Taming the Homeschool Overload – free today

Posted on July 30, 2009 by Kim Halloran-Fry

I didn't plan to post again today since we are in home improvement overdrive. However when I saw the Homeschool Freebie of the Day was titled Taming the Homeschool Information Overload I stopped to read, since this is a topic near and dear to my heart. After offering audible cheers to the screen I thought I would link here in case anyone missed it. This is a must read for homeschoolers.

In this day and age we are bombarded with resources vying for our wallets and attention. For many of us it is easy enough to resist the pricey items. It is far more challenging to pass up FREE however. This article reminds us of the very real cost of FREE however in terms of time, distraction, and disorganization. They warn,

"You see, there IS a very real price for the multitude of "free" homeschool

resources you can find on the internet. It is the cost of your time, mental energy and

focus. YOU ARE PAYING MORE DEARLY FOR THAT RESOURCE THAN YOU REALIZE. "

It is tempting to amass materials and methodology information but far more challenging to really incorporate them. In fact if you look critically you may well discover there is no possible way to incorporate all you have amassed in a coherent manner. For that reason they advise,

"Don't be caught in an “Information Hoarding” mentality

Information Overload can sometimes be a sign of laziness. Lots of us tend to be

information custodians instead of users. It is a lot easier to just sit down and keep

feeding yourself information without thinking of how to implement it.

If you sense you are just spending your time accumulating but not applying, give

yourself permission to let things pass you by. "

The other especially important advice,

"Stay Away From “Pretty, Shiny Things” that sidetrack you from your current

homeschool plans.

If you take the time to develop a “game plan” for your homeschool year,

and can stick to your plan and avoid the “pretty shiny objects” that are constantly

coming at you, you’ll get further along than you ever thought possible. "

When you have made a plan, selected time-tested ideas and materials, then just run with it. There are new things available every day. As Jessica Hulcy once said,

"If there are creative ideas, they will be replaced. If there are great curricula, they will be superseded. If there are effective techniques, they will be improved."

That is no reflection on what you own and use today because in the end methods and materials are simply tools which will be more or less effective in your hands based on your focus and your attitude. Therefore,

"Focus on your plan, buy only those products which help you do it better, faster,

cheaper, or easier and you’ll prevent information overload."

Stay the course, keep it simple, start with the core work, and then do no more than you can do with great tenderness. As to all the wonderful things you may be missing? Let them go. Put on your blinders, smile at those beautiful children in front of you and marvel at a freshly wiped table and dishes drying on the rack. Leave the resources on the computer, walk away from the catalogs, and get outside for some real life. It passes by faster than you can know.

treadle adventures

Posted on July 30, 2009 by Kim Halloran-Fry

This is the summer of 'give it a try' to be sure. I have had more than a few crazy ideas and most of them have been successful. We have done a good amount of sewing and altering and were just about finished with a skirt for Moira when my Brother sewing machine got stuck in reverse. Sorta. The stitches are trying to go one way and the feed is going the other way and oh, it's just bad. What is worse is that it was a cheapie machine – less than a hundred dollars. The local sewing machine repair places start their tune up and repairs at $30. Hardly worth even fixing it when a cheapie replacement is $79.

I was very motivated to finish that skirt however. Wracking my brain, it occurred to me to look at the sewing machine I had brought home a couple years ago. It was a vintage treadle Kenmore model that I was told was functional. It came housed in a lovely wood cabinet which was doing a tour of duty in my living room under a very nice vintage lamp. <g>

We began to clear off the table and set up the machine and sure enough, it worked! Only catch was that it wasn't threaded. Surfing some time netted directions that went something like, "Pull the thread through the top thing, then bring it down around the circle part and up through the part that goes up and down…" I kid you not. Undaunted and armed with that info I proceeded to wind thread up and over and around the parts 'til something sewed.

Once we got off and running I was amazed. The quality of this machine, all steel and cast iron, far surpasses the plastic disaster running backwards in the craft room. As the owner of Sew Vintage explains, this is because,

"These machines were built to last not years, not decades, but generations. A quality, vintage machine is an heirloom piece to be enjoyed and used well after that new, computerized machine and it’s technology has become outdated and obsolete. You can realistically expect a new machine to provide about 10 to 25 years of service under normal conditions, but when it has died and gone to the landfill, the quality vintage machine will still be sewing along."

I hope so! I figure it's a good sign that it is still running, considering it has lived through eras where home sewing was a daily reality, not a trendy hobby. I can see how much easier it must have been to learn to sew on such a machine. The treadle mechanism gives far greater control over stitch speed than the foot pedal of my newer model – a big perk for budding seamstresses. You can sew at a snail's pace with a treadle if need be but it is capable of humming right along as well.

