Saturday, January 30, 2010

Organizing Challenge for February

This past week I attended A Woman Inspired’s online conference: Nurturing a Creative and Efficient Life. There were so many awesome women that spoke and shared some great information and inspiration. After listening to the sessions and chatting with other attendees, I have been really thinking about the way I approach keeping my home organized.

I do a great job or figuring out where to put things and arranging them in a way that keeps them LOOKING organized. The problem is, no matter how much work I put into it, things do not stay organized!

I need to rethink the way I organize my home, and I need to purge my home of unnecessary clothes, papers, and junk! And apparently I am not the only one thinking about doing this…

image Yay! An organizing challenge? Exactly what I need to get the job done! I can glean motivation from the other ladies participating and add an element of accountability to my commitment. If you are interested in learning more and possibly participating, please click the image above.

For this challenge, I will be concentrating on organizing and maximizing my closets and current storage areas. I think if I get this part of my home in order, the rest will be much easier because I will have a neat, tidy area to store things!

I will post my “before” pictures soon. For this weekend, we are switching the kids’ bedrooms, so I am going to be busy with that.  Happy organizing!

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Joey Growing – A Slideshow

I recently downloaded Windows Movie Maker so my boys could make a LEGO movie (look for it posted here soon). I decided I wanted to tinker with it and ended up making a slideshow with music of how much Joey has grown in the past year. Unfortunately, YouTube made me replace the audio (I had originally chose I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack) with a Creed song. It’s not my first choice, but I couldn’t find anything else that I thought was fitting. Enjoy!

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Free $5 Babies R Us Gift Card

I found this on the Frugal Girls site and wanted to share it with all of you!

January 28, 2010

Free $5 Gift Card to Babies 'R Us or Toys 'R Us ~ Hurry!

Hurry on over here and Become a Facebook Fan of Babies 'R Us. When you become a fan today {1/28}, you'll receive a Free $5.00 E-Gift Card!
Quantities are limited ~ I'm sure these won't last long!
Even better... it says the E-Gift Card can be used in-store or online at Babies 'R Us or Toys 'R Us!

Blessings,

: )  Cassie

Thursday 13 – Favorite TV Shows

TV I know I have been slacking on my memes lately, but I have been so busy learning how to coupon and getting them organized for shopping! This week I thought I would list 13 of my favorite shows to watch on “the tube”. I am not a big TV watcher, I would rather be on the laptop. But when I do sit down to watch, here’s what I’m likely watching…

1. Hoarders on A&E – don’t ask me why I like this show. Many times it just plain disgusts me to see how some of these people are living. I am not the cleanest or most organized person around, but these people make me feel like Mrs. Clean!

2. 18 Kids and Counting on TLC – How can you NOT love watching the Duggars and all of those cute kids? I love large families. If I had it my way, I would have a couple more! I think too many people judge them harshly. I think they are a very neat family and I love watching them!

3. Table for 12 on TLC – Again, I love large families and this family is so down to earth and real. The dad and how he interacts with the kids reminds me a lot of my hubby. They are a lot of fun to watch.

4. Pawn Stars – The language in this show is sometimes iffy, but I just love seeing what people bring in to sell. The stories behind the items are many times very interesting. Hubby got me watching this one!

5. Enjoying Everday Life w/ Joyce Meyer – This lady is so inspirational and funny to listen to. She is very no nonsense and practical and I have learned a lot from watching her show.

6. Supernanny – I don’t always agree with her discipline methods, but she is one smart cookie and knows how to straighten out those wayward youngins. I love her creative ways to motivate kids and keep them on track.

7. iCarly – My older boys really love this show and I enjoy watching it with them (unlike most of their viewing choices). The dynamics between the characters are great and they always make me laugh!

8. The Upside Down Show on Nick Jr. – We watch a lot of Nick Jr. in our home (more than we probably should) and we rarely watch this one because it’s on at 11pm. But when Joey has an occasional late night, we all enjoy watching it. The characters are funny and they do a lot of sound effects and slapstick type comedy. It really encourages kids to use their imaginations!

9. Paula Dean – Oh man can this lady cook and bake! She doesn’t mess around, she uses lots of butter and sugar (the good stuff). I also love listening to her southern accent!

10. Cash Cab on Discovery – I love trivia shows and this one is so entertaining! The host is funny and I love seeing peoples reactions when they get in the taxi and all the lights blink, LOL!

11. How It’s Made on Discovery – The Kids and I can’t get enough of this one. Where else can you watch a snowboard or a twinkie roll off the assembly line from beginning to end. It’s so neat to see exactly what goes into making the items many of us use everyday and never even think about where they come from.

12. Everybody Loves Raymond – I always get a kick and lots of laughs when I watch this TV family interact. They are so dysfunctional yet loveable at the same time.

13. A Baby Story on TLC – one word – BABIES!!!

I hope you enjoyed my list! What are some of YOUR favorite things to watch?

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

 
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Learning Materials – BJU Press Math

This is the first post in my attempt to share with you the different types of materials we have used (or are currently using) in our home for learning. In the near future, I will link to these “reviews” in my sidebar by subject to make them easier to find.

Today I would like to talk about BJU Press (Bob Jones) Math curriculum.

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So far in our homeschool, we have used grades 1-3 BJU Math and we love it! This was not the first Math program we used (we previously tried several resources from Alpha Omega) but once we started using it, we were hooked.

General Info

Publisher: Bob Jones University Press (BJU)

Grade Level(s): K-12

Price: from about $70 to $120 for a grade level set (depending on where you purchase)

What we like about it:

Oh goodness, where to begin? I would say the thing we like MOST about this math program, is that it is geared towards all learning styles. Each lesson has teaching suggestions that you can pick and choose from and tailor your lesson to your child’s unique learning style. You can do as little or as much in each lesson as you want. For instance, when I am introducing a new concept, many times I use the included Home Teacher Packet pages and the Student Materials (and at times other simple materials I have on hand) to go over the new concept with my child. For my kinesthetic learner, I use a lot of the manipulatives so he can work with his hands and get a physical representation of the concept. For my visual learner, we many times just work through some problems using just the Home Teacher Packet and/or scrap paper and the white board.

