Tryst Journal & Other Journals

I first heard the idea of a Garden Tryst from Marcia of TOG. I'd insert a link but they aren't working for me today. Marcia is not the first to have talked about having a personal quiet time with the Lord each day....I just loved the whole concept of a "garden tryst". Actually I'm doing a few word studies and spring boarding for a talk at a tea......but I digress.

Lampstand Press (again link won't work) sells forms that Marcia has developed. I thought of buying them but....I have THIS.....originally I called it a prayer journal; but it's really so much more than that.

I realized that while my prayer journal uses different titles it still does have sections for ACT (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving). It also has sections for prayers, sermon notes, reminders, Bible reading notes, Proverb's notes....and it is very versatile....I can just add another sheet of notepaper if I use up a form, and I don't have to print anything. I'm a chart-a-holic so I may yet order the garden tryst forms....but for now this little journal is working well for me....and I've taken to calling it my tryst journal.

One Sunday I left my previous journal at chapel. I quickly realized that I don't really want all my thoughts in a notebook that is carried everywhere. ::snort:: This little Tryst Journal/Prayer Journal has all the portable info in one spot and leaves my most private thoughts at home.

Previously, I had a journal that had EVERYTHING in it, in no orderly fashion. It housed my personal thoughts, whatever I'd been reading in the Bible, prayers, sermon notes, food journal, to do lists....all jumbled together in a bound journal. It wasn't very practical , but I do sort of miss the creative chaos. I'm still working to find a system that works well for me.

I've always wanted to journal but never pulled it off until I began blogging a few years ago. That seemed to develop the habit needed. Now I have multiple journals.

Blog - daily life, a bit of everything, homeschooling, studies etc

Tryst Notebook - all I mentioned above

These two - One for my personal thoughts that I don't want to blog or put in the Tryst notebook and one for my notes on the illusive Princess Study

I also have my "LIFE Notebook" which has sections for each co-op I run, all the directories I collect, a food journal, an exercise journal, a calendar (which I rarely look at), a section for local ads, a pocket folder with address labels and stamps and a section for a printed address book but I keep losing my computer address book before I figure out how to print it from Outlook...a bit of everything.

I don't know if I like this system. I miss being able to thumb through my "journal" and find it all....but I suppose that is the problem....it WAS hard to FIND IT ALL without any organization but date. What do you all do for journaling?

As an aside Trish created and sent my Tryst Journal to me. She has detailed instructions here on how to make your own and if you are intersted in her making one for you, you can drop her an email from her blog.

For more of my WFMW posts click here . To view hundreds of this week's tips from others go here. I'm posting this late in the day. I decided to go for "last" instead of "first" link. ::snort::

Interview on HSBA -

I published an interview today on Dana Hanley of Principled Discovery over at Homeschool Blog Awards. Thanks to Dawn for helping with the photos - I don't think I'll ever fully be comfortable with Word Press. LOL

Homeschool Senior 08 Giveaway


Amanda (Super Angel) from The Daily Planet and The Homeschool Class of 2008 blog is hosting a giveaway of 5 very cool Senior 08 t-shirts from the Homeschool Boutique. Amanda is also a contributor on the Homeschool Blog Award blog.





Go here to read about the contest and see photos of the t-shirts.

Staging a Sit In at Walmart

That's the best title for the day? I got up and had my garden tryst, headed to the gym and spent the entire rest of the day getting things ready for the PWOC Planning Meeting. I am NOT a procrastinator but the weeks have been too busy. I made handouts, printed, printed and printed. I went shopping. I made up notebooks. I don't know what else I did. All PWOC - all the time. ::snort::

I took Arielle and Stacia with me to Office Depot and Walmart. In Walmart Stacia wanted to try on make up. WHAT? I told her to come with me....she stalked ahead, plopped herself on the ground, crossed her arms, and gave me her pouty look. I realized this was HER twist on the 2 year old temper tantrum. I mean really....she is nearly 3. It still surprised me.

I laughed and started looking for my camera. It wasn't in my purse.

Meanwhile, someone headed towards her with a cart. She was in the middle of the aisle. She picked herself up, stalked a few feet away and replayed the scene. She did this several times.

Yes, I told her this was ugly.

