Intentional Weekend: Nature Center

A visit to the Nature Center is always time well spent.

 

Checking out the snakes and chatting with the naturalist to see if he thinks the snake at Bull Run last spring was a Cottonmouth. (He doesn't, phew.)

 
 
 

Watching turtles and waving at fish.

 

Trusting that the glass is sound and secure.

 

Examining the garden and marveling at new growth.

 

And maybe the most fun of all: singing and dancing on the outdoor stage. We're looking forward to going back and being spectators when the Arts in the Parks take stage. See you there?

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual.  Photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Passing These Along: UPDATED and EXPANDED

All of these resources are ever so gently used. They are all hyperlinked below so that you can read more about them. We have finished with them and hope to pass them along to some who can benefit. Please add $3.00 shipping to each item.    If you want a bunch, email me and we'll work out fair shipping. Payments can be made via Paypal to 

elizabethfoss DOT reallearning AT gmail DOT com

Books will be sold on a first come, first served basis and will ship out on Mondays.  I'll update availability as items sell. If you want to think on it, you can come back and find this listing as a page under the tab "Passing These Along" above.

ADDITIONS

First Language Lessons For the Well-Trained Mind Level 4 Instructor Guide by Jessie Wise & Sarah Buffington $20+ shipping 

First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind Level 4 Workbook by Jessie Wise & Sarah Buffington $10+ shipping 

Alpha Phonics by Samuel L. Blumenfeld $10+ shipping

The Story of the World Activity Book Two: The Middle Ages  Susan Wise Bauer $20+ shipping 

Teaching Textbooks Math 7 CD-Rom Set (Still shrink-wrapped) $75+ shipping 

Teaching Textbooks Math 7 Workbook $50+ shipping 

Intermediate Language Lessons by Emma Serl $10+ shipping 

Lingua Mater Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serl $8.50+ shipping 

 Lingua Mater, Language Lessons from Literature an English Course for 7th Grade by Margot Davidson w/answer key and Teacher's Guide $35+ shipping

Highschool of Your Dreams by Nancy Nicholson $38+ shipping 

Our Island Story by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall $13+ shipping

Around the World in 180 Days: A Multi-Grade Guide for the Study of World History & Cultures Using the Notebook Approach to Study the Geography, History, Culture and Current Events of all Seven Continents by Sherrie Payne $15+ shipping 

Renaissance and Reformation by Christina Miller $19+ shipping (like new)

The Story of the Middle Ages by Christina Miller $19+ shipping (like new)

Tapestry of Grace

Year 2 Full Year. Unit 1 in a binder with tabs. All other tabs included. 3 Units of Pop Quiz CDs and cards for all the Pop Quizzes.  Price : $160.

Math:

The Book of Think by Marilyn Burns Price: $30.00 + shipping

About Teaching Mathematics by Marilyn Burns Price: 20.00+ shipping

A Collection of Math Lessons by Marilyn Burns Price: 12.00+ shipping

Writing in Math Class by Marilyn Burns Price: 13.00+ shipping

The Magic of Mathematics by Theoni Pappas Price: 5.00+ shipping

The Write Tool to Teach Algebra by Virginia Gray Price: 7.50+ shipping

Faith:

Woman of Grace by Michaelann Martin Price: 4.50+ shipping

Catholic Morality by Fr. John Laux Price: 7.50+ shipping

Chief Truths of the Faith by Fr. John Laux Price: 7.75+ shipping

Latin:

Prima Latina Instructional DVD Set by Leigh Lowe Price: 22.50+ shipping

Prima Latina Teacher Manual by Leigh Lowe Price: 7.00+ shipping

Learning Latin Through Mythology by Jayne I. Hanlin and Beverly E. Lichtenstein Price: 8.00+ shipping

Latina Christiana Introduction to Christian Latin Teacher Manual Book 1 by Cheryl Lowe Price: 10.00+ shipping

Latina Christiana Instructional DVD Set Book 1 by Leigh Lowe  Price 35.00 (Still shrink wrapped)+ shipping

Latina Christiana Teacher Manual Book 2 by Cheryl Lowe Price: 8.00+ shipping

Literature and Grammar:

Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian Price: 12.50+ shipping

Pagoo by Holling Clancy Holling Price: 4.50+ shipping

Good Music Brighter Children by Sharlene Habermeyer Price: 7.50+ shipping

Geography A Literature Approach by Rea C. Berg Price: 6.00+ shipping

Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling Clancy Holling Price: 5.00+ shipping

Caught ‘ya! by Jane Bell Kiester Price: 6.00+ shipping

The Chortling Bard by Jane Bell Kiester Price: 7.50+ shipping

Mother of Divine Grace:

MODG Natural History Syllabus using Fabre's Book of Insects Price: 10.00+ shipping

MODG Geography Syllabus using Ultimate Geography & Timeline Guide Price: 10.00+ shipping

MODG Concepts and Challenges in Science 1 Teacher’s Manual using Concepts and Challenges in Science 1

Price: 12.50+ shipping

MODG World Geography Syllabus using Ultimate Geography & Timeline Guide Price: 10.00+ shipping

MODG Biology Syllabus using All Creatures Great and Small Price: 10.60+ shipping

General Education:

Teaching the Trivium by Harvey & Laurie Bluedorn Price: 17.50+ shipping

Lesson Plan Guide Middle School Years 5th-8th Grade by CHC Price: 25.00+ shipping

The Gift of Dyslexia by Ronald D. Davis Price: 5.50+ shipping

The Gift of Learning by Ronald M Davis Price: 5.00+ shipping

What Your 1st Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr Price: 6.50 (Hardcover)+ shipping

What Your 2nd Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr Price: 6.50+ shipping

What Your 3rd Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr Price: 6.50+ shipping

What Your 4th Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr Price: 6.50+ shipping

What Your 5th Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr Price: 6.50+ shipping

What Your 6th Grader Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr Price: 6.50+ shipping

Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey Price: 7.50+ shipping

Catholic Geography Bee by Kerry and Nancy MacArthur Price: 5.00+ shipping

A Child’s History of the World by V.M. Hillyer Price: 10.00+ shipping

The Complete Home Learning Source Book by Rebecca Rupp Price: 15.00+ shipping

Autumn Nature Activities for Children by Irmgard Kutsch & Brigitte Walden Price: 11.00+ shipping

The Heart of Anger by Lou Pridolo Price: 7.75+ shipping

Family:

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff with Your Family by Richard Carlson Price: 5.00+ shipping

Neat Mom, Messie Kids by Sandra Felton Price: 3.00+ shipping

Kid Cooperation by Elizabeth Pantley Price: 6.00+ shipping

Real Food by Nina Planck Price: 5.00+ shipping

Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck Price: 5.50+ shipping

The 7 O’Clock Bedtime by Inda Schaenen Price: 6.75+ shipping

Family Matters by David Guterson Price: 5.50+ shipping

Critical Thinking:

Developing Critical Thinking Through Science Book Two by Paul Eggen and June Main Price: 10.00+ shipping

Book One Critical Thinking by Anita Harnadek Price: 8.00+ shipping

The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Let's Begin to Cultivate them Now

{The first post in a books study series on The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming our Passion, Purpose, and Sanity.}

I've been reading parenting books for 23 years (more if you count the ones I read in college). It's pretty rare for a book to come along that offers anything new and transformative these days. The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming our Passion, Purpose, and Sanity is transformative. I firmly believe that. Dr. Meg Meeker makes a pretty bold promise at the book's beginning:

If every mother in the United States could wrap her mind around her true value as a woman and mother, her life would never be the same. We would wake up every morning excited for the day rather than feeling as though we'd been hit by a truck during the night. We would talk differently to our kids, fret less about our husbands' annoying habits, and speak with greter tenderness and clarity. We would find more contentment in our relationships, let mean remarks roll off our backs, and leave work feeling confident in the job we perfermed. And best of all--we wouldn't obsess about our weight (can you imagine?), physical fitness, or what kind of home we live in. We would live a life free from superficial needs because we would know deep in our hearts what we need and,  more importantly, what we don't need. Each of us would live a life of extraordinary freedom.

And peace. These are 10 habits towards peace deep within ourselves, the kind of peace that radiates into every sphere of our lives, that spills out into the ordinary everyday and colors our world a beautiful hue.

Sound good?

Dr. Meeker implores women to wrap their brains around the fact that they have enormous value.  She writes about the higher calling to which women are called and muses that she doesn't think most women have a sense of this greater purpose. In Christian terms, she is referring to vocation--the reality that God created us for a specific purpose and that living according to that purpose and embracing that mission is why we are here. That's pretty heady stuff. Many of the moms I know have a pretty good grip on the theology of vocation. But they get tripped up in the humility department.

Humility is not self-effacement. Indeed, if we embrace the very real truth that we are created by our Lord in His image, we are humble and confident. Dr. Meeker uses an extraordinary example to point out just how readily women are able to see the good and accept with love the faults in other people, but cannot extend that same grace to themselves. She writes that "we are supercritical of ourselves because we heap unreasonable expectations on ourselves...No matter how well we do in one area, we always feel that we're falling short in another. [And] we continually look to the wrong places to feel valuable. We look at how well we perform at various functions rather than accepting that we are valuable simply because we are our kids' moms and we are loved and needed because of that."

