I write this with a sliver of sadness… but an overwhelming sense of purpose and hope. After two years of calling this place home, I’ve started a NEW BLOG called “Girl Meets Paper” which I hope will better capture my writing in a professional arena. Today’s post can be found HERE.

You should also know that from now on, all my family ideas will be separated out and posted on my second blog, “The Unofficial Homeschooler.“

I hope you’ll visit both and that they would be an encouragement to you in your busy life. Whether it’s a quiet, thoughtful moment at www.girlmeetspaper.com or a burst of creativity at www.unofficialhomeschooler.com, my prayer is that you would find something relevant and helpful that ultimately gives glory to God and makes you want to share it with a friend!

Hope to see you at both of my new homes! Your readership is an encouragement to me!

Today I’d like to invite you to visit my new blog, The Unofficial Homeschooler. This is the place where, from now on, I’ll be sharing creative ideas to try at home with your kids, parenting perspectives, and thoughts on life as your child’s first teacher.

Please click over and take a look at it! BELIEVE ME…it has been a royal pain in the buttocks real labor of love

Additionally, I’ll be announcing another new project later this week! Can’t wait to open “door #2″ and share it!

The final verse begs, “What language shall I borrow, to thank thee dearest friend…Lord let me never, never…outlive my love to Thee.”  If I’m honest I wonder:

• Is Christ truly my dearest friend?
• Do I feel a loss for words–that language is inept or even incapable of expressing my gratitude?
• Is my first and foremost desire to never outlive my love for Jesus?

        O sacred Head, now wounded,
	with grief and shame weighed down,
	now scornfully surrounded
	with thorns, thine only crown:
	how pale thou art with anguish,
	with sore abuse and scorn!
	How does that visage languish
	which once was bright as morn! 

	What thou, my Lord, has suffered
	was all for sinners' gain;
	mine, mine was the transgression,
	but thine the deadly pain.
	Lo, here I fall, my Savior!
	'Tis I deserve thy place;
	look on me with thy favor,
	vouchsafe to me thy grace. 

	What language shall I borrow
	to thank thee, dearest friend,
	for this thy dying sorrow,
	thy pity without end?
	O make me thine forever;
	and should I fainting be,
	Lord, let me never, never
	outlive my love for thee.

Pro Kadima is a ping-pongy game played with large wooden paddles and a hard foam ball. We don’t actually boast any knowledge of the official rules, so when we play we just set some volley goals and cross our fingers.

Today my youngest son, “M” begged pathetically for me to disregard dinner preparation and flee to the carpet for some “hitting.” Carefully positioning our two ottomans as a dividing line–or net, I supose–we went to work, counting aloud with each hit.

Not that it was that difficult to count to 2. 

Or 3.

In case you don’t know, maintaining a volley with a five-year-old is a bit of an undertaking. His forehand swings tend to land on the fireplace mantle or smack into one of our new lamps. I especially love those.  The backhand attempts generally sail off the tip of the paddle and land…in another room.

But all in good fun, right? [insert shoulder shrug and tedious smile]

Of course it’s all ratcheted up several notches when my husband gets home. Brandon imagines that a match-up with me carries the weight of winning the gold medal or preventing the sky from falling.

He loosened the collar on his dress shirt and sank into position, swaying back and forth like Agassi in pinstriped pants. At this point I’m already laughing.

“C’mon now. This is serious!” he exhorts. “Let’s get to 20!”

With the kids enjoying the hand-to-hand combat, we began, their heads bobbing left-to-right and back again.

“13, 14, 15…D’OH!!”  Nuts. “We” missed. [a-hem...]

“Let’s try again. SERIOUSLY Jane! Be for real! We’ve got to get this!” [read: the fate of the world rests in this pseudo-Pro Kadima match that he's playing in dress clothes and without rules].

“15, 16, 17, 18…” Missed again. Rats.

“Jane! What time is it?! We have to get this before I leave!” he pleaded. “Ahh!” He lets out an exasperated scream–the kind that you’d allow yourself after shopping online for an hour, only to find your cart wiped clean just as you’re ready to buy everything.

I, of course, start laughing at his genuine effort and the pain he’s enduring over the fact that we can’t quite seem to pile up enough hits to make the 20 mark. After the next miss Brandon screams again. Literally screams…kind of like this.

At this point my stomach nearly hurts and I’m laughing so hard I can’t imagine doing anything 20 times in a row except maybe tinkling in my pants or rolling on the floor like a rabid critter trying to scratch its back.