The worktext pages are set up so that you have one page front and back for each lesson. For new or challenging concepts, we work through the front page together, then I have my kids do the back independently. The same exercises that are on the front, are the same types of exercises that are on the back, so there is no re-explaining how to do a specific type of problem (with the exception of a few review exercises here and there).

The teacher manual is a HUGE help. To be honest, I don’t always use it for every lesson. If it is a concept I can easily explain on my own or something we have done before, I just sit down with the worktext page and show them what to do. Other times, they know what to do and work through the lesson on their own. But when it comes to new concepts or something that is tough for my kids to grasp, the TE is a huge help. It describes how to teach each concept step-by-step so there is no guesswork involved.

What we don’t like:

The only negative thing I have to say about this program is that it tends to be a bit pricey. But for me, being able to reuse it with multiple students (by merely purchasing a spare worktext) is worth the cost. That said, it is very easy to find BJU curriculum second hand for a reduced price. If you must purchase it new, I highly recommend purchasing it through CBD or Learning Things online. It is more expensive to purchase it directly through the publisher.

So all in all, BJU Math is a great program and I highly recommend it for your homeschool!

Star rating:

imageimageimageimage  4/4 Stars

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Discipline in the Terrible Twos by Sheila Wray Gregoire

I read this great article today from Sheila Wray Gregoire at To Love, Honor, and Vacuum and I wanted to share it here with you!

Last week a number of you asked me to write a post about how to discipline a toddler! I have so much to say about this I don't know if it will fit all in one post, but let's give it a try.
First, a bit of perspective. I firmly believe that the more you discipline a child up until the age of 3 or 4, the less you have to discipline a child around ages 15-17. And it's at 15-17 when they can get into some serious trouble! That's why it's so important that toddlers are taught to respect your authority and to obey.
I know "obey" is a dirty word. We don't want to impose our wills on these bright, impressionable children. But let's not forget that they are "children". They are not adults. They don't know everything. And they need to be taught to channel their energies in the right direction. Besides, it gives them a feeling of security when they realize that they are not in charge of this big, huge world. When they know there are checks and balances, and that Mommy and Daddy will stop them from doing something bad, they actually feel freer to explore this world than when they are given no limits at all.
So let's move into how to discipline.
1. Schedule/Routine works so well. If you can institute a schedule or routine so that the children know what to expect, you are less likely to need much formal discipline. One of the reasons kids act out is because they are confused or overwhelmed because they don't understand what is going on. That's why kids are more likely to act like brats in a new situation meeting all your relatives, for instance. It's an unfamiliar situation.
As much as possible, then, kids thrive with a schedule. Up at 7, play until 7:45, then breakfast. Play until 10, then outing. Home for lunch. Do a craft. Take a nap. Etc. etc. And try to make outings have similar themes! Have toys that you only take on outings. Go to the library at the same time on the days that you go. When kids know what to expect, they are far more likely to relax and enjoy it than to get upset and start acting out.
2. Make Allowances for Them. Kids are kids, and often we expect them to be able to behave better than perhaps we should. When my girls and I used to grocery shop when they were babies and toddlers, I would stick them into the grocery cart and then head immediately to the produce department, where I would buy two bananas. Then I'd go to the checkout and pay for my two little bananas. I'd keep the receipt handy, in my pocket, and I'd let the girls eat the bananas while we shopped. That kept them from fussing or from trying to touch all the food. If they already had food, they were far more likely to enjoy the experience.
It's unrealistic to expect a 2-year-old to sit calmly in a grocery cart in the middle of all that food for half an hour or 45 minutes while you get a huge shop done. Buy them a healthy snack at the beginning, and you get away from a lot of trouble.
Similarly, if you're waiting at a doctor's office, or if another appointment, it's unrealistic to expect them to sit calmly there, too. I always kept a few small toys and several books in my bag, and whenever we were out at stuff like that I'd whip them out and keep them occupied. It works well at restaurants, too.
I know it doesn't look like the first two have much to do with discipline, but I believe that if we aren't unreasonable with our children, and if we have a routine, kids in general will behave better. Now let's turn to the times when they don't behave.
3. Determine the root cause. My oldest daughter, for instance, threw temper tantrums like there was no tomorrow when she was 2. She'd get upset about something--like we had to leave the park--and she'd start screaming. The problem was she couldn't stop. She'd get to the point where her temper tantrum had nothing to do with what set her off. She was just screaming now because she was overwhelmed with her emotions.
It's frustrating as a parent, but much of life as a 2-3 year-old is learning things, and one thing you have to learn is handling emotions. Becca just couldn't do it at the time (she's still working on calming herself down when she feels panicky or upset, but she's much better at it at 15).
If you can see that it's not that she or he is being defiant, but it's just that they're tired or overwhelmed, that can at least perhaps temper your anger. It doesn't mean you don't discipline; it just makes you a little more sympathetic.
I would take Becca, in the middle of these tantrums, and talk quietly to her but make it clear that she couldn't be with the family or with other people if she was going to scream and thrash like that. We'd either remove her from the room we were in, or, if she was thrashing too much, I'd hold her on my lap, not talking to her, until she was able to calm down.
I never bribed her or tried to get her interested in something else. She needed to learn how to calm herself down. That's the main lesson she needed to get out of her temper tantrums, and if I calmed her down by giving her something, like chocolate, than the lesson was thrown out the window. It was frustrating because it's hard to listen to her screaming, but we'd either put her in a room and let her cry on her bed or I'd hold her on my lap, keeping her arms down, so she wasn't a harm to anybody.
4. Keep Discipline Immediate and Quick. Kids don't have long attention spans, and they don't always understand things when there's too much time between infraction and punishment. If they've just bitten somebody, then you must respond right then. If my children were at playgroup, for instance, and they did something horribly inappropriate, like biting or throwing a tantrum, we would leave. They were very upset about that, and it often made the tantrum worse, but they had to learn that they couldn't act that way in that setting.
Kids need to learn that in public there are certain things you can't do, like screaming, or hitting, or being violent. If they were, they lost their chance to play.
If you're going to institute something like this, don't lecture them or be mad. Just treat it like it's natural. "It's too bad we have to leave now, but that's what happens when you bite. Maybe we'll be able to come back tomorrow if you decide not to bite again." Then don't yell at them. You've already punished them. Let them understand that it was their choice to leave, since they did the biting. Next time, if they make a different choice, then you can stay.
But it must be immediate. Don't dilly dally and wait around and second guess yourself, or you've lost the chance. You can always come back another time, and it does help kids learn to control themselves when they see that they lose something important to them.
5. You Must Be Consistent. If you are going to make it a rule that everyone tries two bites of everything on their plate, for instance, then you have to make them. You can't do it one night and not the rest, or you'll have to start from scratch all over again. They'll know they can push the limits.
That's why it's better NOT to discipline or threaten if you're not going to follow through in the same way all the time. If you're going to let it go sometimes, but not others, you just confuse kids, and you actually put yourself in a worse situation. It's better to have small consequences that you always enforce than some big ones you're haphazard about, because you just confuse kids about the rules.
So don't threaten something in anger. Ask yourself, "can I really follow through? Can I follow through like this on another day, too? Is this something I can regularly do?" And if it's not, don't do it. When kids feel there's a CHANCE they can get away with something, they're more likely to push the limits than if they feel like there are no limits at all, if that makes any sense. It's better not to do anything than to do it halfway.
So with toddlers, choose small things to discipline about. Remove a toy. Have them stand in time out for 3 minutes. Take them out to the car if they're acting up in a restaurant. Leave a playgroup. As for spanking, you can do this if you want to, but I never recommend it because some people do spank in anger, and that's dangerous. If you don't spank in anger, and you're controlled and calm, then that's really up to you. I just don't want to get involved in that decision-making chain of yours!
Let me tell you, though, that some research has shown that spanking is much more effective for boys than for girls. Girls often react badly. Boys often react well. Nevertheless, you know your kids, and you choose what is best for them.
One more thing: try not to yell. If what you're doing is just enforcing consequences, you can do it in a nice voice. "It's too bad you can't play with bunny anymore today, but Mommy warned you, and I have to take it away now." Yelling scares kids and undermines your authority. It's not nice, it creates a horrible environment in the home, and it's not necessary except in really bad circumstances. Kids are far more likely to accept a consequence when you announce it in a firm but normal voice than if you go off the deep end.
I hope that helps! Leave your comments and other ideas below, and maybe I'll leave a follow-up post on Thursday!

