Christi has
read 20 books toward her goal of 100 books.
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By Christi, on February 14th, 2012
I saw this on Pinterest and this blog and love it. We start tomorrow.
Whenever a kid leaves their belongings around the house I will put them in Junk Jail (a designated basket). To get their belonging back they’ll have to draw a penalty and do what it says. I just printed out the “penalties”:
Clean out car.
Take out recycling.
Pick up in backyard – fill a bag.
Rub dad’s feet for 10 minutes and do, ‘this little piggy’ to him.
Clean a sibling’s room
Wipe down the bathroom toilet
Clean a bathroom mirror while singing any song.
Clean out silverware drawer
Wipe down outside of fridge and have a treat afterwards.
You are free but this is a WARNING!
Wipe down all the door frames.
Wipe bathroom floor.
Give mom and dad a hug and say, “I will try not to leave my stuff out again.”
Vacuum out the couches
Sweep the front porch
Empty bathroom garbages
Write a letter to someone who has done a service for you and tell them thank you.
Vacuum kitchen floor
Fold 10 pairs of socks
Rub dad’s head for 10 minutes while telling him how thankful you are for him working so hard.
Rub mom’s head for 10 minutes while telling her how thankful you are she takes care of you.
Pick up back porch and ride your bike up and down the hill.
Read to Rieslin for 10 minutes
Vacuum den
Vacuum living room
You are free but this is a WARNING!
Tell all of your siblings 3 things you love about them.
Write 30 times “I will not leave my things out.”
Do 25 jumping jacks while singing, “I am a cleaning machine.”
Run around the house for 1 minute and see how many things you can pick up and put away.
Clean off the princess table with a wipe
Draw a picture of you picking up things and your mom and dad smiling BIG!
Make up a song about a clean house and perform it in front of your family.
Make your bed blindfolded.
Clean out the dryer lint trap
While hopping on one foot, wipe the kitchen counters off.
Choose 2 items of yours to donate to Goodwill.
Vacuum your bedroom
Vacuum all the air vents
Hand wash 3 dishes
Wipe down the toilets
Pick up front yard and beg your mother for forgiveness.
Design a machine on paper that cleans the whole house and gets you ready for the day.
Water the plants
Tell us the story of David in the Lions’ Den
Organize mom and dad’s shoes.
Do a load of laundry (Wash, dry, fold, put away)
By Christi, on February 13th, 2012
Chapter 3 of Ann’s book. I am not sure why, yet, but I can’t read this book without bursting into tears. I’m sure that means God is using it to do a work in me, but it sure makes it hard to read!
today’s theme is to find 3 gifts behind a closed door. the first one comes to me as I hear Mr. Fox turn on the shower.
26. sound of the shower and he who is inside it
I resist the urge to play catch-up with this list and trust that God will take this dare with me and bless me and my ability to see His gifts so that even though I am technically “behind” (being that I’m only on #31 and should be on 180) I will have listed MORE than 1,000 by years end. He likes to show off like that. 
So, yeah, that’s #31. God showing off, His teaching me to trust Him
By Christi, on February 10th, 2012
15. all 3 slept later than usual.
16. going to the playground and ending up spending an hour playing by the creek (that I didn’t realize was there).
17. the little one not wanting to change her pants before we left the house (they were thin and I was afraid she’d be cold) – so she put another pair on over them. When her bum was covered with wet sand I only had to take off the second pair!
Today’s theme: 3 times you heard laughter
By Christi, on February 8th, 2012
I struggle. A lot, it seems (especially when I forget not to compare myself to how productive those around me seem to be). The wounds from my past seem to crop up and haunt me without my recognizing them. I’ve realized lately that although God has healed so much in me, there is still so much that is broken. How wonderful is He, that He only works to heal as much as I can handle at a time. I feel so amazingly blessed to be loved by a God that knows me so well and cares about me no matter what.
This life of being a mom, especially one who stays home, can become mundane if we let it. It’s work to find the joy in the everyday. A friend of mine posted the following excerpt on our community forum:
From the chapter “Monasticism and the Playpen,” excerpt from _The Shattered Lantern_ by Ron Rohlheiser
“The mother who stays at home with small children experiences a very real withdrawal from the world. Her existence is certainly monastic. Her tasks and preoccupations remove her from the centers of social life and from the centers of important power. She feels removed.