Secretly, I think I like this quiet sit in tantrum better than the out and out meltdowns I've had to endure with other children over the year. Only those nearby saw (and they laughed too) as opposed to years past where all in the store (and some in the parking lot) knew a child was tantruming....and then they don't smile.

The meeting went well. Much was accomplished. We have a great team working together this year.

This really is ALL I did today...and I was literally running to get done by 4:00 p.m. so I could go set up. My email folders are exploding. Mike is studying for ACSC...so I'll go deal with those next.

Nolan's GRAND Achievement

Nolan is 9 years old. He has spent the past S*I*X years in speech therapy. The first three years it was 3x a week, the 3rd-5th year it was 2x a week, this year it's been once a week.

His therapist has said that he has all the sounds now, except for "R". We'll work on that. He still has some processing issues....but we can work on that as well. This is a huge step for us. SIX years is a long time to have speech. I'm relieved to be able to school without the pressure of breaking to run to appointments.....I'm excited that he can usually be understood these days. It's all good.

EXCEPT - Nolan has always gotten very attached to his therapists. It was hard to say goodbye in Alaska and move here. It was hard to say goodbye today to Miss Natalie. She is moving to San Antonio so I explained that he wouldn't see her even if we DID go to therapy next year. LOL

He wanted to get Miss Natalie a gift. I had several choices for him. He said, "I'd like to do flowers and chocolate". FLOWERS AND CHOCOLATE. I was rather proud at having raised such a thoughtful and insightful young man.

He didn't really love any of the ones that the florist had made up. He told them he thought Miss Natalie would like sunflowers and daisies. What a sweetheart. They made up this and he agreed that they were perfect.

We didn't get the chocolates. We delivered the card and flowers....and everyone ooed and ahed over the sweet boy.

On the way out I told Nolan, "Wow, I've taught you how to treat women WELL. You did that just right."

He replied, "Actually, Mom, I've been watching what Dad gives you all the time and flowers and chocolate are what you like."

Score - Mike was gloating over this one. He deserves to gloat. His young son has learned how to treat a special woman in his life. Way to go Mike and Nolan.

When we got home the other kids had decorated the house with signs and streamers...and a giant blanket fort that they will sleep in tonight.

When Nolan walked in they all yelled SURPRISE!

Great kids one and all! I love the care they have for each other. We weren't able to use the celebrate plate or do a special dinner as I was out tonight...and will be tomorrow...but WEDNESDAY we'll celebrate.

They're all out and about watching the Spurs game tonight....I think I'll give up on crunching numbers and sleep on it.

MONDAY

I worked out - that was "good".

We did not do school - that was not good.

I took Nolan to speech.

I visited with a friend who stopped by.

I visited with a friend on the phone.

I raced to Mom's Night Out - last one of the year. We spent our time together sharing things we were thankful for this year. It was great. Encouraging. Meaningful.

I spent most of my day crunching numbers for a PWOC budget, checking out costs online, well....doing PWOC stuff both local and regional. Tomorrow night is our PWOC planning meeting - to plan the upcoming year....and then things are shutting down for the summer and we'll be able to get some quality school done! Yippee!

Weekly Fitness Goals (click button for more info)

Weekly Goal - 240 Minutes (40 minutes most days)
Total Weekly Minutes - 360 minutes
Annual Goal - 11,700 minutes
Minutes to Date - 4, 812 minutes

Weeeellllllllll, it happened again. Someone excitedly congratulated me on my new pregnancy. I am not pregnant. I have a churlish, hypothyroid, middle-aged body that is fluffy!!!!!! ::snort:: I guess I simply have to continue food journaling, the workouts the trainer mapped out, and add more ab work......I AM getting stronger. Why did the weight melt off at 2 lbs a week last year and refuse to budge this year?

I feel good about getting the whole weight thing in 3x this week. I feel good about maintaining 40 - 60 min of cardio while adding the weights. I feel good about spreading the time out over 5 days (which barely meets the most days of the week goal). ::snort::

I don't feel so good about the stubborn scale or the excited folks commenting on my false pregnancies.


Monday - 65 Minutes (45 minbike, 20 min lower body weights)

Tuesday - 85 Minutes (40 min ARC, 25 min bike, 20 min upper body weights)

Wed - 40 Minutes (35 min elliptical, 5 min abs & obliques)

Thursday - 80 minutes (40 min ARC, 40 min weights - all)

Saturday - 90 minutes (30 min ARC, 20 min bike, 40 min weights - all)

To read accounts from more participants - click here. To join us, click the icon above.....

