My Sweet Godson Turns One Year Old Today!!

Happy birthday to Buster!

It was such a blessing to be asked to be Benedict's godmother....and, it has been such a blessing to watch him grow and reach those month-by-month developmental milestones.

I have seen him most of the months of his first year, and sometimes, I even took pictures of him. :)

We follow a year in the life of Benny!

Just a day before his October baptism.......at three weeks of age.

Same.......

A bath before he is baptized........

As the Baptismal ceremony starts........a Lebanese priest, Bennie's parents: John & Gloria, and his god parents, Uncle Billy and me, holding the wee babe.....

Bennie wanted to scream during the ceremony........he was willing to suck on my finger :)

Newly baptized & now a Child of God.....

...held by his 80-something grandmother......compare their hands...lovely.

Held by his one and only brother, after a bath at my house at about age 4 months.

The five month old with the drooly face.......

~~~~~~~

Now, down below follows a photo story of a visit to my house in May, whereby his father, John, introduces him to my Golden Retrievers, Sadie & Strider.......who love 7 month old Bennie, of course......and find that he tastes pretty good when they get a lick or two in.........

This is my FAVORITE photo of Benny, so far!

Gotta love that smile.......all three of them! :)

Is he cute????!!!!

Eight months old.......and walking around furniture......at my house.

Same........

Swimming at Castle Lake during our annula catholic Homeschool campout.........

Cute.....8 months old.

Hanging with dad at the lake! Notice the clone-like resemblance, since birth?? It is one of the most amazing resemblances I have ever seen!

Learning about watermelon........

Juicy!

In the above photo, John & Benny sit in the lake.....Benny started out quite unhappy.......

...slowly adjusting........

...to.....

....glee.......

This is 10 month old Benny entertaining the family in San Francisco.....the day Matthew left for Switzerland. He was going around in circles like a dog chasing his tail...till the video came on.......of course....

And, once he figured out how to clap....he gave up the tail-chasing. :)

Thank you, John & Gloria, for the opportunity to be a spiritual mother to your sweet son.

I am very excited to watch him grow and I promise to help you take good care of him...and to take lots of pictures for you! :)

Love and blessings on this birthday day!

Love, Chari

Happy Birthday to a One Year Old!

Our sweet little Jaylen...............

...............is one today!

She still looks like her great-grandma.

Jaylen is my youngest sister's youngest.

Is she sweet, or what?

Here is what the little darling had to say on her birthday..........

She is freaking out over the sound of the mixer, while they make her birthday cupcakes.

Grandma........you must play this!

Jaylen.........we wish you many happy cupcakes, Sweetie!

Love,

Aunt Chari & Uncle Marty & Cousins

I knew I would be Betsy Ray!

How about you? Take the quiz and see!

Which Betsy-Tacy character are you? Your Result: Betsy Ray   As a child, Betsy is lively and imaginative, a story-teller and a ring-leader. As she grows up, Betsy is popular with both boys and girls because of her fun spirit and love of a good time. She loves traditions, having fun, parties, and boys, but she sometimes undervalues herself and her talents. In the end she learns to love her true self and comes to realize and value her love of writing, and makes her dream a reality. Although she has had many beaus, she ends up with the one best suited to her (Joe Willard!), who understands her love of writing and encourages her to be her real self.
Tib Muller
Carney Sibley
Tacy Kelly
Julia Ray
Emily Webster
Winona Root
Irma Biscay
Which Betsy-Tacy character are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

lotsa love,

Chari

My Hearts' Haven Daybook

Written on Monday evening, August 30th


Outside My Window.......a lovely sunny day easing away into a lovely evening.

I am thinking........I wish someone else would set up the curriculum for the three kids, out of four, that still need their school planning organized.

Also...it has been a long time since I blogged....I enjoy using this "script" to know what to write next :) my grandma will be surprised that I actually wrote something! :)

I am thankful for...my husband who works hard for us and carries the heavy burden of financing this family. Not easy when stupid things are allowed to happen to make cell phone bills unnecessarily increase. Sigh......that would be my fault.

From the kitchen.........there is an awful lot of squash sitting on my kitchen counter. We already ate as it is almost 8 pm.........leftover hamburgers for the little boys and me....not sure what the girls ate....

I am wearing........a lovely thrift store find....a long skirt with criss crosses and flowers on a blue background....and a nice blue knit shirt. Sandals.....hair is down....but not long anymore......

I am creating........curriculum, lesson plans.......though my scrapbooking is calling to me......sigh

I am going...........to drive home from the college where I am parked in the hallway of the theater waiting for my four children & their friends to finish their Ballroom Dancing class.......and watch our current family series......one episode at a time......while working on curriculum. Of.course.