Well, you’ll be relieved to know that we made the 20-hit mark, as evidenced by the sky not falling and us sporting genuine imaginary gold medals. And everybody knows that when a Pro Kadima invasion hits the living room, those are the best kind.

What do you do for comic relief in your home? What are ideas for quick family fun?

[full crack-up chicken story here] 

[beach photo credit]

On the table, in socks, arms raised like a praise dancer. 

I opened my mouth to tell him to get off, but the words got stuck. Why not let him spin? I thought. It’s not like he could break the table!  

Instead, I watched in silence.

Soon enough the praise dancing stopped and he sat down with a pile of baseball cards. Diligently arranging them and sliding from right to left, he worked to line up his favorites.

I’m not sure if I did the right thing by allowing him to stay there, but for today I decided to enjoy his whimsy and smallness instead of examining rules.

Pippi Longstocking would certainly approve.

What?!

Do you ever overlook the rules when it comes to moments of innocent play? Share an example by leaving a comment below:

Well, let’s be honest: it’s been twenty months since I’ve decided to tell you about it.

This Lent I gave up shopping at three of my favorite places: Costco [where each item deposited in your cart is about $10], Target [where you want to spend about $10 but easily dole out $210], and the mall [where you skip the math and get out the plastic].

Five weeks later, I think all this non-shopping has started to catch up with me. I fear I may have developed a few ticks and eye twitches during this off-season, something that has only worsened as I peruse the latest Crate & Barrel catalog and faithfully dog ear every-0ther-page [as if I really could buy all these things if I wanted, but it's just a matter of locating my purse that's stopping me].

Sheez.

I’ll admit it: I look around and still love this house, but I’m starting to see the flaws more than the smile lines. I’m wishing for new countertops…and an ice maker in a fridge with a little more consistency than the slacker we have now. I can imagine a new backsplash with glossy subway tiles like you see on Dear Genevieve. I can effortlessly imagine away our stained carpet and replace it with the gleam of wall-to-wall hickory floors.

I know this discontent is shallow and worthless and completely without perspective. I know that the “Finley Pendant Lamp” I’d like above our dining room table isn’t going to make me happy, give me a flat stomach, make me funnier, or help me be a better friend. [Although I would like to argue that it would make our dinners a lot more stylish].

So why this lure? Why so many dog-eared pages?

I think I’m fooled into believing that if I own the Stoneware Potluck Bakers in “Paprika, Turquoise, and Yellow” that I’ll actually bake tasty dinners. And possibly be invited to potlucks.

I’m fooled into thinking that if I have the vases on page 18, I really will make more of an effort to arrange cut flowers weekly. Maybe even start a garden.

I’m drawn into this world of order, cleanliness, and new possibilities–as though an office desk equals a book contract or a chaise lounge equals the freedom to…lounge.

I’m drawn into thinking that these things would give me what I want and what I think I need.

And so this cycle of mental wrestling and pseudo-shopping bring me back to Lent–back to the reason I’m not shopping and back to the reason why I shouldn’t even be looking at catalogs: because during this season of preparation, I need to work on my heart.  Work on desires that aren’t evil or sinful in themselves, but that give birth to so much more than I want floating around in my brain.

Balancing these things and staying twitch-free is something I’ll probably never master. For some it’s food and others it’s cigarettes and still others, alcohol. For me, this year, it’s Crate & Barrel.

But always, there’s the promise of grace. And this Lent, I’m realizing just how much I need it.

~

What are you learning about yourself this Lent? How are you being stretched or changed?

I first stumbled upon this gem in one of my many self-indulgent rendezvous to Hallmark. Drawn in by the fantastic illustrations and novel storyline, it became plain that I would actually be doing my kids a disservice by foregoing a purchase.

I mean, it’s educational, right?

In Keller’s imaginative world of changing geography, Kansas decides he’s tired of being surrounding by the same dull states, without water, and stuck in a wide expanse of flatness. So, he proposes swapping spots with another state and eventually extends the invitation to the entire nation at an evening potluck. [Wisconsin contributed cheese...can you guess what Idaho brought?]

After the states flee their old friends and neighbors in the name of newness and adventure, they quickly find that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the Mason Dixon Line. Minnesota gets sunburned when he flip-flops with Florida, and Kansas ends up bobbing in the Pacific when Hawaii signs up for a switcheroo. Should they stay? Should they go?