If you want to hear more just like this post, you'll love Sheila's audio download, "To Love, Honor and Vacuum"! Do you feel more like a maid than a wife and a mother? Do you wonder how to get your home under control--and how to raise your kids well? Listen in to this hour long talk!

Download now.

Wow, what great insights! This is pretty much exactly how I view discipline with Joey (now 20mo). There has to be a good balance between structure and freedom, teaching and training, praise and correction. It’s not always easy to accomplish this, but toddlers are pretty forgiving!

Hoping you have a wonderful week!

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Friday, January 15, 2010

Friday Fill-ins #159

Yay! I love Friday Fill-ins!! I haven’t done one of these in a long time, enjoy!
fridayfillin.gif
1. The lesson I learned yesterday was that I’m a better momma when I take a few minutes to calm down when I get frustrated.
2.
Children’s birthday parties, where friends and family meet.
3. All these years
are adding up.
4.
The party was already over when I arrived.
5. The truth is
I avoid watching the news.
6.
Hearing him cry for the first time is what I remember most from that day.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to
going to bed, tomorrow my plans include school and Sunday, I want to get caught up on laundry!

I know, pretty boring huh? Sorry, maybe I’ll do better next week.

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

When Homeschooling is Hard

I enjoy teaching my children at home. I love reading with them, counting with them, drawing with them, and writing with them. Most days, I enjoy the entire process. But this week has been a tough week. Why?

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I have one student who has decided that this week was the perfect time to slow things down. To stop and smell the roses. Now I am not against taking your time and enjoying the scenery as it passes you by, but our school days this week have drug on, and on, and on…

Combine that with the fact that Joey, now 20 months old, has discovered a love for climbing. I am constantly taking things away from him, telling him, “NO NO!”, retrieving him from the tabletop, etc. Together, these boys are really wearing me out!

Our plan for the week was to school M, T, Th, F, Sat, but I am seriously considering taking today off. I’m tired. I’m frustrated. I’m lost! I don’t know what to do about my dawdling student! Nothing in our day to day has changed, no curriculum changes, no routine changes. I don’t get it! I am not sure if I should try to cut out some of his work or if I should keep it as it is and wait for him to emerge from the fog. I do know I can not continue to school for 8 or more hours every day and still maintain my home, take care of 4 children, and make meals and snacks. I will not spend 8 hours a day on one child and neglect the others. '

I am also not crazy about the idea of lowering my expectations in order to cater to this child. It does not feel right. I know what he is capable of. I know that he has had no problems up until now with completing his work every day and in a timely manner.

I am not sure what I am going to do at this point. I am open to suggestions, so please share!

For today, I will try to relax a bit and de-stress. Maybe that will help clear my mind and figure out what steps to take to change things for the better.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Thursday 13 – January 14, 2010

image Today I am going to share with you 13 reasons I love homeschooling…

1. I get to spend lots of time with my kiddos

2. We get to do lots of fun activities and crafts together

3. My husband and I are the strongest influences on our children’s lives

4. We are able to instill our values and faith in our children every day

5. I love teaching!!

6. I get to see their eyes light up when they “get it”

7. I get to teach them according to their strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles

8. They read from the Bible daily, and we call it school!

9. They are learning history and science from a Biblical/Creationist perspective

10. I get to learn right along with my children

11. I don’t have to worry about bullying, sex education, bad language, drugs, etc.

12. I get to instill my love of reading in my own children (or at least try)

13. We don’t have to get up early to get them on the school bus


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

 
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!
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Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Works for Me Wednesday – January 13, 2010

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I can’t really think of any really great, life changing tips to share with you this week. I went grocery shopping today and it wore me out! But there is one thing I can think of to share with you that is definitely working out well for me.