I am reading.........I am over halfway through Walden; Or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau. Reading Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald aloud to the boys......not much.......we need to get back into our reading habit....our copy of the book is 100 uyears old!!!.........right now I am waiting on the library to bring me some books I need.......in the meantime......it would be nice to update my blog with my reading since I last posted about books. This summer I have read the first seven Betsy-Tacy books:

Betsy-Tacy (1940)
Betsy-Tacy and Tib (1941)
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill (1942)
Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown (1943)
Heaven to Betsy (1945)
Betsy in Spite of Herself (1946)
Betsy Was a Junior (1947)
Betsy and Joe (1948)
Betsy and the Great World (1952)

And then, here is an edited post I wrote recently on the 4 Real Book Club:

"I still have the last Betsy-Tacy book to go.........been slow at the library.........but in the meantime, I just finished EARLY CANDLELIGHT by Maud Hart Lovelace. Here is HER description of the story:

"My second novel was Early Candlelight (John Day Co. 1939, later Grosset and Dunlap and the Minnesota Historical Society Press.) In the course of my research for "The Black Angels", I had read Folwell's History of Minnesota and was fascinated by the life at Fort Snelling in the early decades of the Nineteenth Century... with its gay routine of dinners, balls and picnics in the midst of Indian country. The story includes the founding of St. Paul. The love scene in the next to last chapter takes place at the meeting of the Minnesota and Blue Earth Rivers, where Mankato's Sibley Park would later be built."

I loved it........She writes so well! Much better writing than the BT books....as those are kind of like candy .........but this was a very well written novel.......clean and historical. I think is was the writing and the way she helped me get to know the characters so intimately that got me. The story itself is simple enough.......I could not sleep last night so I got up and read it till 1:45am.....oops! I finished it today......and I am so sorry........I miss the main characters so much.

I also read this summer by the same author: EMILY OF DEEP VALLEY, WINONA'S PONY CART

I ADORED the Emily story immensely, even a bit better than the Betsy-Tacy stories........Emily is such a wonderful girl! If you love BT and have not read this........DO!!! The Winona story was young......kind of like an American Girl story.

And lastly and finally!!!! I have read LEFT TO TELL by Immaculée Ilibagiza.

Have you ALL read this book??? I know it was popular when it came out, but my library did not have it......and finally a friend received a copy to lend to me. I could not put this book down. What lessons this woman can teach us about thankfulness, fear, love, forgiveness, FAITH, the rosary.....

Here are words from her website:

Immaculée Ilibagiza is a living example of faith put into action. Immaculée's life was transformed dramatically during the 1994 Rwandan genocide where she and seven other women spent 91 days huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor's house. Immaculée entered the bathroom a vibrant, 115-pound university student with a loving family - she emerged weighing just 65 pounds to find her entire family had been brutally murdered (with the exception of one brother who had been studying out of the country). Immaculée credits her salvage mostly to prayer and to a set of rosary beads given to her by her devout Catholic father prior to going into hiding. Anger and resentment about her situation were literally eating her alive and destroying her faith, but rather than succumbing to the rage that she felt, Immaculée instead turned to prayer. She began to pray the rosary as a way of drowning out the negativity that was building up inside her. Immaculée found solace and peace in prayer and began to pray from the time she opened her eyes in the morning to the time she closed her eyes at night. Through prayer, she eventually found it possible, and in fact imperative, to forgive her tormentors and her family's murderers.

You can find the rest here.

READ THIS BOOK if you have not yet....... "

And now......I just finished yesterday: Carney's House Party, also by Maud Hart Lovelace. I loved it! It was so sweet and fun and good to be back in Deep Valley where even Betsy came for a visit!

I am hoping.............it feels like summer for a good two more months....wouldn't that be lovely?

And, SEE ABOVE: I am thinking.......

I am hearing......Cha, Cha, Cha music and a practicing orchestra.....I especially hear the horns and the clarinets.

I wonder if that is because I am sitting in a college music dept?? Last week we also had the Barbershop singing...but they are somewhere else tonight.

I am wondering.......if the curriulum planning would get done on its own while I sleep......

Around the house.......yikes...the house needs some serious help ! My desk and dressers are covered with stuff......the living room is full of curriculum, Lincoln Log buildings and Matthew's clothes awaiting the final pack-up by me. The dining room has a table covered in books and some stuff.....and the boys room needs help...and the rest of Matthew's stuff accounted for.......and two rooms need painting......and I already have the paint. sigh.

Now Showing..........Ocean's 11 and 12........James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small, half way through the first season......

In the schoolroom.....hmmmmm.....I am guessing the notes about curriculum above would make one think there would be nothing going on here......yet.....

......but......as we actually live a life of learning, not simply school-at-home....I can claim to some learning going on.......such as ballroom dance lessons, soccer, piano lessons and practicing, listening to Schubert, an occasional math page this week.....definitely some reading...including one of my more current delayed readers picking up a book and reading chapter after chapter.....a simple book...but it IS a chapter book!

And, my youngest has decided to read through Go, Dog, Go.....and several have been poring over the Great Books from Usborne lately.......The Sea and Through Time....the high schoolers are reading Beowulf and Christopher Columbus for their history......watching All Creatures Great & Small (that's literature brought to life, of course).......we also attended a chamber music concert...visited Lake Tahoe.......