Moreover, her constant contact with young children, the mildest of the mild, gives her a privileged opportunity to be in harmony with the mild and learn empathy and unselfishness. Perhaps more so even than the monk or minister of the Gospel, she is forced, almost against her will, to mature. For years, while she is raising small children, her time is not her own, her own needs have to be put into second place, and every time she turns round some hand is reaching out demanding something. Years of this will mature most anyone.
It is because of this that she does not need, during this time, to pray for an hour a day. And it is precisely because of this that the rest of us, who do not have constant contact with young children, need to pray privately daily.
We, to a large extent, do not have to withdraw. We can often put our own needs first. We can claim some of our own time. We do not work with what is mild. Our worlds are professional, adult, cold and untender. Outside of prayer we run a tremendous risk of becoming selfish and bringing ourselves into harmony with what’s untender.
Monks and contemplative nuns withdraw from the world to try to become less selfish, more tender, and more in harmony with the mild. To achieve this they pray for long hours in solitude.
Mothers with young children are offered the identical privilege: withdrawal, solitude, the mild. But they do not need the long hours of private prayer–the demands and mildness of the very young are a functional substitute.”
and at first I thought, “I must be doing it wrong.” But then, as I though about it I realized that not only is it true, but that knowing this, reading this helps me realize what a blessing this life I have chosen, been given, is. I mean, you’ve heard a million times “children will do what you DO, not what you say” so what better way is there to teach these amazing little people (for that is who we are raising, people) selflessness, patience, kindness than to DO it for them? Do I fail? Daily. Hourly. Sometimes every minute. But then when I see the big boy scoop up the smallest girl and nuzzle her, help her, give something up for her… I realize that in my failure God has succeeded.
Struggling through my day gives me a multitude of opportunities to pray, to lean on God, to let Him help me through. And isn’t that what He wants? For us to fully depend on Him? For without HIS strength, I can do nothing. And in those prayers, He shows me my ingratitude. Not in a punitive manner, but in His sweet, loving, MERCIFUL way. That laundry? That MOUNTAIN of clothing means that my children do not go naked. Those dishes piled up and overflowing onto the kitchen counters mean we have food. Every “mundane chore, nuisance” is an opportunity for me to give thanks.
I’d heard this idea before and maybe pondered it a bit but still got bogged down in the “I’m tired of doing the same thing day after day” until I started reading Ann Voskamp‘s One Thousand Gifts and I’m only on chapter 2 and it’s changing my life. But not just my life, the lives of my children. Two chapters and I can see things differently and show my children a better way to live. A way to really live and to really experience God’s grace and love. For what better way do we learn a thing than by doing it over and over and over again? It doesn’t have to be a burden.
Join me in taking the dare, I’m jumping in late as I just discovered it but who cares – start today, right where you are!
Scroll to the bottom of this post and print the Feb List. I laminated mine and put it on the refrigerator.
I only listed 50 gifts last year – this year I’m taking the dare to list 1,000… more!
1. the sound of their laughter
2. sweet kisses from the littlest
3. R2′s joy in playing, finally, with the girls in the neighborhood
4. a refreshing walk down the hill and back up, holding hands with my girls
5. sweet sisters building a fort with lawn chairs
6. sweet sound of R3 singing worship songs
7. ketchup. in a bowl. on faces, hands and shirts – mixed with ranch.
8. my coffee pot the loving Mr. Fox bought me even though I said I only needed a cheap one
9. blood droplets on skinned knees – means we have the ability to feel and the opportunity to show love
and my kids are making a list, too!
By Christi, on January 17th, 2012
We all are, really. It’s that whole dying-to-self thing, yk? It’s hard. And so not fun. I was going to blog about how God has shown me my selfishness and how it has been hurting me and my family, and others around me. Then I came across this blog post and realized she pretty much took the words out of my mouth!
God has been steering our family towards Thomas Jefferson Education for years now even though we had no idea. Man, I love how He does that! I started reading Leadership Education about 2 months ago and it just was so obvious that this was what our family needed to be doing. It all makes so much sense. And God’s hand is so obviously in it.
