Simple Woman's Daybook~~Feb. 16, 2010

The daybook has moved to Tuesday, so I didn’t miss it after all! Hurray!

FOR TODAY Feb. 16, 2010...

Outside my window...is snow, snow, and more snow!

I am thinking...how grateful I am that we got home safely from our three-day trip to Indiana where . . . guess what? . . . it was snowing most of the way home. Toward the end we could hardly see the road, and it was dark on top of that. But my husband and the Lord saw us safely home.

I am thankful for...my son-in-law, who is making my daughter very, very happy.

From the learning rooms...We are taking a much-needed break this week, though we will probably do some science experiments later in the week.

From the kitchen...oven fried chicken, biscuits, gravy, mashed potatoes, and peas.

I am wearing...my jeans that are too old to wear outside of the house (lol), purple sweater, my tried and true gold hoop earrings, and slippers.

I am creating...pillows for my daughter’s (Girl 1’s) couch. I haven’t made much headway on them, but at least they are started! I finished knitting another dishcloth.

I am going...nowhere today. It’s too snowy to drive, and I maintain the privilege of not driving on snowy roads. Tomorrow, my daughter (Girl 2) and I plan to hit the end-of-winter sales in search of a new coat for her . . . if my husband will take us, that is!

I am reading...Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge. I bought this at the library sale for $2. I’ve heard so much about this author and am excited to try her out. So far, so good!

I am hoping...that interest in our house picks up. It’s been on the market for nearly two months, but we haven’t seen much activity yet. Could it be the weather?
On my mind…how glad I am to be home.

Noticing that…the flowers my husband gave me for Valentine’s Day (a bit early because we were out-of-town of Valentine’s Day proper) are beginning to fade.

Pondering these words… http://www.aei.org/article/23397 It encourages me to redouble my efforts at educating my own child and the students in my classes!

I am hearing...not a thing. The house is unusually silent.

Around the house...My main housekeeping days are Thursday and Friday, so I rarely have anything to say regarding this category. Laundry tomorrow.

One of my favorite things...my own bed. Hotel beds are just not the same.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Take daughter shopping, housework, school planning, reading maybe some sewing. This week is pretty low key because it’s a break week.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...The snowy Indiana landscape (courtesy of Girl 2)











Read more daybooks at Peggy's!

Valentine's Day 2010

We don’t make much fuss over Valentine’s Day at our house, but I wanted to show you what Man of the House got me for Valentine’s Day. Just the touch of spring I needed! He’s the best!

More Commonplaces

Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.~~Martin Luther

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Some things are worth knowing on their own account; but others, although apparently offering no return for our trouble, should not be neglected, because without them the former cannot be thoroughly mastered. Learn everything; you will afterwards discover that nothing is superfluous; limited knowledge affords no enjoyment.~~Hugh of St. Victor

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Were earthly comforts permanent, who would look for heavenly?~~Anne Bradstreet

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Cleanliness and order are not matters of instinct; they are matters of education, and like most great things, you must cultivate a taste for them.~~Benjamin Disraeli

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Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.~~Frederic Bastiat

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY February 8, 2010

Outside my window... The sun is shining and the snow is melting.

I am thinking...Of the guest lecture I am giving tomorrow (twice!) condensing the last 1500 years of music history into 90 minutes!

I am thankful for...So much, but especially for my wonderful, hard-working husband.

From the learning rooms...Trying to fit in dd’s piano lesson today~~I’ve put it off a bit and it’s time to catch up!

From the kitchen...An early dinner of tacos. On Mondays, we leave the house at 5:00 to get my daughter to her confirmation class at our church a half hour away, so dinner must be simple.

I am wearing...a burgundy sweater and a new denim skirt I bought this weekend. It was definitely time for a new one! The old one was becoming embarrassing. lol

I am creating...pillows for my married daughter’s couch . . . at last! I haven’t made much progress yet, but at least I’ve started.

I am going...To take my daughter to the aforesaid confirmation class and grocery shop while she’s there.

I am reading...Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Englightenment by James R. Gaines

I am hoping...That everything goes well tomorrow.

On my mind…This post from Gene Edward Veith’s blog.

Noticing that…it gets harder and harder as the winter wears away to get up while it’s still dark.

Pondering these words…all of Psalm 112, which we sang in church yesterday, but especially these words: “He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD” (verse 7).

I am hearing...The clack-clack of dd’s old typewriter as she works on some schoolwork. (She loves her old Remington her grandma and grandpa gave her at Christmas!)