There, now I feel better.......there IS something happening here!!!

One of my favorite things.........knowing we have the Rosary prayed for the day already!

Signs of the seasons............cooling nights, an abundance of squash from the garden, and other vegetable goodies.......and a big pumpkin already turned orange!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week........soccer games and practice.......teach a childbirth class....start math lessons with Patty........Anne will be home for the Labor Day weekend and the G Family from San Francisco will be here, too.......leading a large group to the Lava Beds National Monument on Saturday.......plus the usual!

Special prayer requests on my mind this week.........for a special intention, for Molly whose husband is ill.......for our priest who is having problems with a leg and with walking.

St. Gerard's List..........Tonia, Suzanne, Jody, Suzanne, Clara.......the last two are nieces......

I am currently scrapbooking......ah, I wish!!!....I have not had a chance to scrapbook since the last week of June, at Willa's home.......I read a scrapbook magazine from Creative Memories, the last issue e.v.e.r and their new book, too......

I am exercising.........well, I am thinking about how I need to get back to the walking......


Here is picture thought I am sharing........

ack...blogger is not letting me load a photo at this time......I will try another time....

Was writing this blogpost avoidance behavior? I wonder......

Blessings,

Chari

Matthew is moving to Switzerland for a year!!!

I tried to write the story below in the spring......and then busy-ness got the best of me......and forgetfulness.......that I was working on it at all. :) So, I am posting it now........without editing.........and perhaps in the future will finish it......and, it just ends suddenly. :)

We are about to leave for San Francisco where we will spend two days with the G-Family and get to mass and confession on Sunday and then he will fly out on Monday morning........to Minneapolis-St. Paul........Amsterdam.........and finally Zurich, Switzerland. See you later and thanks for the prayers!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I know most of you know that already.........but, just for posterity's sake, I will write about our journey to the point at which we have now arrived....which is in no way the end, of course........it is barely the beginning, :)

Where to start?

How about the summer before last? That would be the summer of 2007. Matthew, who is the lead character in this story, was 16 years old. He had been having frequent conversations with my sweet friend Sheila........and their conversations were revolving around the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. Sheila had much recent experience with this program due to the fact that her oldest daughter, Katie, was about to leave for Germany for a year. That summer, Matthew was begging me to look into it....but gave me a deadline of "by the end of summer." Well, with only a month to decide if he could apply, and my reluctance to send him out of the country so far away from me........and still not fully recovered from our Star Spangled Adventure......and in the middle of six weeks of play rehearsals for three plays.....I could not let myself look into it. It was overwhelming. He was disappointed.......but apparently not discouraged.

Flash forward one year...summer of 2008. I am now more relaxed. Matthew has been spending time actually doing his research at Rotary International. He is a year older....more wise in his approach. :) Now, he can give me info he has gathered. Now he has Katie's positive experience in Germany, as she returned this same summer. While we were visiting friends in the Sierras, he filled out the form on Rotary International's webpage "requesting further information." He had a hard time reducing his choices of countries to only 3-5. Of course, all of my travel-loving kids would be happy to go anywhere....but where to choose to go for a whole year? Where???

He finally put in order of choice:

Italy
Spain
France
Scotland
Germany

He loves history.....really LOVES history.......and he wanted to go immerse himself in European history. Of course, he would be satisfied with any country. He is one of my kids......

He pushed "submit" and sent his request.

About six weeks later, in mid-September, he received a phone call from a gentleman who lives about an hour south of us. They must have spoken on the phone for an hour or more. I found out later that this man is very talkative and he is very enjoyable with which to chat. He gave Matthew some local contact people. I knew both of them, and since one of them, Frank, worked at the hospital....I decided to just drop in to see him one day while he was working. We discussed what Matthew needed to do. He gave me the number of someone to call. He also asked me if I were willing to take in an exchange student from somewhere as part of the deal. I explained that this did not feel like the right time in our lives to do that. Frank said it is kind of assumed that if you are sending a student OUT of your home, you would therefore have room to bring one IN. I informed Frank that I did not even have room for the student I was sending OUT! :)

So, I called the contact given to me by Frank, and it turns out to be the same man who had called Matthew about two months before, by the name of Mark. We talked for an hour and a half. I learned so much information. It was very helpful, and enlightening. He said they were having some trouble with Italy's Youth Exchange.....that France was kind of a "pain" to get into......you have to meet their ambassador and be approved by them, in person........that they discouraged English speaking countries for US citizens...so that left Scotland off the list. The one thing he did not know about was whether Matthew's lack of vaccinations would be a deterrent from his applying. Mark said he was leaving the following weekend to vist Dave, who was in charge of all of Northern California Rotary Youth Exchange, and he was sure Dave would know the answer. In the meantime, Mark wanted me to contact the local Rotary Clubs to see if any would sponsor Matthew to travel. He also said that if we could not find a local club to sponsor Matthew, that he would find him a club, even if he had to go all the way to the Bay Area. He was very enthusiastic and supportive.

By this time, we had already printed off a copy of the lengthy application. It was going to be time-consuming....oh, yes....time-consuming.

