Simple Living::Sports

{Sam at the annual Department of Child Services picnic demonstrating}

The topic of sports is often a hot one for parents. There appears to be two camps on the subject of how much kids should be involved. The majority is for kids being full throttle into a sport or more than one and the minority seems to be for some involvement , but not having the sport taking over the kids life. I believe our family falls into the minority.

First, I want to be quite clear that we feel sports is not a bad thing, in and of itself. What we have found in our journey is that it can take over your family life and lead to a very hectic and crazy lifestyle. With that said, know we have had seasons where our involvement in sports has been a bit overwhelming on our family life. Looking back at those seasons is what brought us to our current decision on the whole subject of sports involvement.

Our older kids love sports, soccer, baseball, softball, swimming, dressage and a few others they tried. And they were good too, so when we have been critisized for our stance people would usually point this out, insinuating we were depriving our children of excelling in this area or robbing the world of the next great Beckham or Babe Ruth. When you have more than one child in a sport it can take over the family schedule so fast you don't know what hit you! Three practices a week or daily if your into school sports, two or three games a week, and the games are not only nights , but on the weekends, usually Sunday.

What is the impact on the family unit? We found it really fractured us and was very stressful. Because of my husband's work schedule I had the brunt of shuffling kids to practice and games. Younger kids in the car to and fro, said younger kids at the games not always interested in the game so Mama had to amuse them. And if the field didn't have a playground it was really difficult at times. Then when Dad was home he would be driving one kid while I took another--whoa, way too much! We decided, since really my husband and I didn't care for organized sports anyway, that our family time was more important than this kind of lifestyle. But, we didn't want to stop participating in sports all together. We wanted our children active, learning the give and take of team competition and cooperation. While we didn't agree with alot of what was experienced with organized sports we felt there were valuable lessons to be learned.

When we left the city and moved to the country we took time off from sports for a bit. We had a hobby farm and animals and there was plenty to do here as we established ourselves, to keep us all busy and active. Then the sports bug called to my son. He started playing on the local high schools soccer team, the town has always been accomodating to home educators. It was going pretty good, he of course loved it and he was a valuable player. Yet, the daily practices, then the games became alot to juggle again and he was the only one playing a sport at this point! At about this time our daughter on the Autism Spectrum with AS needed physical conditioning to help with balance and all the other challenges that accompany this diagnosis. Swimming is excellent for these children and so we had a pool installed, but that was seasonal , she needed something else.

Enter Martial Arts. Not only had I been doing alot of reading about Karate helping kids on the spectrum , but friends and people we met were telling us of the benefits their kids were experiencing because of it. Now our son was taking Judo lessons and he really liked it, its a contact martial arts and he is a boy:-) So, we decided to look into Karate for Sophia and found a studio with owners who had experience working with children with special needs. They were also Christian believers which was important also. While we teach and dialogue with our children about other religions we didn't want the eastern beliefs to be presented to our children as truth. The Sensei was very understanding and as a Christian told us how he incorporates the beliefs behind martial arts and presents them to the kids. We knew we had found the right place. We ended up signing up all three children for the program they offered. With the martial arts we found all the children could go, thus relieving the driving dilemna and all the time spent doing separate things. Our family could be involved together, the children had a common interest and they all could work at martial arts together. Now Sam has progressed to a higher level and that is okay, we still can work out studio classes to accomodate them all being there at the same time. Sam also has made their competition and demonstation teams and Sophia is hoping to. This involves another two eves a week , but it is working as one child takes a class or we run errands together as my husand is off these days.

Martial Arts has proven to be very beneficial to our child on the spectrum. It is helping her with her movemnet disorder and ticks, with balance and physical endurance. Our son is reaping the benefits of being on a team with other kids who are committed to helping one another, a true team spirit. He is also building self-discipline skills and self-confidence and is having fun too! It has also taught them to consider others. The studio participates in fundraisers for charities such as St. Jude's Childrens Hospital and our states Child Protective Services. Giving our time for these worthy causes has been an opportunity to teach our children about those not as fortunate as us. We try to teach that we are blessed and with that comes a responsibility to bless and put others before ourselves.

Another important consideration in deciding on a sport was the fact that martial arts could be carried over to the rest of their lives. The opportunity to teach and mentor other children as their skills were honed and perfected could only be a winning situation. Maybe, if they want someday, they could open their own studio or teach in another.