Promotion Sunday

The day began with a promotion party for our Protestant RE department. This is the last Sunday until fall that we'll have Sunday School. I know that seems strange to civilians. It was strange to me when we entered the Air Force too. Now I get it. We have huge sections of our parish leave every summer. Most of us are in new areas and so want to explore our new area and visit family during the summer. It makes sense to ease the load for volunteers, to adapt to the lower numbers and shifting population in the summer by having most programs take a break. We continue PWOC by having a few outings and Project Nights....but our Bible Study is on hold until September.

All that to say that TODAY was the last Sunday School of the year. Mike had planned a fun time for all. I have great photos - but I only have permission from Steve and Debbie to use their children's photos. (BTW I appreciate my friends who allow me to exploit them on my blog - Deja and Debbie who have said I can use their children's photos - makes the blog a bit less ego-centric; though I totally understand those who do not want their images on line). ::snort::

Here are a few photos of our children and Steve and Debbie's. That's Steve with the hoola hoop. The balloons are always a hit.




After this we came home, had a bit of time to talk, then Mike and I headed back for the Gospel Service. We had 2 hours between services and so I holed up in an office with my laptop and worked on PWOC stuff. I worked on a proposed budget, pulled together inputs and compiles a proposed calendar, typed up a few "recent events" for use on the national website, and began to try to figure out how many $ a few events are going to cost to take ladies to. It was productive.

Josiah brought all the kids in for the Contemporary Service. I got to run the laptop for the worship slides. I think I learned a new useful trick. ::snort:: The service went well. It is the coolest thing to see God move. Dare I say the "r" word? Yes, pray for our student service. We are seeing the stirrings of revival and it is exciting. Some of these students will be here 3 months, be assigned to a post and sent overseas. We so want them to know Jesus. Many responded tonight to the message. Seriously, we covet your prayers for this service. The worship leader resigned as of tonight. The service time is changing...and yet God is on the move....and we desire to see lives transformed during their time at this "training base".

Mike, Jared, Jamin, Arille and Nolan are at the movie theater again. I guess Mike didn't think it was a terrible movie afterall.

Tim Hawkins Clip Disclaimer

I changed the clip - I think I'll do that weekly for a bit of time. The thing is Tim does parodies and in context of the whole DVD - it flows. Taken individually I think it could be offensive.

I chose this one and am not sure I care for the first bit....but if you grab the ff button and slide it about 1/2 way you get the "prayer for nourishment" and this one cracks us up and has become a family standby. At various inoportune moments I will belt out "Spirit of Low Carb Rain DOWN ON ME NOW!" A mom should be allowed to embarass young adults from time to time.

After watching this I told the family that the next time I was asked to pray at a chapel food function......I was going to launch into this. Sure enough - I was asked to pray for PWOC dinner before our project night. I shocked them all by praying and then going into prayers for nourishment, changing molecular structure, spirit of low carb. I thought it was hilarious - they were taken aback. I've been trying to find the clip to share since then....so they can see the whole thing. GAFB PWOC members - ff about 1/2 way and enjoy the real thing. ::snort::

Unfortunately, it's tacked on to the end of this one...but there you go.

Military Appreciation Day

What a hoot! Our town has been getting better and better at throwing these shindigs. It was out at the lake. They had all sorts of things to do.....rock walls, bouncy things, pony rides, playgrounds, free food everywhere.....

The weather was great for this. IT WAS OVERCAST! YES! In previous years it has been so hot that it was hard to enjoy oneself. ::snort::

I didn't get a lot of photos....but Mike snapped these. We did more than horses...but the horses were a hit!

Stacia actually went first. She was a bit unsure when I had to lift her so HIGH....see the tongue sticking out as she settles in?

The day began early with me taking Jamin to his ACT test. I headed to the gym and opened the place for the day. LOL While there I finally saw someone I KNOW - but then I called her Sandy instead of Yvonne (which is her name). I'm so BAD with names. Decriptude.

Mike had to go into the office and work on "thangs". He came home and we headed to the picnic.

Josiah and Jamin were both working. NEWSFLASH - Chick Fil A is changing their menu on Monday. It sounds like some nice new options coming - like my FAVORITE - a CHICKEN SALAD SANDWHICH on the menu. They always make it for me but now it will be on the menu - and they are getting some whole wheat/multigrain bread for it. Yum. I'm hoping they keep the Southwestern salad.

