Ohh, my first guest blog post thingy! How cool!

I originally wrote this ditty on how to organize one's eBooks and then a new bloggie pal asked if I would mind having her highlight it on her blog-well of course, I am honored!

So please take a moment and visit the Shining Dawn Books post (of my post) and then take some time to look around this awesome site!  They have some unit studies called NaturExplorers that look really interesting.  This is especially timely, because I want to really get some more nature studying in with the kids.  I also see they offer up some useful ideas and books for nature study (and I have to second the Keeping a Nature Journal book recommendation-it is beautiful- and just so happens to be our main text for our co-op's nature study class!)

Thanks ladies~wish you lived closer, it would be so nice to meet ya, and hang out-seems our hopes and goals for homeschoolers is pretty much the same!

Mother's Day Gifts-Tea Cup Bird Feeders

I found this neat idea on my friend Heidi's blog, and just couldn't resist making a few for Mother's Day.  I ended up making myself a couple too!  Why not?  So the only thing I tweaked was the post.  I saw some metal rods right by where I was getting the copper caps at the hardware store, and knew that is what I wanted.  They are zinc plated, smooth rods (1/2") and will do nicely for us.  Then the hardest part of the craft mission-well, that was finding the darn tea cups!  Now I have been seeing these big mugs all over the place and sure thing-when I wanted to actually buy some-I couldn't find any! Well, I did find a few but they were way too spency~ and I just about gave up.  I spent an entire day hunting well over 7 or more stores to try to find them-I couldn't believe it~ but isn't that the way it goes?  Then the Lord popped "donation store" into my head.  So I gave the local Salvation Army a quick call and sure enough-they had several of them~! Whoop it up.  So off I went and I had fun trying to mix and match cups to plates.  Then I went back for another plate, similar to the house/maroon one because I couldn't get it out of my mind-and I knew it was perfect for my mom.  [the blue polka dot one was what I originally wanted for her, I found out it was simply too heavy and I worry it will fall off, or the cap will pop off due to the weight. So, I have decided to use that one as a ground or deck hand railing feeder.  In fact, I am giving my  MIL the option between 2 (one being the blue polka dot one) b/cuz she has trouble with raccoons in her feeders, so this way she can just pull it in at night.  Plus, there are not a lot of areas in her yard where a feeder on a pole could be seen (for her to enjoy watching the birds)...so that is where we are at with these.

I don't have a pic of my mom's here-it is similar but with a boat/bay theme (similar to the house one in the lower right of the pic) with a white cup.

The top one is what I originally thought for my MIL, the watermelon is for me.  I just love the whimsical nature of it and am a big fan of watermelons (even tho I am not into the taste of em-I like the colors)

The top one is mine too (for the front yard) I just love it~ and I couldn't believe I found that cup which looks like it was made for it.  The heavy weight champion of the group-ole Polka Dottie.  

Thanks to Heidi for linking that project, as I was in a bad state of affairs trying to think of something original and unique to give the mums this year.  I am planning on making a few more for birthday gifts....this is a very versatile gift!  

Another Let's Get Real here post

Just a few things that I find so annoying and down right irritating:
1. Swallowing a sip of water, but having an explosion of air somehow get ahead of the liquid, to have the water go down so painfully that you feel like you swallowed an elephant.

2.  People who mosey themselves up right in front of you, seeing quite well, that you were there first in line-to just whoosh by ya and claim the "next in line" spot.  Almost as bad as those folks who do not know what "Personal Space" is...you know the ones...practically breathing down you neck as you are trying to swipe your goodies at the self-check out, looking all impatient like, to then being in your face as you try to make your payment.  THOSE people (and gosh I hope you dear reader are not one of those, if you are-back off please).

3.  Neighbors who think your backyard is their personal sidewalk to get to the other neighbor's yard.  Esp. those who feel it necessary to walk but a mere 5 or less feet from the back of the house...several times a day.  I do not like that I have to now go to (supposedly) these adults to lecture them on proper yard etiquette, and look like a crabby neighbor because we do not enjoy the invasion of our space.  The rudeness now creates a difficult situation that somehow will make us the bad guys.  Yes, after a whole summer/fall of that last year-I am speaking up.  I am sorry, but we do not weed/feed/mow, and pay for a yard so you can stand there and have your chats, drag wagons and dogs and children back and forth and have you invade our privacy-esp. when we are trying to have a family dinner in peace.  Ah-that felt good to unload.