Our family has found the answer to the sports dilemna that works for us. As we have stepped back from the rollercoaster ride of sports involvement and taken stock of the situation, we wish we had done it sooner. We have more family time, less stress and still happy kids:-) When we moved we really wanted to simplify and keep our lives unclutterd not only with stuff , but with alot of outside pulls. Family members still think we may be depriving our children of the organized team sports, that's okay. Ultimately , we are all responsible for our own families and what works for them.

It took prayer and listening to God and discerning what His plan is for our lives. We have found that when we are in God's will things run a whole lot smoother!

Romans 12:1-2
Place Your Life Before God

" So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. "

~The Message Bible

Sharing a fantastic giveaway!

I am always on the lookout for high quality art supplies. A really beautiful box of colored pencils can elicit shrieks of delight here! Weird, yes. With our home education I follow Charlotte Mason's pedagogy for nature and art study. I also, in the early grades, teach form drawing from the Waldorf pedagogy. We use the main lesson books with the onion skin paper in between as this prohibits bleeding and smudging from one drawing to another, and sometimes with little ones, this is a very good thing. I am going to be sharing a bit about how we use these two educational philosophies in a later post I have partially written.

Now onto the giveaway! Another beautiful and very inspiring place to visit is the blog Imagine Childhood. The weekly Nature Walks and Barn Stories always give me something to ponder, as well as smile at the beauty the posters share. Below are the giveaway details, and even if you don't win consider patronizing their shop. They have a great selection of indoor/outdoor items and their plush animals are exactly what they claim to be--life like. Lydia has requested from her Nana one of the mice for her birthday gift.

****You must visit the blog Imagine Childhood, the link in the paragraph above. I am just sharing the chance to win I am not the actual giver of the lovely gifts. You may leave me a comment, but it won't count towards your chance to win. Terribly sorry if this confused anyone!

From Imagine Childhood Blog....

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, we couldn’t help but host a giveaway for our wonderful readers with a few gifts from our shop!This week one lucky winner will receive:1 Set of Plant Dyed Pencils in a Wooden Box
1 Set of Colorful Moleskine Notebooks (Color of your choice)
And
1 Handmade Plant Dyed Felt Flower Fairy or Sprite (Choose your favorite!)To enter for a chance to win this great prize simply respond to the forum topic in the comments for this post.Forum topic: What are you loving in your life right now?More ways to enter the giveaway:
Want to improve your chances? You can leave a second comment by blogging about imaginechildhood.com (please leave a link to your post), and you can even leave a third comment by tweeting about imaginechildhood.com on twitter (simply leave a comment with a link to your tweet)!
The giveaway will close next Monday February 8th at 12pm MST and the winner (picked by a random number generator) will be announced later that day!
Good Luck!

One Small Change::February

First, thank you to everyone who left us good wishes and prayers to get healthy. We are feeling human again finally. Goodness it felt like a long haul! If I sounded like I was whining a bit, I beg your forgiveness. We have been pretty blessed with our health I must say and when one is not used to being sick for so long it gets discouraging. Yet, I read this blog most days and when I see what Stephanie goes through, well, it puts it in perspective for me. I need to let God know I am grateful for the healthy days and for all my blessings. I tell you I just don't know how she lives with her ordeal except through her faith and the support of the wonderful and caring family she obviously has. Sometimes I read her letters and tears just come and I pray for her, if you visit her, please pray for her too.



On to the challenge update. January went well with turning down the thermostats and keeping the wood stove stoked . Hearth cooking went well the first week, but with being ill my energy level wasn't what it needed to be to cook this way. I know I am a wimp, what did those pioneer women do when they got sick! So , I have to say we saved on the fuel bill. We just filled up and that cost us $626.00 to fill the tank. We would have needed an oil fill two weeks earlier if we hadn't kept the stove going.


For February we will be really deliberate in our purchases. This month is my daughter's and my birthday plus two nieces. In March I have two more daughters birthdays. We always have a family get together and cake for these. My meals will be simple fare with homemade cakes. All gifts from my husband and I will be handmade gifts that we will make or purchase from small businesses like etsy. Lydia wants a fairy house like this, but the cost is just too high so my husband will make one for her in his shop. I am going to make the little fairies and I did buy this one from Princess Nimbles shop--love her stuff! I am going to knit for my nieces or sew, I was stumped for my nieces, 15 year olds with every technological gizmo, but luckily I ran across this cutie by WaldorfMama and I think they will appreciate this. I am also making birthday penants for my girls. So our focus this month is to stay out of stores except for groceries and only items that are needs not *wants*. Our purchases will be ones we have thought about and considered carefully.