How do you judge yourself? How do you determine your worth?What is the yardstick against which you measure yourself? Do you ever feel like you measure up?

I think that in the community of mothers who are primarily committed to being mothers at home and often, to home education, we can lose sight of the fact that "in addition to fulfilling our purpose as good moms, we were born to do more, in time. ....we have lost this sense of being because we are afraid (my emphasis) of what lies beneath the superficial in us. If we set aside the energy we put into fitness, dieting,[creating the perfect homeschool?], trying to be a better mom tha the next mom, what is left? we wonder. What we find below the dieting, working, running around in the car, and exercising is a deepness that has been undiscovered." To that, I would definitely add that we can bury our authentic selves for a very long time if we are mothering a large family. We can throw ourselves into our work--far more work than a mother of two can begin to imagine--and we can tell ourselves for years and years that we are dying to self in service to our families. There is, however, a real possibility that we are not dying to self at all. Instead, we are failing to look self in the eye and get to know her. We are running from her in the running we do all day (and night). One day, maybe far into the future, we will still be moms, but we will not have the intensity of day-to-day child care and nurturing that we do now. We will be called to utilize our gifts in other ways. Will we be such strangers to ourselves and our talents that we cannot even recognize what it is He wants us to use?

Are we afraid? If we believe that we are created in God's very image, why are we afraid? Why do we keep so busy that we don't allow ourselves time to catch up with ourselves? Is it possible that there are talents yet discovered, plans He has for us that we are ignoring because we won't still ourselves long enough to have a frank conversation with our Maker about why He made us?

Dr. Meeker is not by any means saying that we shouldn't throw ourselves wholeheartedly into mothering. Indeed, the example of Julianne illustrates contentment in a role that is primarily and perhaps solely that of wife and mother. Of Julianne, she writes, "When a mother really understand her value, she has more self-confidence. She sets boundaries with her kids, her husband and herself and this makes life more palatable. She is less anxious and feels less inclined to compete with other women, because beneathe everything she likes who she is."

Competition is a running thread throughout the book. I think Dr. Meeker really nails the biggest detriment to genuine friendships and to to genuine contentment within when she looks competition squarely in the eye and calls it out for what it is. It's a cancer.

Enough words for today. We're only on page 15:-). Please do join me in reading and thinking. Please offer your perspective and bless us all with your voice.

Feel free to chat below (comments are moderated, so it might take some time before you see yours appear), either adding your thoughts her directly or linking to a post on your own blog.  Now it's time for me to go about the rest of my day, peaceful in the knowledge that God created me for these children and this good man. And that's enough. Really.

Yarn Along: Distracted and Determined at Once

Hi there! Happy summer afternoon! My knitting has slowed a bit this week. I spent some time away and accidentally left my knitting at home. We went to visit my dad and stepmom. Fortunately, I had sent her some new Dishie yarn from Knitpicks and some Harmony Needles in hopes of finding a few free moments to teach her to knit. We didn't really get that sit and stitch time, but when my fingers started itching from withdrawal, I couldn't resist casting on a dishcloth and knitting a bit to get her going. I really liked that yarn for kitchen and bath items. Definitely going to order more as soon as some of the other colors are back in stock.

When I got home, I was just a little distracted by this lovely stack of Anna Maria Horner flannel and some more puttering about in the office studio.Yes, my friends, it was 96 degrees outside and we had no air conditioning (again) inside, and I was in a hot southern-facing room, dreaming of winter pjs. The reading? Stitch by Stitch, Learning to Sew One Project at a Time. I'm reading this. All of it. It's an excellent primer for the beginning sewist (sewer?-I hear there's some sort of debate out there). I intend to force myself to read all of it and work through the book in order.

Eventually, however, I did pick up the knitting again. I sat and knitted a few rounds in bed at night, and in the mornings, I knit while I listened to the end of  The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers: Reclaiming our Passion, Purpose, and Sanity.   {What a great book! I was sorry to hear it end. I've actually begun to listen to it again and I plan to launch a book study here tomorrow. } And then I knit while I watched the Women's World Cup this afternoon, getting past the sleeve divide of the Girl's Cap Sleeved Shirt.. I'd like to finish this one this weekend. We'll see. {Oh, and, several of you have written to tell me that you can no longer find the pattern for sale. Me neither. Perhaps she's tweaking the numbers a bit?}

Hope this midsummer day finds you happily creating in your own neck of the woods.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Go visit Ginny for more knitting and reading tales. I've settled into a Wednesday afternoon tradition: a big cup of tea and enough time to myself to click through a big bunch of the links at Ginny's. I am enriched by the yarns shared there.