4.  Folks who simply cannot read a "No Soliciting" sign and understand I mean NO soliciting!  I cannot tell you how many people I have leaving their flyers, or ringing the doorbell to sell us something we do not want! If we want it-we will find you...thank you very much.

5.  Toilet chains that fall off continuously to render the toilet to a constant state of running-which costs us more money cuz we pay for water.

6.  Fruit and veggies that look marvelous on the outside, but are bruised and or damaged to the point that I have to say-"great, there goes [such and such] dollars down the toilet [probably the one with the faulty chain]"
leaving us fruitless or veggieless for that situation and upset because we were unable to get our monies worth.

7.  Carpal Tunnel in the hands,  and fingers. Numbness and tingly digits are not what I consider exciting-esp. when I know I have lots of hands on activities to do.

8.  Lady Bugs [which are really those impostors with the orange backs-where did all the red ones go?] that decide to stay in your home over the winter, free of charge-to either die or leave themselves scattered about...to then get sucked up the vacuum to stink.  Or poo on your windows.  Oh Ladybirds-fly away, fly away home.

9.  Telemarketers. Need I say more?

10.  Bats. Not that I am against these creatures in their natural settings-but I am so against them shacking up in our attic space, to scratch, squeak and leave a disaster up there.  To torture our family with the threat of being swooped upon in our sleep [thankfully, they haven't broke thru] or to leave me with nightmares of having the biggest colony in the county up there.  The cost it will take to now get rid of these home invaders, plus the cost of replacing the insulation up there because their poo and the fungus' it creates.  Yes, just another day in the neighborhood.

So there you go-my ranting and raving for the month.

Now to be fair-I have to say that: I praise God...

1. Because I have clean drinking water to painfully swallow
2. I have enough money [barely lately but still] to be at the store making food purchases
3. My husband still has a job so that we still have a back yard
4. We have a doorbell/door solicitors can approach to sell their wares
5. We have a toilet to use, in a house that has water
6. We live in a country where there is a wide variety of fruits and veggies available from which to select from, due to the vast amount of free market [well at least for now] and transportation to provide such things
7.  I have hands and fingers that work-let alone actually having them to begin with
8.  That there are good bugs to eat the bad bugs and they look good doing it
9.  That we have caller ID and a list of standard "no thanks" we can apply to those that slip past the caller ID
10.  That there are bats that eat the pesky squitos and such that are most annoying of all.  That we have an attic to even be concerned over when many a families no longer have a door mat-let alone an attic.  [speaking of foreclosures, fires, natural disasters like in TN and so forth]

SO I guess it is up to me to decide if I will dwell on the negative aspects or remember the positives...it is fun to spew the frustration, but it is all done in jest.  As annoying and overburdening these things can be-I praise GOD that we have them at all.

Have a blessed day and stay real folks-stay real.

How do you instill the love of learning in your child?

Finally-I have some spare moments to pen a response to this great Blog Cruise series.

The topic is "How do you instill the love of learning in your child?" but I think I will switch that up to the opposite end of the spectrum to

HOW CAN YOU DESTROY THE INNATE LOVE OF LEARNING IN YOUR CHILD?

Because that really is where the heart of the matter is...the adults coming in and paving over the natural wonder and curiosity that the Lord has woven so beautifully into our children. Think about how an infant's face just lights up with well-just about anything interesting-that toy you are dangling in their face, big brother or sissy "showing them something" as they place it just a mere centimeter or 2  from their eyes, the cat sailing by overhead-due to you finding it with it's face 2" deep into the cereal bowl that was left there by your lovely husband, and so forth (now you must know that I am being over the top silly with these examples, but you should get my meaning).  They light up because of the wonderment of it all-after all, it isn't a chore to watch, investigate and explore their world.  It is a joy.

So how does one destroy that love?  Well, stroll thru some mistakes many have made and will continue to make.  Mind you, I have either witnessed these acts or (more often than not) found myself committing them. I have swung from the more rigid way to instruct (pretty much reproducing a school in my home) to not much structure at all (usually due to burnout, situations that required my undivided attention and well-no longer having that joy within me either).....and after so many years on this homeschool trek-I can say with some confidence that these are the best ways to

DESTROY THE LOVE of learning-and if it is your personal mission to do so, then by all means (I say this in love my friends-in love)

1.  Never, under any circumstance veer off the scheduled lesson plans for the day-ever.  Doing so may disrupt their thinking and circumvent them into becoming "behind" in their subjects.