Jared was able to touch base with several friends today. It was a good day for all. Mike headed back to the office at about 3:00 and just got home......gotta go.

Restructuring Produce Co-op

Today was our first day of produce co-op with the new pricing. It went well. We had lots of new members....and lots of new things for the children and I to consider when sorting. We ended up not having enough of the single shares set aside.....but I had ordered 4 shares so went down to 3. A lot of new variables to learn. LOL

Here is a $15 share from today

Here is a $28 share from today

I've realized a few things. I have to get enough for the single shares, but not too much for the double shares..... 2 pineapples every week or 2 bunches of celery every week won't go well for our doubles - those will be every other week.....2 heads of lettuce on the other hand is fine with our doubles so we can get those weekly.....and other cases we've been avoiding because of the large shares may now be options (tomatoes, cucumbers)....because there are more folks getting little amounts....but that means the case would be split more ways and more manageable.....

Anyway - that's what I did today. ::Snort:: The broccoli we were given was awful. I took it back and asked for our fresh box off the truck. They gave me a case of strawberries because they gave us the wrong box....that works for me. ::snort:: It wasn't enough to split with co-op and since it was free and not paid for by co-op $, and since I don't get paid for my gas, I kept it. Yeah - more smoothie fruit in the freezer. LOL

Popcorn, M&M's, Movies.....

They just go together. This is what we've been doing the last bit of time.

Mike and the 3 older young men (19, 17, 14) went at mid-night to see.....

Yep, Prince Caspian. We are HUGE C.S. Lewis fans. Yes, I'm aware of the controversy about CS Lewis in homeschooling/Christian circles. It's fine if you've decided not to read him - we do. LOL Mike has read the entire Chronicles to the children at least nine times in the past 23 years. AND he and I read them aloud together before we had children. Our children have been counting down to Prince Caspian and really wanted to go the first showing.

We compromised. We thought Arielle and Nolan would fall asleep if they tried to watch it that early. I took the two of them this afternoon.

I found it funny that the girls tried to call and text message while we were watching it. I bet they wanted to tell us they'd seen it already. ::snort::

Focus on the Family, via Plugged in Online gave Prince Caspian a rather bleak review. World Magazine arrived today and has several articles on Prince Caspian. The danger in analyzing a movie is that you can lose the charm of the movie...take the "fun out of it" - but we are sure to be analyzing this one for days to come in our home.

Warning - there may be spoilers below this point - do not read further if that will irritate you!

Reviews are mixed in our household. The boys and Mike told me that it "didn't stick to the book as nearly as the first movie," and yet Jamin and Jared pointed out that the "Christian message comes through strongly." I agree.

Mike had seen this before I took Arielle (nearly 11) and Nolan (9). He thought it would be o.k. for them BECAUSE they KNOW the series. The battles were not a shock to them. They knew where the hag and wer-wolf would show up etc. We did not take Zander (6). Arielle and Nolan were so looking forward to it - that we went. I'm glad we did.

I'd love to discuss this with a die hard Narnia fan - and probably will tonight - but for now....

The film doesn't stick close to the book. Part of this had to have been the difficulty in the plot line from the book.......50 pages of info from Trumpkin about a child they've never met. SO....the film writers compressed mightily and in so doing didn't develop the characters and their relationships as well as they are in the book.

Two characters are changed - drastically. Mike picked up on Peter. Peter was always noble in the books. He wrestles with pride in this film. He enters the movie in a street brawl. Mike likes Lewis' notion better. HOWEVER - the struggle between pride/humility is one that Christians will relate to. I loved Lucy's line "Peter, remember who really won the battle against the White Witch" or something similar.

Susan changed. Mike didn't mention this one but I picked up on it. I like Susan in this movie. There is the hint of romance that culminates in a kiss....so that's an obvious departure. However, what really is different is her character. She was "Susan the Gentle" and in the film she's a warrior princess. When she was given her bow in the books she is told not to use them in combat and that war is an ugly thing when "women are involved". In the film she's "flinging them arrows left and right" and commanding Narnian archers in battle. Jamin said, "They turned Susan into an action figure" and after viewing the movie, I know what he means. LOL I liked her - but it is a rather big change.