So, I checked on the website and got all of the contact names for the three clubs in our county. I called the ones in my town first, but found they were out of town. I tried the town north of us.....and a man said that their club had already turned down someone that week, that they did not have enough funds to sponsor anyone this year. I never even left my name......that will make sense later. So, I finally called the little town south of us...only to find a most amiable and pleasing personage with which to have a pleasant chat. His name was Steve, and he was to be our contact person for the next two months. He asked me to send an email to him, writing about Matthew, so he could tell his club about Matthew. It was a pretty good email, if I do say so myself. :) As Steve is the treasurer for his Rotary Club, he told me their club had enough funds to send Matthew, and later, even two if they wanted. He told me that because someone else in their club knew of a a boy who wanted to go......but that boy never went past "being interested."

Steve also wanted me to try to follow up on the club in my own town to see if they would sponsor Matthew, or share the sponsorship. He said they had not had an exchange student in a good while and he wanted to encourage them. So, I went to see another member of the local club, who I also knew. He said: "When you bring me the application, then we will look at it and see what we think." He was kind of vague and I could see they really did not want to do it. The application is quite lengthy as I said....and it has so many places where you need to put the "sponsoring" club....and I just felt better filling out for someone who wanted to sponsor Matthew.

I called Steve and updated him on how it went with the club in my town. He agreed to just have Matthew send it all to their club and they would sponsor him and he would also talk with the other club himself.

Matthew and I spent a good amount of time filling the form out accurately. A GOOD DEAL!

He needed to have a dental check and papers signed by the dentist. We had his orthodontist take care of that since he had been seeing him since he was one year old. We had to mail one form, have him fill it out........make four copies and then sign each copy in blue ink.

Then, I called our primary MD and they said no adult physicals till February. Well that was not soon enough. So, I asked them to leave a message asking if they could fit him in sooner....they would ask the doctor. The doctor is a friend of mine. In the meantime, I made an appointment with another doctor friend of mine, just to get it done. I got a phone call later that day from our doctor's nurse, Kathy........they said they could see him that week or the next....since he is only 18...........they do not consider him "adult" yet. :) They had openings for "youth physicals" just not for "adults. Actually, I made the phone call two days before his 18th birthday.....so, I guess it could have gone either way. Again, David, the doctor, needed to fill out one form, then copy it and sign all four in blue ink. On the part about vaccinations, David wrote: not had, or something to that effect. But first Matthew needed a TB test before David could sign it. Luckily the nurse said we could come in on that Saturday............

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.........and that is where I left off............and here we are now!

Let me know if you need his contact info!

Love,

Chari

Haven Heartbeats

Dear Grandma,

Hi, there! Just thought I would jot a letter off to you this morning.

I have a feeling all of my children will be sleeping in till at least ten am. They had a party last night. It was supposed to have happened last Thursday night while we had friends in town.........but, a few folks got sick so we had to postpone. The party was a barbeque followed by "a dance." Even last night a few folks could not come due to more illness. Ha, ha...I guess that includes me, too! I woke up yesterday am with nausea and malaise. I slept most of the day. Horizontal was the most comfortable position and reading, computering and watching movies was dizzying. By late evening I felt good enough to grab some photos of the party.

The dance was held on the front lawn where Matthew had mown a dance floor in the grass. He then used his theater lights to surround the dance floor with lights, including colored. He took the stereo outside, too. There was a table set up with punch and desserts. I know the kids had a great time......and they had to be made to quit dancing at 1am. I hope the neighbors are not too mad at us. :/ There was a lot of swing dancing (Matthew did not re-injure his knee! :) ), dancing to 80's and 50's music and the Virginia Reel, of course. The crowd was 12 to 23 years old, except for 7yo Malachy, who came in at one point and told me, "I am having so much fun dancing out there!" And he sure did, trying to keep up with the big boys! There were sixteen total, till Marty came home and joined the dancing. He had been home earlier and did the barbequing for the kids. All I did was lay in my bed. :)

When I looked out at the crowd of kids, all I saw were homeschoolers. Funny, there was a time when the kids didn't really have many friends.......and now, they actually have a bit of a social life. One of the things I love about homeschooled kids is their ability to interact well with people of all ages, and you could really see that last night. Except for two guests, all of the guests were present with at least one to two more more of their siblings. That is another thing I love about homeschool kids: how well they can socialize in their sibling groups. They were such a great group of kids! Our friends who had been visiting the week before were greatly missed......and this was mentioned on several occasions from several of my children.

I have to say, since this dance was a success, I do believe there will be plans to do this at least once each summer. What joy to dance with your friends, under the light of a full moon!

The clean-up does not look too bad this morning.

Marty came home last night in a new car for Anne. She will not actually get to own it, but use it while she is away at college. It is a 2001 Honda Accord, 2 door. I just went out and peeked at it. It is immaculate inside, with leather seats. It is gold metallic and formerly owned by a grandmother who only put 40,000, miles on it. Looks great! Anne will be putting daily miles on it since she will live with Jennifer in the south of town.....and the university is in the north of town. Anne said she loved driving it last night. Marty is so good to his kids.