Fir my birthday this year (which is right before Christmas) my mom sent me a gift card and told me I was to use it to purchase a bread machine. I was ecstatic! I love home baked bread, but it can be very time consuming, especially as much as my family likes it! This is the machine I purchased:

imageIt is an Oster Expressbake and it sells at Wal-Mart for just under $60. It has been such a blessing! It only takes me about 5-10 minutes to gather the ingredients, mix them in the pan, and set the cycle on my machine. In 3 hours I have a delicious, golden loaf of home baked bread! And then in a matter of a few minutes, half of it is gone, LOL!

I have found that the bread does turn out better most of the time when you use half bread flour and half all purpose flour. One more thing I have learned after trying at least a dozen recipes so far, is that there is one that we really love and it always turns out perfect!

Portuguese Sweet Bread

1 c. room temperature milk

1 large egg (I warn it slightly by placing in a cup of warm water)

2 tbsp. butter or margerine

3 c. flour

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast or 1 1/4 tsp. rapid rose yeast (otherwise known as bread machine yeast)

Mix the ingredients according to your bread machine instructions. Most recommmend placing all of your wet ingredients in first (milk, egg, butter) then the dry ingredients last. Set your machine to the sweet bread setting (the traditional bake cycle works too, I have tried both) and that’s it!

Enjoy!

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Look what I got for $35!!!

I spent several hours last night perusing grocery ads and clipping and gathering coupons. This was the end result:

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I went to 3 stores to score these deals.

Walgreens:

100_2484They had these razors on sale at 2 for $10. There was a coupon for $3/2 in the January Walgreens coupon book (you can get this in-store). That brought my total down to $7. Then I used a $5/2 coupon from the paper. My total after tax was $2.40 for 8 razors!

Kmart:

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Kmart is running a special where you can get 4 boxes of select General Mills cereals for $6. I used 4 different coupons totaling $3.55. This put my total at $2.45 for 4 boxes of cereal!

Kroger:

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I also got some really great deals at Kroger. Among them were:

Kroger 1/2 gallon milk – $.98 (I bought 4)

Medium eggs were on sale for $1.15 (I bought 2)

Campbells soup - $1 each + .40/2 which doubled to make each can only $.60

I bought 2 packs of 8ct. Kroger hot dogs for $.88/each

Hunt’s Snack Pack 4pk. pudding on sale $1 + .50/3 coupon doubled to make each only $.67

Pillsbury Family Size brownie mix on sale $1 + .40/1 doubled to make 1 only $.20

Pasta Roni on sale $1 + $1/3 to make each .67 (bought 3)

My best deal from Kroger:

Healthy Choice Meals $2.20 each + $5/5 e-coupon + $5/5 printed coupon = 5 meals for $1!!

I have definitely caught the coupon bug!!

Here are the totals broken down:

Shelf cost = $68.63

Kroger Plus savings - $7.77

Coupons savings - $25.65

Total OOP cost = $35.21

What awesome deals have you found this week?

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Tackle It Tuesday – January 12, 2010

Tackle It Tuesday Meme

OK, this is my first “Tackle It Tuesday” post. It was a pretty long day school-wise, so I chose something small but important to tackle today…

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Having a toddler definitely makes keeping my flat surfaces cleaned up, especially when they are surfaces that he can not (yet) reach. Hence the mess you see above. This is our place to put things we don’t want Joey to get into entertainment center. It tends to collect many random items not related to entertainment whatsoever – empty snack packages, toys, nail clippers, pens, pencils, etc. It usually is not a fun area to clean. It’s black, it collects lots of dust. The surface in front of the tv is where we place snacks for Joey when we don’t want to put him in his high chair or booster and he wants to graze. It’s constantly in a state of disarray.

I removed all the random items and threw them away put them away. Then I removed all the extra dust with my microfiber duster. Then I took furniture polish to all the surfaces and cleaned the tv screen and electronics surfaces with window cleaner. Then I arranged all the items that actually belong there into a more pleasing configuration. This is what it looked like when the job was done:

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In case you didn’t notice, I even burnt a vanilla incense stick to make it smell nice!

What did you tackle today?

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Recommended Read - Obstinate? or Gifted?

I read a very good blog post this morning from Lisa @ The Joy of Learning that really got me thinking and I wanted to put it here on my blog for you to read. Enjoy!

Sometimes, before parents fully realise that they have a gifted child, they learn they have an obstinate one. From early toddlerhood, such a child can constantly test parents’ patience and boundaries, and those Terrible Twos evolve into the Trying Threes and the Frustrating Fours. Some traits one might find in the obstinate child are:
• the child doesn’t appear to respect parental authority;
• he has his own agenda from which he won’t be swayed;
• he will throw tantrums or even be destructive when he doesn’t get his own way;
• he is quite happy to engage in arguments with his parents (often very adroitly) and is willing to persist in his position until he “wins”;
• the parent/child relationship is characterized by constant power-struggles, even over the littlest things; and
• the child is frequently angry or outraged by perceived injustices.

Some parents wonder if they should seek professional help and question whether their child might have Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) or some other mental health issue; others question their own parenting style and wonder what they are doing wrong.

Certainly, if your child is being destructive or dangerous to himself or others, or if his oppositional behaviour is directed to adults in all settings (instead of just his parents or a single teacher), then professional help should be sought.

In the book, Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults, the authors note that ODD is the second most common misdiagnosis of gifted children, after ADHD. It was certainly a diagnosis I wondered about when one of my children was about three years of age and very difficult to manage. In fact, I even went to see a therapist because I couldn’t believe how strong-willed this child was and I was worried about how we would ever cope. It was she who suggested that he might be gifted, which of course opened up a world of understanding.

Today, at age seven, he is a much easier child, so I want to share some hopeful news for parents dealing with this type of child, as well as some strategies that have worked for us. While the traits listed above were all present in my child at age three, it should be noted that he only behaved that way for his parents. He was capable of presenting an entirely different front at school, which is why the ODD label would not have applied to him.

Part of dealing with his behaviour involved understanding my own. Most parents of gifted children are themselves gifted, and can be challenging and overly-sensitive people too! I began to understand that he was as much a control freak as I was. We are also both extreme perfectionists and have short fuses. I didn’t expect that a 3-year old “needed” to be in charge of his life, but then again, at that time I didn’t really understand giftedness.