Thanks to Suzy and her husband at Hip Mountain Mama for putting this challenge together. Its been good for the soul to not only take part, but to read the stories of the others taking part.

Wishing you a lovely Candlemas

{snowdrops}

Today is Candlemas Day, I have always loved Candlemas and my second daughter was born on this favorite day of mine. Some also make alot of fun out of it being Groundhog Day here in the USA. Traditionally though, my family celebrated Candlemas with going to church as this was St. Brigid's feast day. It was also tradition for us to have my Dad, who is French Canadian or a Canook as he calls himself, make crepes. He still makes the best crepes to this day! It was a treat.

In the church Candlemas is a feast dedicated to Jesus' presentation to the Temple after Mary's 40 day purification period. In other parts of the world bringing new candles to the church to be blessed is also a custom.

Candlemas occurs between the December Solstice and the March equinox, so many people get a bit excited that Spring is around the corner and the light of day lasts just a little longer each day. You might also notice a snowdrop or two poking up in your garden. If you haven't planted these little beauties you should consider it for next year as they are a welcome site when your tired of the snow and cold.

We are going to roll some beeswax sheets and light them at our dinner table tonight. I have now been sick with the stomach bug the last couple of days so have been spending most of my time in bed! Oh, how I am longing for Spring and the exit of these nasty viruses making the rounds.

If candlemas day be fair and bright,
winter will take another flight.
If candlemas day be cloud and rain,
winter is gone and will not come again.
~ from Festivals, Families and Food

I hope you have a very blessed Candlemas with your family. I haven't shared my new challenge for One Small Change , but will do shortly, with being sick haven't had the energy to think and discuss with my husband:-) I also will be doing a blog giveaway as this heralds 302 posts. The thought was there to do it last week I just couldn't pull it together with all this sickness making the rounds. Better days are coming!

Music Study::Happy Birthday Mr. Mozart!

The last two weeks have been full of sick children! All the homeopathic/natural remedies weren't cutting the mustard, some needed antibiotics and others just stronger over the counter meds. We have had a horrendous stomach bug hit, the upper respiratory infections and lastly conjunctivitis, oh yes, that is a pleasant one.

So in between being mother/nurse and trying to get myself well also, we have done more music study than I can document. All under their noses without much knowledge it was being done to them. Crafty Mama I am! This term we are learning about Mozart, one of my favorite composers. We loosely follow the Amblside Online recommendations and I highly recommend their information on the site. Many of Charlotte Mason's articles are catalogued on the subject.

While learning about Mozart I have concentrated on opera. I introduced The Magic Flute from the Barefoot Book of Opera Stories. The story holds the attention of a five year old and not only do I read , at her request, the story at least once a day, she listens to the accompanying CD which is read by Miranda Richardson, lovely British accent! I also use the Composer's Fandex which is very helpful to bring in the vital facts. I don't usually just recite facts, but try to weave them into a story about the composer. This holds the attention much better than rattling off a list of information. We also make a list of the intruments Mozart was proficient on and learn a bit about them from this encyclopedia. I bought this at a used book sale years ago and it has been very useful. My girls play recorder so we will also try to get a piece for the flute and see if we can try it. My daughter Jillian plays clarinet so she must have one of his pieces somewhere we can use too.

While we sit at at the table and each our lunch we listen to stories about Mozart and pieces from The Magic Flute. These CD's we have found at our libray and I highly recommend them for learning about Mozart: Mozart's Magic Journey: A Journey through The Magic Flute and Mozart's Magnificent Voyage. The latter CD is part of the Classical Kids series and if you have any such as When Bach Comes to Call or Beethoven Lives Upstairs, this CD is true to this story telling format through pieces of music by the composer. Our tapes are just about worn out, yes tapes! That is how long I have had them.

YouTube has also been a great place to find resources. Lydia is loving these two particular pieces, Queen of Night Aria and Papageno/Papagena Duet--with French subtitles! She thinks the Queen is beautiful and is just amazed at her voice, so am I. The French (subtitled)Duet is one of the best I think and since I am teaching Lydia French, just a word a day for now, she picked up that they're were subtitles in French. Very astute observation for an almost 6 year old:-) Well, she probably noticed the spelling..LOL!