Prince Caspian seemed to be younger in the book than in the film...but this is probably up to personal interpretation.

Reepicheep - we all loved him and his band of mice. One of the funniest scenes was where he and his mice restrained the cat.

Battles that were only contemplated in the book are major components in the film. Peter never stormed Miraz' castle in the book. But in the film the heavy losses he suffers in this battle are the cost of his pride and not waiting for Aslan (another huge Christian message there for me). There are new figures in the film - winged animals (girffins), old figures that died and never came back in the books show up in this film, but the message is intact.

I'd never made the connection between Caspian being offered the kingdom if he'd surrender to dark magic and Jesus' temptation. I wanted to scream at Lucy "follow HIM - who cares whether they see Him?" Other Aslan messages: "Aslan doesn't always do things the same way", "it's better to wait for Aslan than to step ahead of him"...I'm sure there are more.

Yes, I enjoyed the film. The children loved the film. The young men are loving the discussions about the themes and differences from book to film. Mike said he thought he would have enjoyed the film more if he hadn't been so familiar with the books.

About the violence - there ARE a lot of battle scenes. We've just been studying ancient warfare in school and so we found it interesting to see how closely the movie reflected ancient Greek weapons and battle formations. I hadn't noticed most the gore until reading pluggedin online....I don't think my little ones noticed many of the details mentioned in the review. There is NOT a lot of blood, gore, guts hanging out type thing...but you do see menataurs fall to their death, soldiers struck down, blood on faces and hands from time to time etc. I wouldn't take a young child to see the movie. If Nolan wasn't so familiar with the story I may not have taken a 9 year old. Arielle - 11 had no trouble with it. For comparison purposes it is WAY LESS graphic violence than say Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. I actually think PG is a good rating for this movie. Parental Guidance - good for parents to see it and then make a judgment concerning their individual children. PG 13 to me says "probably not good to see it unless you are an adult and by then who wants to waste their money". ::snort::

The film writers and some critics say that the first movie "stuck to the books" but that made it "stiff" and "formal" and "lifeless". They insist that they stay with Lewis' themes in PC and that the details of the story line aren't what's important. What do other Narnian fans think? I liked this movie. I liked the books. I'm not sure if I buy the "lifeless" line.....the first movie didn't strike me as lifeless. Mike mentioned, and I agree, that they may continue to veer away from the books even further in future movies. That would be sad. What we LOVED about The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe from 2005 is that it DID mirror the book. Though as Jamin points out - writers have to get their own "creative juices" going or they have no passion.

This is a movie that left me with much to think about, besides comparing it to the book. ::snort:: I love what they've done with Aslan. The scenery and photography in this movie is breathtaking. There is much to like about this movie. As always, our final conclusion remains: read the books first! LOL

NIGHTMARE IN TX>

I woke up this a.m. and my desktop is gone. What happened to my laptop in the middle of the night? I don't appear to have Windows. I can't access my files. I can't download photos to my laptop. Outlook is gone. It's all gone.....

Yesterday, my computer shut off and when it came back up there was a message that "windows" had updated the computer and I now had new files. I noted that I was having trouble with Windows. But NOW I have nothing. I sure hpe this is an easy fix. I am so TIRED of loosing my address books, photos, files.....

Even blogger is funky. No photos. No "Edit/Compose" feature in the blog post template.....

Are You My Sister?

Stacia is working hard to understand all the relationships that swirl around her.

In her earliest memories Cy was "alpha male". In the past few weeks she's been nearly obsessed with classifying all of us. "Are you my brother?" "Is he my Daddy?" "Jared's my brother."

She seems to have noticed that I talk on the cell phone to Bre and Krista.....and that I say, "I love you" on the cell phone. Last week, when I hung up from talking to Krista she said, "Does she luf (love) you? Does she luf ME? Is she my sister?" NOW whenever I get a phone call I'm asked "do they Lof me?"

Her most consistent question when she gets the cell phone is, "Are you my sister?" It seems to boggle her mind that these two big girls are her sisters too.

On Mother's Day she got to talk to sisters. Here she is on the phone with Bre.

Caught saying I LUF you!

Bre reports that her phone died and we have no idea how long Stacia talked to dead air.....but she seems perplexed here so this may have been the start of dead air. LOL

Yes, it really is 4 a.m. - Stacia is wide awake - and we don't know why.