Some strategies I’ve employed over the years that seem to have made a real difference in his behaviour today include the following:

i) Set clear boundaries and then calmly enforce them — every single time. If there is any possibility of a loophole, a gifted child will find it immediately and then proceed to drive a dump truck through it. This is the most important thing to remember. If you make a rule, and then fail to enforce it or allow regular exceptions to it, you might as well not bother having a rule at all.

ii) Be prepared to explain clearly why the rule exists, even if it’s just to say that it makes family life run more smoothly if everyone abides by certain terms. Fairness is the key issue for these kids (although young children tend to see this only through the lens of “fair to them”). If they understand why they have to follow a rule, and see it being applied consistently (to their siblings as well), then they are more likely to be prepared to follow it themselves (and will be sure to point out if someone else in the family does not).

iii) Don’t make arbitrary or ad hoc rules designed for your convenience in the moment. If they seem even slightly unfair or inconsistent, he will call you on them and you’ll lose face. Rules must be thought of ahead of time, made patently clear to the child and then rigorously enforced with, perhaps, an escalating consequences list (or whatever works for your family).

iv) Having clear consequences that you’ve determined in advance means that you can calmly state what’s going to happen next, without falling into the trap of sputtering something out in anger like, “No TV for the rest of the month!”

v) Try to let her have some control, where possible. If she wants to choose her own clothes to wear at age three, even if they don’t match, let her. Recognise which battles aren’t worth having. Give the child a choice between two things (that are both agreeable to you) and relinquish control over the things that don’t matter.

vi) Where it does matter, he has to understand that you’re the boss. I sometimes tell my children that our family is not a democracy, but rather a benign dictatorship. Daddy and I are in charge. That said, we try very hard not to cross the line between authoritative and authoritarian. We DO listen to our children’s opinions on things and we do encourage their independence and the development of responsibilities; but, at the end of the day, they have to understand that there is a final authority in our household and it isn’t the child. Some days it might seem so much easier just to give in to a child like this and let him rule the roost, rather than engage in constant battles, but it would be a huge mistake to do so. Despite their protests, they do want rules. They need to know that competent adults are in charge, so they can be free to be children and not be overwhelmed by the awesome responsibility of making all of the decisions.

vii) Work on your attachment relationship. Since beginning homeschooling 18 months ago, we have had few significant behavioural problems. Being together constantly presents some challenges, but it also allows plenty of time for the positive aspects of our relationship to flourish. We connect so much better now than we did when we had more limited time together. Additionally, he is getting plenty of intellectual challenge, and has a say in what he learns, so the frustration of being bored and under stimulated is no longer there. There is time for him to take on responsibilities around the house that make him feel important and useful, and there is time for attention to be given to his interests and hobbies, as well as special family time that makes him feel warm and loved. With all of that positive attachment, it’s much harder to get angry and stay angry.

viii) Recognise that some of the difficult behaviour may have another cause or contributing factor and seek to find out what that is. For example, my son is an introvert, as is most of the gifted population. I have learned that when he is getting irritable it is often because he either needs to eat something (he’s got reactive hypoglycaemia, also quite common among the gifted due to the high ‘fuel consumption’ of their brains) or he needs time by himself to recharge his batteries. This is not treated as something punitive, but just as something essential to his well-being. He now recognizes it himself and will say “I need some alone time”, and then take it.

ix) A little humour goes a long way. In the heat of the moment, it is hard to remember that, but cracking a joke or doing something unexpectedly funny, like making a face or changing your voice, can disarm a child who is gearing up for battle.

Remember, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Gifted children are often highly attuned to issues of fairness and justice, particularly, as young children, when those issues concern them personally. As they get older, they often develop considerable empathy and those ideals may be directed toward redressing injustices elsewhere in the world. The child demanding fairness from you now may be tomorrow’s crusader for justice or Nobel Peace Prize contender. Or so you can hope – and a little hope can go a long way in trying times.

Wow, could it be that many of those things that frustrate me as a parent are actually signs that I have a gifted child? That puts things in a whole new perspective for me. What about you?

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Monday, January 11, 2010

States I Have Been To/Through

My friend Amy over at Counting Change Again shared this fun post and she is asking YOU to participate! Go to her blog here to see the post and participate! Just click the “create your own” link below to generate your own map!
wn create your own personalized map of the USA or check out our California travel guide

As you can see, I am not very well traveled and I have only ever lived in 2 states, Indiana and Pennsylvania. I lived in PA for only a few months, so it doesn’t really even count.

How about you?

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Not Me Monday – January 11, 2010

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Without further ado…

It was not me who forgot to put the leftovers from last nights dinner in the fridge and therefore had to give it to the dog this morning.

It was not me that heard from her two older boys that they both do indeed, want mullets?! Apparently, they think it’s a happening hairstyle for young men? I will have to try and talk them out of that one.

It was not me that fed my youngest 3 helpings of steamed, seasoned green beans because I was so excited that he was eating a vegetable that wasn’t from the “french fry” group.

I did not get impatient with my 8yo son today because he moved very slowly through schoolwork. I did not tell him repeatedly to focus, stop dawdling, and just get it done!

I did not let my 20mo toddler run around shirtless for a couple of hours just because I like his chubby belly and mini-love handles.

It is not me that chases my toddler down and restrains him daily to pick his nose because I can’t stand seeing boogies clogging his nostrils.

I am not the one who lays my little one down for naps and bedtime watching a dvd of Yo Gabba Gabba or Blue’s Clues. I am furthermore not the momma who keeps the TV tuned into Nick Jr. all morning and afternoon because it might allow me to get school, laundry, vacuuming done for a few minutes here and there.

It’s not me that still hasn’t taken my toddlers pacifier away, even though he is steadily approaching his 2nd birthday.

I am not a cloth diaper flunkie.

I did not have to scrub dry erase marker off of my living room walls because my toddler got a little color happy.

I think that’s enough airing of my dirty laundry for this week. See you next Monday!

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

A LOOONG day

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It is 6pm here right now.

Isaiah is still doing schoolwork.

He has been moving very slowly all day. We started at 1:30pm.

I am so over it, LOL.

Here’s hoping tomorrow goes more smoothly. Days like this are hard. I try not to get discouraged and frustrated. I try really hard to be patient.