Speaking of Anne and school, we will move her over on the 16th, probably, and we will stay a week to visit with our family there. Anne has an orientation day on the 20th. She starts school on the 24th. She is excited, but worried these classes will be more challenging than the JC. We all just keep telling her she will be fine. :) She will be taking Spanish, an English class, a drama class and something else....all are basic UNR requirements.

And as for Matthew, he will be flying out of San Francisco International Airport on Monday the 10th, our 24th wedding anniversary. It looks like I will drive him down with at least a couple of my kids. We will stay with our friends, John and Gloria. We still have a lot to do to get him ready. He needs patches sewn on his Rotary jacket, to narrow his packing down and load in the duffle bag, or two, to pick up a few more gifts for his host families (and wrap them), learn to iron, and to make a DVD of his life here. I am sure there is more......but these are the priorities. I will start working on the patches when I finish this letter.

Our garden is doing well, but desperately needs weeding.......kids are going to have to go do that today! Our chicks are getting so big......it is funny to hear them still peeping. They are nine weeks now. They are nice group of ladies. So, far, I think I only have one rooster...but still too early to tell for sure. After a few losses, we are down to 42 now.

We ran out of hot water yesterday.......actually, we ran out of fuel to heat our water. Apparently, the float is not working right, and we missed the getting low sign. I just got a call that the guy can bring fuel today........I am glad......I need a shower, a load of laundry washed and have a full dishwasher.

I am getting sleepy now, so I will sign off. It was nice to get to use Anne's new laptop while laying on the couch to write this. Matthew has a new laptop as well.....and I will inherit Anne's old lap top for use around here for me and the other kids.

Goodbye and God bless, for now,

Love, Chari

There's Taiko in Our Future!

I am so excited!

WE are so excited!

Marty scored 8 comp tickets for us to go see an internationally acclaimed Taiko Drum concert.

It's the Shasta Yama 2009!

Don't know what Taiko drumming is??? Wikipedia tells us here.......all about it.


And here is a promotional video:

Here is video of San Francisco Taiko performing:

The founder of SF Taiko, founded in 1968, will be preforming tonight, too. He brought Taiko to the West Coast.


A few of my friends have drummed over the years............and one of our young friends will be in this concert.

We used to go and watch them rehearse at the city park after ballet class and after play rehearsals.

One time we saw them in a mini-concert for an extended care facility............and I was very pregnant with Maddelyn. She went wild in the womb when the drumming played! It was so funny! The room was too small for all of that drumming.......but it was good!

I have always loved listening to them.....and watching them. But, I could not afford tickets to go see their concerts.....soooo this is so exciting!

The concert will be outdoor and Mt Shasta will be the backdrop for the show. Lawn sitting with a picnic. Doesn't that sound lovely? I was just reading in another article that one of the performers thinks this may be the largest outdoor Taiko concert in the US....with "world class musicians."

How cool is that?

Post note: Our plans are tempered with the fact that the two youngest fellas threw up in the middle of the night........though seem fine right now. Please pray it all works out!!

Many blessings on your day!!

Love, joy and prayers!

Chari

SARAH SINGS THE NATIONAL ANTHEM......

.....for our community's Fourth of July celebration tomorrow!

Our town has frequently been voted the best small town 4th of July celebration.........and it attracts 6,000-10,000 visitors every year.

The day starts with a FUN WALK/RACE........at 8:30am sharp

.......then there are prizes given away.........including a new car every year. At least once it was won by a kid.

There is an all-you-can-eat breakfast at the local Catholic Church.

There is a street fair for four days.

There are happenings at our parks.

At noon, the parade starts. It is not all that interesting of a parade, but we used to go every year. Garrett will be in it this year with his baseball team that won the season.

Then, we head to the lake with lots of food.......because we will be there till midnight! The fireworks over the lake are wonderful and every year we have more and more friends join us........last year I bet we reached 50 people. This year I think may go up!

Then..............we go home, absolutely exhausted! :)

And, the parade is always started off with the NATIONAL ANTHEM.

And, THIS year, it will be sung by our own Miss Sarah!

She will have her biggest audience yet.......and probably will never be able to top this number in the future. And, it is her first public singing performance.

We will take any prayers for her to do her best, of course!

Saint Cecilia, patron saint of musicians,

PRAY FOR US!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

With love from,

Chari & the family at Our Hearts' Haven

If you are wanting homeschool room inspiration.....

You have got to see my friend Jennifer's learning room!

Look what you can do with a dining room!

In fact, if you check out Jennifer's blog at anytime you will find inspiration.

Have a lovely day!

Love, chari

A Wig-Wam in the Woods

A few years back, my family and Willa's family, took to the road, to spend a day exploring Yosemite. It was our one and only visit. At that time, our boys were quite impressed by the indian homes there. When we returned to Willa's home, they built their own indian home. It took a few years, but it eventually returned to the earth.

Before we arrived for our visit this year, they made plans to build a new one. Having more years of life experience under their belts, they were able to visualize something more involved.

