love you, Lord.

My First Post!

2007-09-15T19:33:00.001-07:00

I'm a little nervous getting this blog started... so many friends have ventured to the cyber-blog world, and I agree with the one who noted it took awhile to share her blog address with others because as it turns out these things end up being so very personal!

So why am I blogging anyway? Well, for one my children are writing more and I wanted to give them a place to share their thoughts outside of our home. And also because I feel like I'm behind the times if I don't - hah! So who knows how much we'll use this, and if anyone will be interested besides the grandparents who want to keep up with us... but perhaps we can be a source of encouragement to others on this journey, as so many others have encouraged us.

I will start by explaining our blog title - La Sopa Smith in Spanish means "Smith Soup". We are a Christan, crunchy-conservative, vegetarian, working on becoming bilingual, homeschooling family, who likes to eat soup. Kind of simple, but if you think of all the different ways you can enjoy soup - all the recipes out there, and especially the ones you create as you go - "soup" is a great way to define us. None of us are biologically related as God has built our family first through marriage, then through adoption. We are all different, although there are lots of similarities between us. But our soup flavor wouldn't be the same without each one of us. It was like God started making this soup in His pot, and it didn't taste just right, so he added another ingredient. And another. And another! And just as a carrot does something wonderful for a soup, think of what would be missing if there was no onion? Or potato? And all the seasonings that go along with it - the life experiences and other family and friends who enrich our soup? So, there we are - Smith Soup. And in Spanish because our goal is to have the whole family speaking Spanish fluently!

Now... my next post will be what I wrote in my prayer/Bible study journal the morning we started school two weeks ago. Which is what propelled me to actually set up a blog in the first place.