When I woke up this morning, I finished getting things ready for our school day. I had a few things I had forgotten to print. Then I took our filled boxes out of the tub and put them on their racks. Then we had lunch and started school. I feel like I have done nothing but school all day. And later this evening, I still have to refill boxes for tomorrow.

It is days like today that make me want to take tomorrow off! But I will resist the urge.

I hope your Monday has been better than ours! Please pray for me…

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Sunday, January 10, 2010

I Have the Power!!

I receive a devotional in my inbox every day from Lifeway, as well as several other devotions. I don’t always take the time to read them. But today I did. I can’t help but beleive I opened this one for a reason.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may
be enlightened so you may know what
is the hope of His calling. . .
and what is the immeasurable
greatness of His power to us who believe. . .
Ephesians 1:18a,19a, HCSB

Trusting God to help you overcome your sins and shortcomings sounds so spiritual, doesn't it? Turning everything over to God, letting God handle your problems, giving your burdens to the Lord . . . can't argue with the wisdom there.

But when it's just you and your bad temper, or your runaway sex drive, or your weakness for cherry cheesecake, where do you find the strength to say no?

You might not guess it to look at you, but you have available to you--right now--the same kind of power that God "demonstrated . . . in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead" (Ephesians 1:20). And as you begin facing even your toughest challenges with the weapons of prayer, Bible truth, worship, thanksgiving, accountability, and other specific strategies that you'll begin gaining through experience, you'll see sin's deception for what it is, you'll turn your back on habits that have had your number for years, and your heart for instant gratification will be changed into a heart that knows where its power lies.

This Week's Look Up Verse
Ephesians 1:15-19

This devotional is courtesy of One Minute Bible for Starters.

A nice remonder that I am NOT alone in my daily struggles to overcome bad habits and be a Christian, wife, mother, teacher, etc. Tomorrow is Monday. Tomorrow is a new day, A new week. A new chance for me to fail, or succeed.  As I shared my goals in my New Year’s post (found here) and chose a word as my “mantra” for the coming year (which is PEACE), I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. A peaceful life? A peaceful home? There are many days where this seems unattainable. But I do not have to struggle. I do not have to admit defeat and give up. Christ wants me to lean on Him. He wants to share His power and strength with me. That’s right, even ME. Even YOU!

I need to remember the awesome power of prayer everyday, for the big things AND the little things. He is my provision, my power, and my portion. HE is enough.

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Small Talk Six

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Today’s topic is “6 of your most vivid childhood memories.” You can answer this with a list of 6 words, 6 phrases, 6 sentences, 6 paragraphs, 6 photos, 6 videos, etc . . .

 

  1. I vividly remember going to spend time at my grandfather’s cottage on Lake Huron quite often. There were so many fun things to do! We went tubing, rode jet-ski’s, swam, drove around the golf cart, and sat around the fire pit at night. He no longer has the cottage, but while he did, we had a lot of fun there.
  2. I remember riding all over town on my bike as a kid. It’s what we did every day when we had warm weather. It was a different time back then, and I also lived in a little bitty po-dunk town. It makes me sad to think my own children will never be able to experience the kind of childhood I did. It’s such a scary world out there nowadays.
  3. I also recall what it was like being a big sister. I was 8 when my younger sister was born and I thought I was little momma. I wanted to help with/do everything! As she got older, we often played school (I played the mean teacher) and store. I also spent a lot of time teaching her how to count and ABC’s.
  4. I remember trying to tag along with my older brother EVERYWHERE he went. When he actually allowed me to play with him, we mostly played army. We would run around the backyard and throw “grenades” at one another (made out of whatever we could get our hands on at the time) and  argue over who killed who first.
  5. I remember going swimming at Lakeview “beach” all the time in the summer. It was a campground and they had a very small beach you could swim at. They had a great concession stand full of cheap candy and snacks. The best part of it was there were fish in the lake (they had part of the lake sectioned off for fishing) that would nibble you if you were sitting still.
  6. I remember bike wrecks (lots of them always involving my best friend, Joanie), Pogo Balls, Gotchya guns, and Easy Bake ovens. Man, they sure had some great toys when I was a kid!

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Weekly Wrap-up – January 9, 2010

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I used to do these homeschool “Weekly Wrap-ups” on a regular basis and have gotten away form doing them. Since I have a renewed blog and a renewed drive to write more, i thought I should get back into participating!

This post will be short and sweet, as I was sick for the first half of the week and we had a light week of school…

This week we finished up Y1U1 week 4: Creation Through Noah in our TOG curriculum. Our next 2 weeks we will be covering week 5: Babel to Ur: Early History of Ancient Mesopotamia. I already have our activities all planned out and scheduled. All that’s left to do is print our pages and fill the workboxes!

The planning for week 5 went very smooth today. Up until now, it has taken me the better part of a day to get everything figured out and scheduled. I think I am now getting into my own “niche” and have a pretty routine way of going through the curriculum and transferring it into a weekly lesson plan. I am glad I decided to go back to TOG, it has been such a fun journey! I will definitely be staying with TOG this time for the loooong haul (meaning someday I will be doing it all over again with Joey)! I can’t wait til we go through the cycle again when the boys are HS aged and see how much deeper we can go.

We also had a good snow this week so the boys got to bundle up and play outside one afternoon. You can see pictures from their fun here.

We got to read some really great books this past 2 weeks and I want to recommend some to you:

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I am not sure if you find this one to purchase (unless to happen to find a used copy) but you may look for it at your library. Here is a review posted on Amazon:

“In Yellow & Pink . . . Steig has created a pair of characters who seem the embodiments of his bright esthetic. Named for the colors of their freshly painted costumes, Pink and Yellow are wooden dolls left out to dry in the sun. They are odd fellows, bumpkins, incorrigibles, clowns, countrymen of Beckett’s Vladimir and Estragon, Laurel and Hardy. Philosophers both, they no sooner ‘awaken,’ come to life, than they begin to ponder by what means they might have arrived in this world. ‘How,’ Yellow demands . . . ‘could anyone make something like me, so intricate, so perfect? Or, for that matter, like you.’ . . . One marvels at the expressiveness, the nearness to animation, of Steig’s vibrant drawings.” – Leonard S. Marcus, The Washington Post Book World
-- Review

We really enjoyed reading this book and I loved the creative way the author addressed the question of where we came from.