Here is the photo story.......

Matthew, on crutches, took on the role of Ramses, building his "pyramids" with his little slaves: Keiron 13, Garrett 12, Aidan 10, Malachy 7 & Paddy 6.

We were quite amused.

An overall view of where the wigwam is to be.

Matthew & his crutches.

Aidan is digging a place for the opening-see the rocks in the foreground...literally......placed to hold that end of the wigwam.

A close-up of the rock work.

Matthew, bossing.......I mean, leading and guiding.

Matthew showing them how it is done right. Aidan & Garrett look on.

Keiron & Garrett swinging their axes...part I

...and have swung their axes.......part II

Final product: The morning after their first sleep out in the wigwam. Garrett, Keiron, Sean & Matthew slept out there the first night. The second night it was just Matthew and Sean......and it ended in the morning with them running inside due to unexpected thundershowers!

Detail of the inside wall.......

Another detail of the inside walls.......

Yet another detail of the inside wall......

Detail of upper part of the inside wall




Detail of the upper part from the outside

The boys are still inside......

Close-up of the boys: Sean, 16 (Willa's) & Matthew, 18 (mine)

Detail of the bark

Finished product!

My favorite view...out the top!

The view of Willa's house from the wig wam.


Tomorrow we say goodbye to the wigwam......till who knows when.....

And to Willa's family, too....till July? Maybe!

Oh, wait! Tomorrow IS July...well, maybe till later in July!

Please pray for our drive tomorrow....

......I expect to be no less than ten hours on the road....ugh!

Love & Blessings!

Chari

Haven Heartbeats

Dear Grandma,

How are you? How's the weather been?

We are in the Sierras at my friend's house. They live about 5, 500 feet...almost 2, 000 feet more than us. The weather has been perfect here...lovely summer temperatures. Willa and I have been able to get three long walks in. I had trouble sleeping the last two nights and was too sleepy to go yesterday and today. I hope tomorrow and Tuesday will fare better. We leave for home on Wednesday. We arrived here last Tuesday.

The boys built a wigwam. Their backyard is the woods and they got their building materials from there. It is pretty clever. Matthew, on crutches, was the taskmaster and the four younger boys were his slaves, uh, I mean his helpers. It reminded me of Ramses bossing Moses around in The Ten Commandments. :) Tonight, four of the boys are sleeping in the wigwam. Here's to hoping the mosquitoes leave them alone tonight! I will take a picture tomorrow...maybe I will post it...IF I remember. :)

Today we drove down to Fresno for Mass. It was 88* in the mountains...but it got to 109* in the city. UGH! I told the kids that I begged God to never allow me to live in a place that gets that hot. I would melt...they could just bury me and be done with it. I will not do heat. At least with the cold...I always have my leggings. :)

I have done a few pages of scrapbooking here. Maybe five? I think the next five are lined up and ready to go. I am working on Anne at six-seven weeks. Slowly, but surely, I just might catch up....oh, probably not. I just keep taking more and more and more........pictures. Sigh.

Marty is at home working on fixing things.....he took the lattice off the front porch...will be sanding and staining the deck...he got the sprinkler system convinced to turn to AM after midnight now.......tried to poison the clovers in the grass, but has now resorted to using a natural way to eradicate some of the clover......he hung the big feeders for the chicks who are four weeks as of yesterday.......and he "cleaned" out the well system. He said he found a dead chick today, with no obvious reason why. I hope it is not disease. We have about 40 hens. I only got one rooster......but, lucky us........they threw a FREE rooster in our order. Marty says I only get to keep one. I have about 20 breeds...I like the variety.

Well, it looks like it is after midnight now....so I will go to bed now.

Goodnight! We all love you!

Chari

Welcome to Workboxes!

I originally began writing this post in early June...and have only just been able to post....sorry for the delay to my friends who had been waiting. :)


es fine!

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I cannot stop thinking about.....

homeschool workboxes

........I cannot stop thinking about the possibilities. I am simply giddy about a "new" approach in homeschooling, for the first time in a loooong time........I can't wait to get started......but I have been simply too crazy busy to start!

I think my life is still too busy to start, but I have been looking around my home, seeing what I could use or tweak to work, without much investment. I have been perusing the storage bin aisles at the stores and have hit the dollar store, too. I need to make this inexpensive. I simply must.

I really need to get this written up in one place, so I can share it with all of my friends. I know so many who would find this a very useful idea. And, as this is NOW the prime time for homeschool planning for the next year.......I need to be in a hurry!

I particularly think my friends Frances, Maria, Willa could make good use of this idea......for various reasons. I think Shawna & Stacey would like it, too!

I first heard about this idea on Brigid's blog. I remember thinking how clever it sounded........and the usual thought: "I wish I had known about this when my kids were younger." I always forget that I still have a couple of young kids. :)

Then it was brought up on the 4 Real homeschool message boards in March. I skimmed the first messages and treated it like everything else new: I" do not have time to look into anything new......besides, nothing really feels new anymore, after all of my years of homeschooling."

