Archive for March, 2009

• “Heather Needs….”

  Date: 2009.03.30 | Category: personal | Response: 0

  Google  “(yourname) needs” and find a laugh or two.

  Just what Heather needs – an eccentric beauty parlour owner as her ‘official spokesperson’

  Heather needs help. Heather reflects on her dismissal from Charm School!

  Heather Needs Some Body…Guards.

  Heather needs a fan club

  Heather needs a family. It is crucial that Heather finds her permanent family as soon as possible so that she can get the treatment that she so desperately needs.

  Looks like Heather needs surgery!

  Heather ‘needs £10000 a day’

  Heather needs to know ASAP if your child will be
  attending

  Heather needs a caffeine injection straight to the veins to kick it into gear this morning!

  Heather Needs to Start Looking at the Camera

  This is a grassroots campaign and Heather needs your financial support to get her message to the voters

• Unfortunately….

  Date: 2009.03.27 | Category: Uncategorized | Response: 1

  The latest game on Facebook is to google “Unfortunately, (your name)” and see what comes up.

  Unfortunately, Heather’s lungs don’t like the smoke either, but doing the race was part of her training plan so there she was.

  Unfortunately, Heather was only able to pass the reading component of the tests. This failure, however, did not discourage Heather, but served instead to make her even more determined to reach her goal.

  Unfortunately, Heather did not win. . Michael J Fox has bid his farewell to Spin City. What does this mean for Heather???

  Unfortunately, heather like full to partial sun, so this may not work for her.

  Unfortunately, Heather did not see it that way and it took many efforts to persuade her that she was just what this new band was looking for.

  Unfortunately, Heather was playing the nice role, and let her team mate sabotage both of them.

  Unfortunately, Heather’s first job didn’t work out.

  In a world filled with many many dim light bulbs (unfortunately), Heather is simply one of the brightest ones shining. She is amazingly intelligent, …

  Unfortunately, Heather lost the ability to transform into Sasquatch.

  Unfortunately, Heather didn’t do enough baking.

  Unfortunately, Heather’s mother is too busy getting established as the local veterinarian and her father too obsessed with his new sailboat for either of them to pay much attention to her predicament.

• Baked Fish with Mushrooms

  Date: 2009.03.27 | Category: Recipe | Response: 0

  *Fast*  This is a 30 minute meal.

  1 lb fresh or frozen fish fillets or steaks, cut 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick

  salt

  1 c sliced fresh mushrooms

  1/2 c sliced green onion

  1/4 tsp dried tarragon, crushed

  2 Tbsp margarine or butter

  Paprika

  Thaw fish if frozen. Arrange in 12×7 baking dish, turning under thin edges. Sprinkle with salt. Cook mushrooms, onion, and tarragon in butter till tender.  Spoon over fish. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake covered 450* oven for 6-10 min, till fish flakes easily with fork.  Makes 4 servings.

  (from page 171 of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook book, but I don’t have a copy right date because that page was ripped from my book years ago.)

  To complete the meal– serve bread,  potatoes, and  steamed brocoli or a garden salad.

• Link for teachers

  Date: 2009.03.22 | Category: Preschool | Response: 0

  http://www.teachertube.com

  Basically it’s the best of the educational videos from youtube. Includes clips from everywhere from Challenger Space Learning Center to School House Rock. Major subject areas covered. Check it out!

• Our little Preschool

  Date: 2009.03.04 | Category: Preschool | Response: 2

  A friend of mine from “way back” in college asked if I’d post pictures of my home school area.  We don’t have the luxury to have a dedicated home school room (or level)  but we do have the luxury of  setting up “learning centers” throughout the house.  No doubt the twins will be well-educated in 2009-2010.

  Main Instruction Area: located in the family room, the main instruction area consists of a table from Target, two painted laundry soap buckets with covered cushions, and an ottoman for the teacher.  The seating doubles as storage. The chalkboard/white board easel also will hold drawing paper.  The file cabinet stores a year’s worth of lesson plans and sponge activities.  Next to the file cabinet is a five-drawer office organizer where the girls have their own “drawer” to place completed work.  No more piles of random drawings on the work table or floor.  The organizer also houses some art/craft supplies.  On top of the file cabinet is a monthly calendar on which we record significant events of the week, along with a CD player/radio. A canvas bag near the love seat stores library books and materials.  The large entertainment center stores instructional videos, and more importantly hides bins of educational toys, games, puzzles, and family activities.

  

  Main Instruction Area: Can you find 6 storage areas?

  

  More educational opportunities hide in this cabinet.