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We could not find this book at our local library, so I purchased it from Amazon. It is the most thorough, accurate children’s book I have read about Noah’s Ark. It is full of extra information in the back and includes a panoramic, pull-out illustration of the inside of the ark. We spent a lot of time just looking at the pictures and noticing all the little details the illustrator included.

The kids also go to design and paint their own coffee cups yesterday. We had purchased the little kits as Christmas presents and had not yet had a chance to paint them. They really enjoyed them.

As I said, it was a light week and we pretty much treated it as a catch-up week. We have much more planned for the next two weeks. I am totally ready to get back into full swing!

Click here to see more Weekly Wrap-up posts. See you next week!

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Looking for fun, free math games?

I stumbled across this site while reading through my feed reader today. I am definitely going to make these games for the boys, I think they would enjoy them!

Storm the Castle math game

Loot the Pirate Ship math game

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Ancient Mesopotamia/Sumeria Study Links

We are getting ready to study Ancient Mesopotamia this week and TOG, so I went lurking around the web to find supporting materials. I found some really great links that I wanted to keep a permanent record of and share with you! Enjoy!

Great page about Sumerian Art and Architecture

Printable PDF file - Make a Model Ziggurat (print on card stock and color, then assemble)

Link list for PowerPoints about Mesopotamia/Sumer

National Geographic Kids – Video

Site about Hammurabi's Code (with translation)

Complete Unit and Lesson Plans

Happy studies!

: ) Cassie

My Babies Have Rhythm!!

Check out this great video of Joey (and Isaiah for a moment) dancing to MC Hammer’s “You Can’t Touch This”… There *might* be a short scene of me doing the “Hammer Dance” but please close your eyes on that part, LOL!

Blessings,

: )  Cassie

My Snow Babies

We had a pretty decent snow here on Thursday. Which meant the kids were DYINGT to go out and play in it. I was hesitant because I had no clue which box in my closet held all of thier snow gear and we have yet to purchase any of them snow boots this year.

But the hubby helped me dig out their snow pants, mittens, and hats so they could go out. Joey only had a nice warm coat, mittens, and a hat. SO we put sweats on him under bib overalls and pair of rain boots that are 2 sizes too big. Not the ideal outfit, but it worked well wnough for him to go out for a bit. This was the first time he has gone out in the snow. I thought I would share some pictures with you. Some of them are a bit blurry, i apologize. I was taking some from inside the back door through the window. I did not step one foot out in it, I’m not a fan of cold nor snow.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Thursday 13 – Week 53

image 13 of My Favorite Foods

1. Pioneer Woman’s Mac and Cheese (recipe here)

2. Homemade bread

3. Fruit Roll-Ups

4. Loaded Baked Potatoes

5. CoCo Wheats

6. Reisen’s candies

7. Greek Salad (ala Olive Garden)

8. Soft Pretzels from the mall

9. Homemade Snickerdoodles

10. Filet Mignon or Ribeye

11. Pulled Pork BBQ

12. McDonald’s Fries (when they are fresh and hot and salty)

13. Broccoli w/ alfredo sauce

The worst part is, I am really hungry as I am typing this and I have NONE of these things in my house right now :(

Wondering what Thursday 13 is all about?

Find out more here: About Thursday 13
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Funnies From Bloggyland…

I was perusing through my many followed blogs today, and came across a link to this hilariously true post: Lessons Learned from Toddlerhood Check it out for a good laugh!

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Wow, what a day!!

So this morning, I awoke to the sound of a knock on my door. It was the FedEx guy returning my laptop to me, which had been sent to HP for repairs. I had stayed up too late last night (see previous post) so I was not up yet and had to rush down the stairs to get to the door before he left with my laptop. I was expecting it, so I knew who was knocking. I’m glad it woke me up.
When I came downstairs, got my laptop from the delivery guy, and turned around to walk back up the stairs, I stopped cold. Why? What did I see?
In my dining area, I have 2 tall, black bookcases. We had 3 but lost one in the move. One of the others had been dangerously close to collapsing, so we reinforced it with metal brackets, hoping to make it last a bit longer. We thought it was working out well, but apparently we were wrong…
The entire bookcase had collapsed in the middle of the night and was crumbled into a book-laden mess on the floor! This happens to be the bookcase with 4 of the 5 shelves packed full of books. It was a mess! So I went and got Joey out of bed and took him back upstairs with his Daddy to hang out while I cleaned up the mess.
It took me about half an hour to get everything off the floor and I had to rearrange my other bookcase in order to find a place for all the books. That left quite a few other items without a home.
We managed to get through the school day without any major mishaps, though I did have to shoo Joey out of things more often than usual because things were here and there. Later in the evening, we decided to run to Wal Mart and grab a few grocery items. I also had 2 things to return.
We got all of our groceries and then made our way over to the furniture aisle to see what kind of shelving they had that was in the same price range as the money I had received from my returns.
Let me take this moment to share a public service announcement with you. The bookcases I had were tall, 5-shelf bookcases. The brand was Wal-Mart’s mainstays brand. IF you like to rearrange your furniture on occasion, or move around a lot, do NOT purchase these shelves!! The price is great at around $30, BUT they will not last very long. The 2 older ones that collapsed of mine were just shy of 2 years. We have moved dwellings twice since purchasing them, and I can’t even tell you how many times they have been rearranged since purchased. They did not hold up well. Spend the extra money and buy a nicer bookcase, I beg you! The reason they are not sturdy is because the side pieces are actually not one solid board. They are 2 separate pieces. Here are the bookcases in question…
imageTo make a long story short, I decided to buy a smaller, 3-shelf version (which we also already owned one of) to get me by until I can afford a nicer set of bookcases that will not fall apart on me. The bad part about them is they had NO black shelves in stock and I had to have a replacement ASAP as I had lots of things without a home.
It ended up just fine though and I really like the shorter shelving. It makes the room look less cluttered, which is always a good thing. I will try to take pictures tomorrow. I spent another 2 hours after we got home assembling the shelf and arranging my things exactly where I wanted them. Yeah, I’m a little OCD, so sue me.
The silver lining through all this was that the shelves collapsed in the middle of the night while we were all asleep. That heavy pile of books could of really hurt one of us if we were in the way when it came down, especially Joey. Once again, God was looking out for us!
I’m hoping for an uneventful day tomorrow!