Then, in May, the same thread got going again, ladies wondering how those using the workbox system were doing after a few weeks.

Comments were consistently coming up, there and in other places on the Internet:

WE GET MORE DONE IN A DAY THAN WE EVER HAVE BEFORE.

WE ARE USING SO MANY HOMESCHOOL ITEMS THAT HAD JUST BEEN LYING AROUND THE HOUSE, UNUSED.

THE KIDS ARE EXCITED TO DO SCHOOL.

WE HAVE MORE FREE TIME.

Well, of course those concepts caught my eye!

I want that for ME!

I want that for MY homeschool!

At first, I thought, hmmm, Malachy (7yrs) could really go for this......he loves doing stuff........any stuff.........and he loves being creative and this would give him a chance to do that more often.

Then, I thought how well Garrett would do with more structure (we always need more structure here!).

And I thought about the days when I am at work or just unavailable.......which I hope will be less once we move Anne & Matthew out. The workboxes would be just the thing to give them for those days.

Eventually my thoughts turned to my two high schoolers........

Sarah, 10th grade, could probably benefit from a more specific plan each day. I think she would accomplish more.

And Maddelyn, soon to be 9th grade, who thrives on structure and prefers to have most decisions made for her, would probably do well with this idea......once she gets over the balking....she does not like change. Wonder where she gets that from.... :)

So, I have spent much time in researching the WORKBOXES IDEA.

I have found a yahoo group which is good for early questions and inspiration.

I have found many blog posts about this topic.

One mom made a great list about WHY WORKBOXES? I like it!

But before we go explore the 'net, let me tell you where this all got started......

There was a woman named Susan Patrick who had an autistic son, and she did a lot of research about educating him and eventually developed this idea for her son. You can find her website here and read her story here.

She wrote a book called:

Sue Patrick's Workbox System A User's Guide

Many people have started using the system without reading the book. I was planning to do that, too, but I have seen so many moms say that while it could be done without reading the book, they were so glad to have read it. I would assume with any special needs children in the family, it would be even more important to read the book. I am sure if you do it without the book, it would work just fine. I have decided to order the book as I rarely have anything I need to buy for school anymore......so I can justify this small purchase. I will share it with my friends, too. You know who you are. In fact, I just ordered it Sunday night from Amazon, along with some other good stuff. I want to have it here in time before I go to Willa's house next week. I hope it gets here. (It didn't...only part of the order arrived.....:( )

The basic premise is to have 12 boxes for each kid, and place in each box, each school day, what they need to do, from the first to the last. When they finish one box, they go to the next numbered box.

Now, that is a very basic description. But, then...this is a pretty basic idea. Checking out the links below will give you a much better overview.........since I have not actually done this. In the past we have done similar workings.....but this is more fine-tuned.

And, keep in mind: KEEP IT SIMPLE! That is always a good rule for homeschooling moms to follow! So, while you explore this idea, do not give it up right away.......study it more and spend time thinking about the possibilities.......asking God if this is a good fit for you. I can't help but think it is a good fit for so many I know!

In the meantime, I have discovered a bookshelf in the schoolroom that can be put into the boys' room for this project. And, I have purchased some bins I have used in the past.........for $1 each at the dollar store. Now, I just need to clean out the spot in the boys' room for it....and figure out where to put the stuff on those shelves. I have posted to Freecycle, looking for bookshelves. So far, no nibbles....

......since I wrote that...my friend Patty just happened to have some metal shelves I can use to replace the ones in the schoolroom. Thanks, Patty!

Well, since I started this post, someone has written an online article about workboxes.....and there are lots of links and a few photos. I think I will give you a link to it, so you can look around. Before you start clicking on the links on that page...I have highlighted the useful ones below........

Also, while Willa and I were looking for the above article, she found another good blog post with lots of links. I have also highlighted the good ones below.......

Here is a great idea for using cereal boxes for holders...great photos. I will be considering this idea because I WANT magazine holders, but cannot find any less than $5 anywhere...and some were as a high as $14

Leslie, who also has six kids (aged 2.5-15yrs) has a nice post on workboxes, with good details of what's in them. Her blog is so lovely, that I added it to my google reader. :)



A good example of one mom who tweaked the system to work for her family, using three different methods of storage.


Oh, wow! I love how this looks here! Now I see I CAN use only what I have around and have it still look good visually and make sense. I needed this visual permission. Check this out if you do not want to get a bunch of new stuff or spend money. It works! Plus, you will all chuckle at her first photo. :)


Same mom has an excellent suggestion for the "art-handicapped" mom...ideas for art in the workboxes.


Here is Candace's blog and how she is doing the system.



Tina has a wonderful testimonial to offer after the end of her first week......She also has two posts about their Do-It Door...which someone may find helpful. It is a clever idea. Post one and post two. Especially helpful to those with young elementary kids.



This mom did it exactly as recommended in the book. In fact, you can find all of her posts about the workbox system here, which includes her first few days. Be sure to read from the bottom up. A nice look into someone's home and first week using the system.