The Scrambled States of America is a silly page-turner that will keep you captivated until it’s all settled. Humorous comic-like captions let you in on the private thoughts of the states, and Uncle Sam serves as narrator.

If you’re wondering how you can introduce basic geography to your kids, pick up a copy! It will remind them that there’s more to “Washington” than cherry trees or wooden dentures.

What’s your latest and greatest children’s picture book? Why do you like it?

{photo credits: Thank you, Photography by Kamarah!}

1. We went to Florida for Spring Break, and in some comically-timed [or divinely ordained] sequence of events, I was completely without internet! Don’t worry, the shaking stopped after a detoxing a few days here:

2. I was quite busy pretending to know how to fish:

3. Shell hunting with my daughter was a delightful priority:

4.  …and of course our shells weren’t going to organize themselves!

5. I was with the people I love most at one of our most-loved places:

6.  We were preoccupied with frozen confections and broad smiles:

7. My feet were intoxicated by the luxuriously warm water for hours on end:

8.  I had a nightly cheerleading gig at low tide for my skim-boarding boys:

9.  Watching wildlife is nearly a full-time job on the island:

10. And really…who can think of computers with God on display like this??  Our nightly walk on the beach:

So what have you been up to? What small moments are you treasuring?

Thanks to "Photography by Kamarah!'

Ever since my husband and I went to Zambia, Africa in 2004, my heart has remained softened to the hearts and faces of countless orphans awaiting families to call their own. And while the Lord first imprinted my heart on that faraway continent, adoption touches me regardless of the child’s birthplace. Little can compare so perfectly to the love of God adopting us as heirs, as the love of earthly parents expanding the boundaries of their families.

When I first heard that my daughter’s teacher and her husband were working on her own adoption dream, I stood amazed at her resolve to extend unconditional love and acceptance to a child–or children–whom she had never met. What trust in God’s sovereign plan!

Last month she and another adoptive family were the prayer focus of our home. This month we stepped out a bit further to support their adoption fund by purchasing these super-cute T-shirts! You can’t see mine [navy] in the photo, but my daughter’s [black] has quickly become one of her favorites!

If you’d like to help bring this good work to completion, hop over to her blog and check them out!

If you’re a family who has walked this path, what creative ways did you use to help fund the process? Did anyone step forward to assist you?

• Do we pay an allowance?
• Do kids work on commission?
• What is/is not the expected contribution merely as a member of this family?
• When must chores be completed and to whose standards?
• When is it worth a battle…and when is it not?

We’ve gone round and round with these questions, trying several approaches. To be honest, most of the failing is due to our own inconsistency in enforcing the rules. There have been times I’ve “owed” our kids money, but I don’t have cash in the house…so the reward of being paid for work completed is a bit diminished when they have to wait for payday.

Other times we’ve failed out of sheer busyness. We used to be absolutely firm in starting Saturday mornings with chores [and I had an entire system for that], however with sports and church activities and a crazy husband, Saturday mornings have proven tricky. Maybe once school’s out we’ll give it another go.

Until then, I have a new kind of chore chart which will hopefully prove helpful even with little ones who don’t read. If you’re a Mac user, you should be able to click, drag, and print. If that doesn’t work or if you’re a PC user, feel free to email me and I’ll be happy to send you the PDF.

ALLOW ME TO POINT OUT A FEW FEATURES:

1. There is a place on this chore chart for the name of the child assigned these particular chores and place for your child to state a weekly goal [i.e: to complete 3 days in a row, 4 days total, all chores, etc.]
2. Write down when chores should be completed by in order to earn the corresponding money [i.e: completed before school, by dinner, before bedtime]
3. $ Earned is where you write down the grand total earned for that week by that particular child
4. Assign each chore a value–but be creative! We’ll be paying our children cash, but perhaps yours are more motivated by a special dessert after supper, a night at the library, a date with grandma, or a video rental. You get to decide!
5. Checkboxes to indicate completion and approval by mom and dad: yes if they pass, no if they don’t…just like that note you passed to your boyfriend in junior high
6. LASTLY, use the empty boxes to either DRAW the chore [for young workers] or write the words [for older workers]. For an even greater brain-based learning experience, have your child draw the chore!

I would love to journey through this with you! Please leave a comment and let me know if this chart has been at all helpful…or if you have suggestions for how to improve it, I’d love to hear them!