It’s been an extremely busy year for me. I’m sitting here taking a short break from cleaning to enjoy the view from the back of my home. The sun is shining down upon the gorgeous landscapes. As the days remain cold and at times near freezing, I’ve begun to turn my attention to cleaning the interior of our home.
I’ve heard it said MANY times as I’m sure you have too, you can’t clean clutter! If you’ve ever tried you must agree with me! Before I begin to pick up past or ongoing projects, it’s a given for me to AT LEAST maintain order in our home. One of the stumbling blocks for me is my view or attitude towards cleaning. I’ve made some adjustments to my thinking on this topic through the years. I have a tendency to procrastinate at times when it comes to cleaning. I used to think in terms of “big chunks” or areas of our home, the “kitchen” needs cleaned or the “bedroom” needs cleaned. Now, through the years my way of looking at the task has changed. Instead of seeing the task of cleaning as one big whole, I’ve learned to see areas around our home in smaller chunks. It takes time, planning and most of all a right attitude.
Here are a few simple tips for you that I’ve found helps me acquire a correct attitude toward cleaning in general AND getting rid of that clutter.
- When the desire begs me to deep clean a particular chunk or small area in my home I usually do one of two things;
A: wait until tomorrow, or the NEXT day and try to ignore the growing sense of non accomplishment that interrupts all of my other endeavors, - OR -
B: decide that NOW is the time and look forward to those freeing thoughts that will follow as I look back on a job well done!
Prepare for cleaning by investing some time in a good book on organization! I recently found a book entitled Organizing Magic: 40 Days to a Well-Ordered Home and Life by Sandra Felton
- It’s not a heavy read and I usually pick it up even while I’m on the go. This is a great motivational tool. Don’t be afraid to use that long neglected highlighter of your either.
- Listen to the radio or load some your favorite music or podcasts onto your Ipod, (if you have one) and learn while you clean! I have found that I’m usually DONE with the task in no time actually looking for more to do so that i/ can finish listening to whatever I’m tuned into that day!
Remember, we are only allotted a certain amount of time on this present earth. Taking care of your family and loved ones by keeping the home is never a waste of time. Just keep the tasks small and you will be surprised by how much you can accomplish for good in a short duration of time!
I don’t know too many people who haven’t seen the classic MGM movie known as “The Wizard of Oz” starring Judy Garland created in 1939. In this charming film based on the popular L.Frank Baum stories, Dorothy and her dog Toto are caught in a tornado’s path and somehow end up in the land of Oz. Here she meets some memorable friends and foes in her journey to meet the Wizard of Oz who everyone says can help her return home and possibly grant her new friends their goals of a brain, heart and courage. Written by Dale Roloff
We had the pleasure of partnering with Drew Baker of Faces & Places Ministries as the team transformed themselves into the whimsical characters from the 1939 movie. It was delightful to watch the expression on the faces of t
he children at the Barnes and Nobles bookstore in State College! Even the “big” kids couldn’t resist having their photo taken with crew! The wicked witch could be heard laughing all throughout the store. It was a memorable experience as it’s always a pleasure to work with Drew. He has a heart for ministry and is gifted in the art of drama.
Being the homeschooling lifelong learners that we are, this weekend of course provided us with another learning opportunity. We decided to rent the movie classic to watch it from a different perspective. We will learn about the characters, the history of the times when the movie was produced and all that went into making an MGM movie at that time. As an added bonus I found some web sites to further enhance our learning; http://www.easyfunschool.com/WizardOfOz.html Easy Fun School has been around for many a year. We’ve referenced their materials many times. http://thewizardofoz.info/ozteach.html The former is another site you may find useful.
As a Christian I have found many aspects that I can relate to with the Wizard of Oz. One in particular is the incessant cry of Dorothy throughout the film pleading with the others to help her find her way home. We as believers are also longing for our true home with Christ. Nothing on earth can ever fill this longing or compare with Him. I’ve created a slide presentation from the appearance if you would like to take a peek. Just remember as you go about the bizzies of life;
“There’s No Place Like Home.“
Tags: Faces and Places Ministries, lesson plans, Wizard of Oz
This evening was spent enjoying the company of family, with popcorn and several good movies. Though we are fast approaching April, it was nice to sit by the warm fire in the living room. After cleaning the dishes from supper we watched the first of two movies. I am reviewing the 
second movie entitled, “The Inheritance.” The movie is centered around a young girl named Edith who was orphaned as a small child. Edith is presently living with the Hamilton family who are extremely well off. Social status was no different in the 1800’s than it is today. This family, the father and mother in particular have not allowed their status or amount of wealth get in the way of their morality and values. When young Edith was left father and motherless, Mr. Hamilton loved her from the minute he saw her. Edith grew up to love horseback riding and actually turned a few heads when she refused to ride “side saddle” at the nudging of Mr. Hamilton. She won the horse race when riding against several indignant men of the day.
The Inheritance is also a love story without all of the unwanted scenes that normally accompany movies of today. It was very clean and wholesome. This movies promotes honesty and humilty for one another. The setting is upon a beautiful country side where they reside in an old and beautiful victorian-like homestead. There are a couple of evil characters but in the end the message is clear decietful behavior doesn’t win in the end. All in all this movie is a super investment and well worth the time viewing.
Tags: Family Movie Night, Reviews, The Inheritance
We are engaged in highschool level science again this year. There are many routes to take
on the homeschool road when it comes down to making the choice for what materials you will use. We have opted again for using Exploring Creation – Apologia. Since we are taking the time to document our finds, I thought it might be fun to share some of our experiments with you in the form of photos and some vlogging. In the following video blog we are performing:
Experiment 1.3: The Effects of Salinity and Temperature on the Density of Water
Vocabulary Terms:
Density- the state or quality of being dense; compactness; closely set or crowded condition.
Salinity- the relative proportion of salt in a solution.
Results of our experiment:
We used food coloring to measure the density. By adding the blue food coloring to both hot water, cold water and hot water mixed with the salt or saline solution, we observed the following outcome in this experiment;
Cold water temperature = increased density (blue food coloring stayed on the bottom of cup)
Warmer water temperature = reduced density (blue food coloring mixed with the yellow)
Higher salinity (salt) = more density (blue food coloring stayed on the top)
Watch and Enjoy!
Tags: apologia, highschool, homeschool, marine biology, science