We finished our project but we are stuck for now until I can locate more bobbins and figure out how to load them. (Unless we only sew things that require black thread.) It is a thoroughly delightful rabbit trail.

Cathedral Peak pt 2

Posted on July 28, 2009 by Kim Halloran-Fry

If we have any more fun I may never have time to blog. <g> I will be back to update on all that has happened around the ranch (promises promises) but I wanted to finish up the trip pics at least before it's time to upload the new ones Allen and the boys are taking at church camp!

The new keltie backback (thank you Barb!) is working well. We tried it out on our second trip out to Cathedral Peak and it was a great improvement. We explored by foot with the babies one warm evening while the babysitters got to venture out for a bit.

All too soon it was time to pack out and head for home. We stopped for lunch at Monarch Pass this time just as a hailstorm hit. Within minutes there was over an inch of hail covering the ground.

We were all shocked for a bit and ventured out in disbelief. The ski runs looked more like they do in March!

We reached the basin early afternoon when the light does not do it justice. It is far more dramatic earlier and later in the day. Unfortunately the very best views are further down the road however it is unwise to stop in the middle of a road with no shoulder to attempt to capture them!

I wanted at least to get a shot of the highway winding around below and beyond us, the road that lead down the mountain and home. I stood there thinking of Woody Guthrie….

"As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway...

I saw below me a golden valley

This land was made for you and me."

It is a sin only as……

Posted on July 24, 2009 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Discussing tone of voice strikes a chord, sometimes a painful one, in many women earnestly trying to bless their families. I wanted to add some thoughts to those I posted the other day since so many women seemed saddened. Most of those who are wounded by falling short of their ideal in this area would might wish to consider this passage,

"'I want you to make a distinction for yourself, which I make for you, between mere ill-temper and the irritability that is the result of a goaded state of the nerves. Until you do that, nothing can be done to relieve you from what I am sure distresses and grieves you exceedingly. Now I suppose that whenever you speak to me or the children in this irritated way, you lose your own self-respect for the time, at least, and feel degraded in the sight of God also.'

'Oh Ernest! There are no words in any language that mean enough to express the anguish I feel when I speak quick impatient words to you, the one human being in the universe whom I love with all my heart and soul, and to the darling little children who are almost as dear! I pray and mourn over it day and night. God only knows how I hate myself on account of this one horrible sin!'

'It is a sin only as you deliberately and willfully fulfill the conditions that lead to such results. Now I am sure if you could once make up your mind in the fear of God never to undertake more work of any sort than you can carry on calmly, quietly, without hurry or flurry, and the instant you find yourself growing nervous and like one out of breath would stop and take breath, you would find this simple commonsense rule doing for you what no prayers or tears could ever accomplish. Will you try that for one month darling?'" - Stepping Heavenward

St John of the Cross gives similar counsel,

"Let then the first precaution be that, without the command of obedience, you never take upon yourself any work – apart from the obligations of your state – however good and full of character it may seem, whether for yourself or for anyone else inside or outside the house.

If you do not observe this precaution in little things as well as big, you will be unable to avoid the devil's deceiving you to a small or great degree. no matter how right you think you are."

No matter how right you think you are.

Many of us make life much harder than it needs to be. We are over-scheduled, overtired, and irritable as a result. Problem is most folks who are those things will quickly add that there is absolutely nothing that could be done to change the situation. That is usually not so. We have to honestly assess whether our activities and involvement is truly necessary or if we are are unwilling to let this or that go for other reasons. Maybe it is pride. We have convinced ourselves we are called to a particular task. Maybe it is escape and we are convinced that the momentary diversion and pleasure offered by the activity is critical to our well-being.

I am going out on a limb here to say we are wrong in most of those cases. No matter how right we think we are.

If we are married and mothers then we ARE called. We are called to be helpmeets. We are called to be gentle, yet responsible mothers. We are called to make comfortable, healthy homes. We are called to keep our eyes on God. We are not called in this season of life to do one bit more. In fact, doing one bit more may just topple the apple cart.

I tend to agree with this sentiment,

"The Spirit of God is present when you wash the dishes or pick up the dirty clothes, and He is there while you prepare meals for your family in the evening.

God does not call women to be mountain top gurus or to seek one out for their personal benefit. He commands them to be keepers at home." - Created to be His Helpmeet

Everything we need for our well-being is right under our noses if we make proper use of it. We can be gentle and attentive or distracted and irritable. The choice is ours, not just at the moment words fly from our mouth but in the hours beforehand when we choose which activities to participate in, which tasks to undertake, and how well we pace ourselves to do them with a gentle spirit. We must guard the margin in our lives or else we are culpable for the irritability that results.