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

WHY am I still awake?

It’s 2:30 here and I am sitting up on bed blogging.

NO, I am not up TO BLOG. I am blogging because I am up! Hehe, convinced? But seriously, I JUST finished getting things in workboxes for school tomorrow. I don’t know why I do this to myself. But hey, they are done and we are all set to complete a full day of lessons tomorrow, that’s what counts, right?

I had been contemplating going back to my old system of “doing school” over the past week or so. Sometimes it takes so very long to get my act together and get those boxes filled. I think the biggest reason is because it is hard on some days to find 12 separate activities for each boy to do. I spend a lot of time scouring my favorite printables sites to find fun, relative things for them to do to fill in those extra few empty boxes. So I decided I would try mixing workboxes in with my previous way of doing things. I used a binder system, with pockets for each day of the week, prefilled with the entire week’s work. I thought I would put our normal workpage type work in those then put some extra fun things in the workboxes, maybe 6 per boy, that they could do while they were waiting to work with me or after finishing all their other work. It didn’t work out. Wondering why? Because I can’t find those darn binders anywhere! I know I didn’t throw them out (I never throw school stuff out, just ask my husband) but I just don’t know where they could be! Well, they COULD be in any one of several boxes stacked up in my closet. But I don’t need to find them badly enough to drag the entire contents of my walk-in out at 11pm. So, for now, we are sticking with workboxes.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the system. I just think I put too much pressure on myself to get all 12 boxes filled with fun and interesting things for the boys to do. Drew is a whiner during school time, so it’s nice when he is excited to do anything school-related. So i guess I only have myself to blame.

Anyhow, are you enjoying my late-night ramblings? I would already be sleeping now if it were not for the fact that I only ate 2 meals today and skipped dinner. My tummy is rumbling. So I am having a little snack then it’s off to sleep I go!

Here’s hoping our school time tomorrow goes well, it will be our first real day back from break (we did fun, computer schooling yesterday). I will likely be fighting some negative attitudes from my eldest.

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Monday, January 4, 2010

Not Me Monday

One of my goals for 2010 is to write more. In search of new inspiration I came across another new meme that I have decided to participate in. I have enjoyed reading other participant’s posts for some time now and thought it would be fun!

NotMeMondaySIDEBAR180x180

You can learn more about this meme by clicking on the logo above.

I did NOT skip lessons today because I spent hours trying to figure out what to do about my blog issues. (I DID however, decide to stay here on blogger with a fresh start and keep all of my older posts on a different site which is linked to on the “Old Blog” button in my header.)

I did NOT allow my 20mo son to eat 6 packages of fruit snacks today.

I did NOT allow my children to play video games (Wii) before their standard 8pm scheduled time.

I did NOT allow my 20mo “growing way too fast” baby boy to take a nap at 7pm this evening just because he fell asleep on my lap (and it’s been a LONG time since he has done that).

I did NOT hit my elbow so hard about 30 minutes ago that it made me sick to my stomach. And yes, it still hurts! :(

I did NOT fold all my laundry but leave it in piles in the living room.

I did NOT have to discipline my oldest son this afternoon for telling his brother, “I hate you” and calling him a butthead because he got mad over a video game (see above).

Yep. I think that’s enough for today. Don’t you just LOVE Mondays? Sigh.

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Small Talk Six

I used to participate in quite a few weekly memes and really enjoyed them. Sadly, most of them are no longer active. I happened upon a new one today and I thought it sounded like a fun meme to be a part of!

image3This weeks assignment is to blog about 6 ways you have decided to change your life in 2010. I did a post a few days ago about my new goals for the new year, but I have had a little more time to think about them now. Some are going to be taken from that post, and others are not. Here we go!

1. I have decided to commit to getting organized in all areas of my life and keeping it that way!

2. I will wear a smile and a pleasant demeanor more in 2010 than I did in 2009. Can I add to that that I will wear sweats/pajamas less? I dunno, that might be stretching it a bit…

3. I will write, write, WRITE! Whether it be here on the blog(s), for HOTM, or for whatever other sources I come across, I want to write more, and write WELL.

4. I want to find a good system (for myself and my children) for housework and chores. One that we can stick to for longer than a week. One that means I am not the only person responsible for the cleanliness (or the lack thereof) of our home. Have any suggestions? I hate to beg, but PLEASE will you comment and share?

5. I am laying down the law (again for myself and my children). School is top priority in our day! Nothing fun or extra til it’s done! Hmmm, I wonder if that should include blogging…

6. I want to get back to cooking and baking like I used to. I have fallen into making a lot of shortcut meals and convenience foods for lack of planning or time. Here lately, I just want a nice, home cooked meal! I miss them. A couple of times a week is not enough. Yeah, I know it takes longer and makes a bigger mess, but that’s what the organization and chores are for!

It was really hard to narrow this down into 6 choices, but I think these goals really share my heart for want I want for my family. I know it will not be easy, but the good news is, I don’t have to do it on my own! Thankfully, I have my Savior to help me out (otherwise I wouldn’t stand a chance)!

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

Friday, January 1, 2010

Counting Our Blessings

My husband called me from work on his lunch break a while ago and gave me some very scary news. Last night, at the work release center he is a CO at, an inmate was shot in the top of the head by a stray bullet that came through the steel roof of the facility. People in the surrounding area were shooting their guns off to ring in the new year, and a total of 3 bullets came into the facility. Luckily, there was only one injury. The bullet was slowed down enough by the steel roof that it did not penetrate the man’s skull. He was taken to the hospital to have the bullet removed and get staples to close the wound.

I am thanking God that no one was killed or seriously injured in the accident. I am also thanking Him that my husband was at home last night when this happened.

There is a law against shooting firearms within city limits here, but on new years eve, it is largely ignored. We even heard gunshots close by our apartments last night! Thank God none of them came our way.

Thank You Lord for Your protection! I pray a speedy recovery for the man that was injured and that he comes into relationship with you through this miraculous incident.

Blessings,

: ) Cassie

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