  Fine Arts Area:

  

  Dress Up Center

  Music and Drama are core to our family’s existence, so it made sense when Rob suggested that the empty formal dining room be transformed into the Fine Arts Area. A variety of princess, ballerina, pilgrim, and soldier outfits are available.

  The musical instruments in the formal living room include many typical percussion and wind instruments.  We often create our own music as well as sing, play, and dance along with the masters.

  

  Housekeeping Area: Rob is amazing. Give the man a string of Christmas lights and he can transform anything. (Remember our engagement?) Engagements aside, the Christmas lights add a magical aura to the drab unfinished basement.  A section of carpet contains the “outdoor” play house and kitchen appliances, play food, and baby doll equipment.  Around the corner we have a double bookcase full of other toys and educational equipment, with a third shelving unit for craft supplies.

  

  Play Kitchen

  

  Multicultural Awareness: I’m not sure what the educational buzzword for Geography is these days, but the map on the wall and globe ball (which will hang at the correct angle for rotation) are in the basement.  I will attempt to introduce the twins to several different cultures, to increase global awareness, and to develop and understanding of US Geography. As an aside, I also have geographical place mats.

  

  Geography

  Physical Education: Increasing the heart rate of a 3.5 year old is usually not a problem, but if you’re worried about muscle atrophy let me reassure you.  The unfinished basement has room for the girls to ride their tricycles and small bikes indoors during inclement weather.  We have a slide and a (currently) empty sand turtle which may later have dry “stuff”* in it for measuring, dumping, digging, etc.*oats, beans, etc . We have a large “bubble gum play land” for developing gross motor skills with balls of all sizes.  Jumping, coordination and balance are also developed during our daily “dance time.”

  

  Library: Below is a photo of the reading material available in the twins bedroom. We encourage reading and probably read over one hr daily. We make weekly trips to the library and participate in the “story time” for their age.

  

  Reading material for the twins

  Computer area: Rob and I were unwilling to give up our office space and put all of the previously mentioned equipment in this 12×10 room.  However, we do have the Circle Time Center on one wall and the computer on another. I have scheduled weekly computer time with the girls. If they are in the room with me while I am sewing (opposite the computer) they can also practice their fine motor skills through beading and lacing activities.  A basket of Leap Pad “stuff” is also available for their entertainment.

  The twins are responsible for cleaning up after themselves (with supervision) and we have clean up time at least three per day (before meals and before bed).  They are finally old enough to “know” where items belong.

  Clearly, the only parts of the house not overtaken with schooling is the master bedroom, the front foyer, and the guest bedroom.  Everything else I do all day long in every corner of my house is related to the education and training of my children.  This is the mission of motherhood and I happily accept it.  Decisions on curriculum will be discussed in another post.  Feel free to leave questions, comments, and suggestions  in the comments below.

• All There

  Date: 2009.03.04 | Category: Bible Study, personal | Response: 0

  Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living. Wherever you are, be all there.  Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God. — Jim Eliott

  Tonight I was reminded of this quote, because I found out that a friend of mine overseas lost her grandmother here in the states.  There’s something very difficult about not being there for the funeral of a grandmother.  I was “there” (physically present) for my Grandma’s dying days, but I was actually about 30 days too late.  I had missed the window of lucidity. . . There were things I wanted to say and share and ask which I could not do once I had arrived.   Then I was not around for the funeral.  I wish I had come early and stayed late.

  Yet, looking back, I know I was doing what God wanted me to do.  When you live five hundred or  a thousand or a million miles away from family, it is impossible to drop everything and be there for surgeries, funerals, losses and moves; graduations, weddings, new babies, new homes, and birthday gifts. The help you want to give and the love you want to receive must be given to and received from others.  Sometimes you are here but you wish you were there.

  Living to the hilt isn’t like making instant jello (done in 2 minutes).  I once explained this as living life to the fullest, embracing every opportunity without fear and without reservation.  If I believe God has placed me here, then I stay here (physically and mentally) until the Lord leads me elsewhere.  I do not long to live in any other state, county, suburb, or nation.  Today, Here is home.  I seek to serve those in my life path as the Son of Man would serve them.  I refuse to ride the emotional roller coaster of What Ifs and If Onlys; nor do I allow the lead weight of discontent to drag me down and away from the clear calling of God on my life (however unclear the immediate next step may be).

  Living to the hilt  is embracing each new day with excitement and anticipation at how the Lord will work.  Being “all there” is not just mental alertness or absence of mental illness.  Being “all there” begins with the spiritual exercise of gratitude for the chance to seek Him from my particular geographic location today.  Being all there means fully embracing God’s will for my life today.