Here you can find a lovely blog and description of using with a 2nd, 1st and preschooler. She has great photos of her system. This specific post here covers what to do with the "together" activities. I like her idea.



I like Lynn's little chat about the attitude to take when approaching this system, when you cannot or will not do it exactly as the book states. She also has another approach on the numbering.



Laura has seven kids and six boxes and no room to do the full system. You can see the alternative she is using here. She is using plastic bags...and her children loved the test run so much, they want to do it for the summer! :)


This post is useful to think about what to put into the boxes: the "must haves" the "want to haves" and the "fun" extra stuff.


I like the use of these ice cube trays.......check them out for another way to organize your workboxes. She let me know that you can find them at the Dollar store, Wal-mart, Freds...where she paid 1.50 for each.

Several posts of this small family's experience....a 5yo and a 3yo. Cute kids!

The mom above interviewed her kids' reaction to workboxes.

This mom wrote a "day-in-the-life" post for the days of her 8yo and 6 yo. You get to look in each drawer.

I really like this blog. It is sweet & classy....and she has an alternative way to use the idea, when you have a family that would require 96 boxes!!!! And, based on the little bit of research I am doing, and I could be mistaken, but Leslie may have been the one who got the whole workbox discussion going online. If you scroll down her homeschool posts, you can find some are about the workboxes...and photos of her girls using the boxes.

Another nice blog by Kendra......again, start at the bottom and read each post above. These are all of her workbox posts. She has a nice sense of humor. The one at the bottom reviews the original book a bit. I have a feeling she is describing what MY reaction will be when I get a chance to read it.

A nice post.

Heather has a collection of posts...the most telling ones are at the bottom of the page. Start there and then read each post above the last. She has many photos of her kids actually doing the work. I like how she described the workboxes: "A LIVING CHECKLIST" I believe this verbalizes what I LOVE about this idea: it "livingness!" Is that a real word??? :) Spellcheck says: no way!

Cute number idea for numbering the boxes! She will even make them for YOU....for ten bucks!


List of ideas at homeschoolshare.com for putting in the boxes....expect this list to grow! I had already printed out the animal classification page for Malachy before I found this link. Our little collection of animals will go to good use!



WHAT'S IN THE BOX? The description: Suggestions, Ideas & Discussions regarding the workbox system. Could be a nice one to follow.......I think I will add it to my Google reader.



THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX has lots of info....and the other parts of her blog are inspiring for the preschooling moms.



Good stuff for tots!



Want a resource for LOTS of worksheets? Try worksheetsworks.com! I have not used lots of worksheets in the past...but Malachy loves them...and this website looks like good filler. Oh, I found alphabetizing, maps, fractions, clocks, money, calendars, states & capitals, California puzzles, and lots more!



So, what are the kids saying about the workboxes? Find out here!



A message board about sharing workboxes, by Homeschool Share. By the way......this is a good place to find ideas for filling your workboxes. Explore if you have not been here before.



Other ways to apply the workbox idea:


How about vacation boxes? Clever!


There are lots of blog posts on workboxes for preschoolers. Since I sadly do not have any preschoolers, anymore, I mostly ignored those resources. The yahoo group above has quite a few including their preschoolers, so it is a good resource.

And, as last thought on these workboxes............

Something to think about......I like this quote Heather wrote: "Nearly every homeschooling board is humming with thoughts and questions related to this approach, which is, in essence, a structure for outlining a school day with minimal distractions. Is there more to it? Of course. But at its very heart, the Workbox System is about optimal organization. And, as we all know, organization is one of the major themes in homeschooling." Read more for an interesting take......she writes well...I like her vocabulary and way with words.

God bless, Chari

Haven Heartbeats

Hello!

I can only spend a moment here..........to say we are so busy........that I cannot post anything, anytime. Even now.

We have so much to do by next Monday, when we plan to leave for the Sierra Nevadas....where some of you may remember we visited last summer.......and the March before that.......and anytime we can get there. :)

We have an entire stage & set to break down and store.......a nephew from New Hampsfire is coming for a visit......John & Gloria will be here all weekend........to tired to add the rest, but it is a massive to-do list.......STILL.

Please pray for Matthew's knee to heal........it is slow-going. At least his wisdom teeth are healing well and without consequence!

Got to head to bed, after I put a load of laundry on.

Noght and God Bless!

Love, chari

PS I am working on a post.......I hope to post it soon! I have promised Frances I would hurry and get it done................I tried tonight but my computer said: NOT NOW! :)

My Grandma's Birthday.........

....is the same day as Flag day!


One of the items on my grateful list: that my children have a GREAT GRANDMA to know and love!

HAPPY 88th BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA!

WE MISS YOU!

WE LOVE YOU!

We will try to call you on your special day!

with love, the inhabitants of Our Hearts Haven

ps.....you can see the birthday greetings from last year......includes vintage photos