We'll consider Mozart for the next two months and just soak up his music and I will throw in stories and facts here and there. Those minds are like little sponges so they soak it all up, even when you think they aren't. Sometimes we just sit and eat lunch with the music on and while Lydia colors a picture of the composer I sneakily pull out a little handmade project I am either dreaming of , working on or planning out. Gotta have a little handmade amongst the very full and busy days here;-)

I'll leave you with a picture of Mr. Mozart's birthday cake made by Lydia, with Mama's help. We used Tonya's recipe and the only thing I had to change was the yogurt. All I had on hand was greek style honey yogurt and it worked out fine. Those of us with workig taste buds enjoyed the birthday cake very much--the others are waiting 'til their taste buds return to normal, which I hope is soon!




Happy 254th Birthday Mr. Mozart!

Blog Advertising~What's up with that!

I have had this post on my heart for awhile. While I have hesitated to write it for fear of offending fellow bloggers, I really feel I must. Respectful comments and discussion are welcomed, but any ugly ones won't make the comment cut here.

Several months ago I had the Amazon and the AdSense links up on my blog. It never felt right and I always felt like I was furthering someone else's agenda. These new marketing tools were hitting blog land pretty hard and you'd be hard pressed to find a blog without a little bit of these marketing schemes pasted on them. Now, I don't begrudge anyone trying to make a few bucks, that is the standard argument when I find blogs I have loved visiting start on this road to marketing *stuff*. They usually let the readers know they are putting their recommendations up in these formats, and hey, why not, I like to see what others are reading and how it is working for them. BUT, if these blogs are touting simple living and less consumerism, green living, recycling and such, I think they are really sending a false message and I find their commentary lacking the convictions they are espousing. Is the word "phony" too harsh?

We're living in a time when instant gratification and personal debt is at an all time high. I don't want to encourage my readers to go out and buy every book I think will make them a better this or that. We see what a craft blogger has done from a certain book and we need that book , now! Don't get me started on Adsense, you post about something and Adsense just automatically puts in related or not so related links, and you have to go in and change and erase them. Is this really a good use of the time we have each day? Yeah , sure every click earns you a commission , but if you really care about the fellow homemaker why encourage her to be clicking on every link and wasting her time that way. Yes, yes, I know, we all have free will, but don't be bamboozled, these companies have spent billions researching how to pull you in. It's the same way the advertising works with children. Dangerous stuff.

What's the answer? Pretty simple I think. Why not include a list of your favorite books, magazines, gadgets,etc on your blog with a little review of how you have found them. Encourage readers to patronize their local library and use interlibrary loan--I get most books I read this way. While I like Amazon, I don't try to buy from them often as this takes away from the small bookshop/business owner. I much rather get my gardening and homestead reading from the local feed store or even Barnes & Noble. Why B&N you ask and not Amazon, isnt' it the same thing? No, it isn't. My local bookstore employs local people, it offers programs my children enjoy, author signings, a chance to persue the offerings by myself or with company over a nice pumpkin latte in a super comfy chair. While they are a big chain, it is still fostering community unlike Amazon. I also think of the fuel used to get your little item to you. At least with shopping local one can plan errands and get all the things they *really* need in one neat little trip.

If you don't make your own things or repurpose, at least send the business to those that do, like etsy. Vintage items abound there and all the crafty mommas offering their wares is really mind boggling. You can certainly experience the same thing there that I am talking about with Amazon and Adsense so be careful! Yet, most of those ladies and gentlemen(!) are very conscience of the materials they use and you can certainly weed out the ones that aren't and make informed purchases that are not only environmentally safe for you and the entire family , but good for our earth.

So tell me, how do you feel when you see some of these blogs posting on simple living, shopping thrift stores, buying less , repurposing, being mindful of the environment and our consumeristic tendencies and yet, the eye candy and ads are in the sidebars screaming at you to click on me and buy me?

If we're all on this journey together don't we have some obligation to help one another and encourage each other to live by the standards we're blogging about. I just want to know the person giving advice about living simply , being mindful and deliberate, taking care of the earth we live on, raising kids that are socially and environmentally aware is really convicted about the values they are stating they live by. Of course, its blog land , alot of us don't know each other from a hole in the wall. Does, that mean we're less accountable to each other? Well, keep in mind we're all accountable to a higher being.

It's nice to make a fast buck, but really at what expense?

Cocoa Thievery

Usually, just my approaching footsteps is enough to stop bad behaviour. Not this time! This particular thief even had the audacity to finish off the cocoa while I snapped his picture. A very stern tongue lashing from me followed, but I am not sure he cared. Rupert had a cocoa mustache and I do believe a smile was hiding under those jowels.