Is your voice what you wish it to be? Do you answer your husband and children with the gentleness you wish? What would they say? If not, can we follow the advice given in the first passage and give ourselves one month? One month to determine what is reasonable for us to do on a given day. What can we accomplish without undue strain? What is really required of us in our state of life? Can we endeavor let go of so many "must's" and revel in the freedom and peace God wills for us and our families? His yoke is light.

ATV Trip Cathedral Peak pt 1

Posted on July 22, 2009 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Not rain, nor hail, nor sniffly noses in the dark of night could daunt our (mostly) grown-up weekend away. Ok some of that was just a wee bit daunting but good times prevailed.

Debi Pearl counsels, "Don't let the cares of the family, the church, and the world steal the time needed to maintain holy matrimony." Good advice. : ) So we made the time and trekked over to the western slope for an action packed weekend. First we set up camp lakeside.

Allen has access to acres of recreational land owned by a friend at work. He has hunted there in the past but I had not gotten to see it. We packed up the ATV and headed out on the trails. It was well worth the wait. Miles of rugged western beauty. Check it out!

Those trails led straight up to Cathedral Peak from which you could see the hazy reservoir and range in the distance.

The path led up through aspens and around beaver ponds.

We spotted this deer – though the setting sun and need for speedy shot left it a little blurry. There was no zoom here though. The deer crossed the path just yards ahead of us.

And finally back down around the gulch we came and headed back to the lake in time to watch the sun set. A very good day.

mid-century mini

Posted on July 19, 2009 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Maybe I could at least get an itty bitty mid-century home.…..

Seriously, The Mid-Century Modernist is eye candy for the mod soul. I will take one of everything, thank you!

A Calm Voice

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Kim Halloran-Fry

What follows are exerpts from a compelling argument for mastering our tone of voice taken from the Titus 2 Ministry site which is chock full of convicting articles. (please visit the site for the rest) I suspect for most of us, voice is not given much thought, surely not as much as it warrants. And yet we are told,

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger."

What are we stirring up in our homes?

"A blow with the tongue is just as wicked and irritating and irrational as a blow with the hand; and yet many people let their tongues run loose in the family and strike fore and aft without restraint, and then wonder why there is no government in their homes."

"Many a man will strike his wife with his tongue, blow after blow, when he would not strike her with his hand. And sometimes wives are tongue-strikers, who do not strike with their hands."

"The poor government of many families is due to the striking freedom given to the tongues."

We often bemoan the behavior of children without acknowledging the source of their disposition. Children learn what they live. A sobering thought is that they are learning to parent while her with us in our homes. A good question to ask ourselves is whether we would be happy to watch our children respond to our grandchildren as we respond to them today.

"Children who hear their parents scold and fret at each other, who hear rebuke and censure, harsh tones and loud faultfindings in them, will not get the obedient spirit, or the harmonious disposition, from the atmosphere of their homes. On the contrary, they will catch the words and tones of harshness and the spirit of disobedience as quickly as they would the measles if exposed to them.

Sour, complaining, quarrelsome dispositions are not made in the home atmosphere which is always musical with gentle voices."

I particularly like this point:

"Our good ideals are often set in sharp contrast with our bad realities. We desire to be so much better than we are that we often blush at our deficiencies."

This is all too true but yet,

"…the words we speak, the tones in which we utter them, the voice-power we give them, are so outward that we can control them with Christ's help. We need not rage in speech. We need not "grate harsh discord" in our tones. We need not thunder in power of voice. We need not stir up anger nor drive the home spirit weeping away by our manner of speech. This is ours to manage–ours to control"

This we must remember. This is ours to manage. We can choose to speak gently or at least recommit to doing so when we find we have strayed from this resolution. We have it within us to ask for forgiveness when hasty words escape us.

atomic ranch

Posted on July 16, 2009 by Kim Halloran-Fry

My midcentury fix o' the week here.

ruffled skirt

Posted on July 15, 2009 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Tess is pleased as can be with the little green skirt we made and we hope to knock out a couple more yet. Tutorial here. Basically you cut three long rectangles. Find the widest part of the hips/waist. First tier is 1 and 1/2 times the waist. Next is 1 and 1/2 times the first. Third tier is 1 and 1/2 times the second. The length of the rectangles is your total intended length, divided by three, plus an inch per tier for seams and 2 inches more for the top tier to make the foldover waist. That was clear as mud wasn't it? If you want to make one for yourself this tutorial has an automatic calculator to figure your measurements for you.

skirt hem tip