Around the house...Nothing in particular. Housework is under control; laundry day is Tuesday. Monday’s are days I do a lot of preparation for teaching my classes.

One of my favorite things...Violets. Our neighborhood goes wild with them in April. The deep purple against the deep green is gorgeous! I love old-fashioned flowers.

A few plans for the rest of the week: We are leaving on Saturday to do more house hunting in our destination town. I won’t be able to post next Monday. :-(

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...Our new baby! lol We traded our six-foot grand for this this little model. We moved that monstrosity in this house, and we didn’t want to move it out! This will be much easier when the time comes.


















Thanks to Peggy!

My Commonplace Book

As people have done for centuries, I keep a commonplace book. I got the idea few years ago as a place to record interesting quotations I’ve read and wanted to remember but had nowhere to go with. So I hied myself to the bookstore and bought an elegant blank book and have been filling it ever since. Though not exactly like this one, it looks very similar. From time to time I’ll share some of the gems I have stored there. Here are a few for today:

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.~~Thomas Edison

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Thou has commanded that an ill-regulated mind should be its own punishment.~~St. Augustine

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Perhaps the greatest gift any father can bestow upon his children, apart from the covenant blessings of parish life and a comprehension of the doctrines of grace, is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives a knowledge of the world, and it offers experience of a wide kind. Indeed, it is nothing less than a moral illumination.~~Thomas Chalmers

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Trouble is often the means whereby God delivers us. God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our destruction, and He in mercy sends the rod. We say, “Lord, why is this?” not knowing that our trouble has been the means of delivering us from far greater evil. Many have thus been saved from ruin by their sorrows and crosses.~~Charles Spurgeon

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Photo from allposters.com

How Our State’s Required Annual Evaluation Undermines Our Homeschooling

The great state of _________ requires every homeschooled student between the ages of six and sixteen to undergo either yearly standardized testing or a portfolio evaluation. For many reasons (which I may go into at some other time), we’ve chosen the portfolio option for Girl 2. Some years we’ve done both. After six years, I can tell you that the yearly evaluation undermines rather than enhances my teaching of our younger daughter. Here’s how: I believe that Girl 2 is one of those non-mathematically inclined children who would have greatly benefitted from waiting for formal mathematics until age ten or so, but because we are required by the state to submit either a standardized test score or a portfolio evaluation of her math studies and abilities, we could not wait until age ten. So we’ve plunged ahead, working slowly and painstakingly through many a math lesson, sometimes with tears (on both our parts!) and with Girl 2’s growing dread and dislike of math. She declares at least once a week that she hates math and is bad at it. And I can only wonder how she’d feel about it if she’d been allowed to wait until she was ready for it, until her brain had matured and she’d stand a better chance of excelling. She might not love it, but I doubt she’d be convinced that she is a math dunce. The moral of the story: Sometimes the government’s attempts to improve education actually hinder it.

Simple Woman's Daybook--Feb. 1, 2010

FOR TODAY~~Feb. 1, 2010



Outside my window... The sun is shining even though it was a chilly 14 degrees when I woke up this morning!

I am thinking... about my daughter’s upcoming 13th birthday and how 13 years ago today was her due date.

I am thankful for... Any and all sunshine we see at this time of year!

From the learning rooms... We are four lectures away from finishing our Viking study using The Teaching Co.’s The Vikings.

From the kitchen... Spaghetti

I am wearing... Jeans and a brown sweater, slippers (just like a couple Mondays ago! lol)

I am creating... Dare I say it? More dishcloths. lol It takes me a long time to finish one because I only have a few minutes to knit each day (if that).

I am going... On Mondays we take my daughter to confirmation class, and then my dh and I hit Wal-Mart or the grocery stores. Today is a Wal-mart day. I also need to make a quick stop at the post office.

I am reading... The Jan./Feb. issue of Touchstone magazine. I’m almost finished. (Not much reading time this past week.)

I am hoping... For an early spring.

On my mind ... Our upcoming move

Noticing that... I like the idea of winter more than I like winter itself!

Pondering these words... by Theodore Roosevelt: "Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are."

I am hearing... The birds chirping at the bird feeder.

Around the house... I’m hoping to give the mud room a good cleaning this week.

One of my favorite things... Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

A few plans for the rest of the week: Finish up our homeschool support group newsletter, prepare a guest lecture on the history of classical music for next week
(1000 years of music history in 90 minutes. Yikes!)

Here is picture for thought I am sharing... This is a picture of my two daughters taken a couple years ago. The younger turns 13 this week.













Simple Woman's Daybook courtesy of Peggy!