2. Ignore the child(ren)'s individual interests and likes when considering what you will cover each school year, the materials you will use to expound this information, and the approach to which you use. This stupid train of thought must be avoided at all costs.

3.  Continue on your way through the said planned material, pounding in this vital information because the teacher's guide says you must, your neighbor expects you to, and it's just what "we must do"-even though you have lost the attention of your student(s) and their eyes have long been glazed over.  This one is a sure bet here...after all no better way to slay the love than to beat it with a dead horse.

4.  Make it a federal crime if the student moves away from the desk and chair you have so carefully set up in your little "classroom away from classroom" spot. The punishment must match the crime-therefore, have them experience step 3 until 7 pm at nite and perhaps even on Saturdays, until you are confident that they have learned this valuable lesson.  No one ever learns anything unless glued to a chair for at least 8 straight hours (minus a 30 min. lunch and a few bathroom breaks) with shoulders squared, back straight, eyes forward and lips zipped-EVER!  Remember that-

5.  Have your homeschool completely devoid of any worthy reading material that is not found deep within a textbook or is not on the "list" of to dos.  Use only "Snippet Sources" from which they are to "learn from"-never offer well-written literature that is considered "above their heads" or that requires more than 15 minutes to complete. The child(ren) simply could not handle that sort of thing.  Do not read aloud to your students after they turn the rip old age of 7-after that point, they are to be carrying the burden themselves. They should never experience the nightmare of closeness, the invitation to crawl up on your lap, or to snuggle around you-all the while YOU, the teacher, are reading to them. And especially never let a child over 12 do this (I doubt highly the lap crawling would apply, so this addresses the snuggling or frankly, just being in the room with you whilst you are reading)-it may taint them for their entire lives.  They do not (repeat DO NOT) need to hear the stories read aloud-they do not need to listen to the inflections and voice changes you would normally apply to the under 7 category-it simply will not suffice in creating a well-rounded individual.

6..  Here is a true winner in this onslaught attack against that crazy notion of "loving to learn"...these are sneaky and destructive annoyances that you must be sure to keep far, far away from your children.  Never, ever, ever use anything remotely close to what one would consider to be:  a toy (I mean not even blocks-they are of no real value anyhow), a non-educational games (because if it were educational, the game company would be sure to note that on the box), an outdoor adventure during regularly scheduled school hours (like I dunno-taking a nature walk at 1 pm when they should be in the classroom being drilled in their multiplication facts), fun (oh it hurt to write that word) activities like baking (ouch) or crazy craft projects (you know the kind-ones that have no lesson plans or ultimate goal to teach something important) or the likes. And by all means-never let the child(ren) experience the "hookey" syndrome-you know, where you toss the day to the wind and watch it blow across the field like a bad thought. Where you just poo-poo anything "schooly" and hit the movie theater, spend the afternoon at the park, or lazing around the homestead doing (dare I say?) NOTHING!  Yes, that is the worse of the worst kind of events that will throw your education train right off the tracks, and into the river below.  If exposed to such things, the child(ren) will never want to return to their main studies-it will spoil them like the hot sun aimed at an egg salad sandwich. Besides, the guilt you (the instructor) will experience is beyond painful-it will rip you apart and destroy your capability to effectively teach again.

7. And lastly-never put school aside to relieve yourself of the pressure.  You must never give yourself a break, or take a couple days to re-evaluate the goals, direction or failures/accomplishments of your little family's educational trek-never.  It will cause a riot in the home and the children will never again want to return to anything remotely close to a schedule or routine.  You do not need to refresh and renew yourself-you are a robot, and have no right to require any time what-so-ever to not spend your entire day/life thinking upon, pondering and planning the education of your children.  It violates the very nature of a really great mother/wife and teacher.  There is nothing else out there besides that and to even consider taking a few days to do something that interests you, is beyond comprehension and a total violation of the soul.  You'd be selfish and self-absorbed to want to spend a few waking hours not devoting yourself to the future success of your children, or to spend a moment or two with your lovely husband.  There simply is no time for self-care, marriage-care or simply having no cares for even a moment.  It is un-motherly of you and you should squelch those desires immediately-IMMEDIATELY- then feel guilty for pondering such foolish thoughts.

There you have it-7 ways to flush the love of learning right out of your children's very nature.  If you don't believe these time tested activities will do it-try em out for yourself.  It will make a believer out you-it surely will.

Be sure to read what my TOS mates have to offer concerning this very subject-just click the Blog Cruise Icon above to get to our TOS Crew Review homepage!