We’ve been actively DOING it for about 3 weeks now and I already see changes. Not just in my kids – as if those aren’t enough! R1 is READING on his own, voraciously, at that! R2 is reading, writing poetry and WANTS to do chores with me. And R3, well, she’s just amazing all the time. 
But I’ve changed, too. (And so has Mr. Fox, maybe I can get him to blog his perspective!) Used to, if I had an appt and a sitter I’d draaaaaaaag my feet going back to pick them up. I just didn’t want to go back home and do the “mom thing.” I desperately sucked out every.last.second that I could be by myself.
Today, I had an appt. and I actually found that on the way back I was anxious to pick them up and go home. Turns out that the more quality time I spend with them (quality being the key word here) the more time I want with them. We spend hours a day piled up on the couch reading and it has done something to us. It’s gluing us back together. It’s teaching and ministering to our hearts. And it’s lovely. I want more.
God is SO good. He’s so good to me.
By Christi, on January 4th, 2012
Back in November I came across this blog post about Leadership Education and it resonated with me SO deeply. One of the main reasons I HS is because I don’t want my children’s core to be influenced by people who don’t believe as we do. I firmly believe that I can’t raise my child to know what I believe, behave the way the Bible commands and be the light if they are spending 3/4 of their time under the influence of others. If I want to teach them these things they need to be with me more than anyone else. I mean, what does it matter how smart/schooled you are if you SUCK as a person?
I did some reading but didn’t really go anywhere with it. Then, about a month ago I took the leap and ordered Leadership Education and dove in. A friend whom I’d shared the blog with dove in before me and we were both blown away with how much sense LE makes.
R1 hated school, every day was a fight and as I watched him pout and stomp and hate his schoolwork I started to think that I’d missed something and that as crazy as the above may sound to some it might be just what I was looking for.
Fast forward to today and we have now rearranged our house so that we have a family room with book shelves full of good books and NO media. We are working on getting our morning routine ironed out, we read for at least an hour every night (in addition to at least an hour during the day) and I’m starting to freak out a little bit, LOL. Mainly because I didnt’ have a LE, man I wish I had, and that makes me doubt myself. But that’s the thing about TJEd, you go back and GET/GIVE yourself the education you need and in the process your children learn by watching you and doing it along with you.
It’s scary. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen or known and the unknown is scary. BUT, here’s the thing. I’ve wanted (and not wanted, out of fear) to back to school for years now. I never really knew what for but more and more lately God has laid on my heart a desire to learn Hebrew, to go to a Bible college and really learn theology. So, it seems that maybe He’s lead me here not only for the sake of my kids’ education but for my own, also. And the fact that I looked at Mr. Fox the night before last and told him I wanted to get the TV out of the family room and he didn’t look at me like I was nuts, but actually said, “I think that’s a great idea” really makes me believe that God’s hand is in this – He’s put us on the same page!
No matter what, after reading up on the true origins and purposes of Public Education I can say without a doubt thatI pray my children will never step foot into a school.
By Christi, on December 9th, 2011
When R1 was little (3 – I was pg with R2) I had some great counseling sessions with another mom, a PRO at Gentle Discipline. I just found this document where I had taken notes from one of our phone sessions and wanted to share it to help others and to help remind me of the tools to have in my box.
Well if his anger is showing itself in a need to throw, create an *acceptable* throwing opportunity. Beanbags into a corner with mom right there to keep him focused that way is a good one. So are “soft
ball” wars if you’re into that. My oldest & I would go into his room (where there was nothing breakable) and get out 10 soft-stuffed balls & totally go at it – throwing them at eachother in mock-battle. We’d
start grumpy & finish up laughing our butts off  I’d shelter the baby behind me – he’d watch & coo
Getting into the bath & having a splash fight can also satisfy that need to feel like he’s throwing. Water is also often intrinsically calming to intense children, so that helps, too.
Keep in mind that *just* kicking, stomping and throwing is a blessing – many children this age go straight for you, fists swinging! Your goal is to keep safe boundaries (no hurting others, self or property) and
help him release his anger, and gradually (over several years) guide him toward acceptable outlets. One step at a time.
Other outlets:
~Drawing an angry picture (sit & draw with him – make your picture mad too )
~Punching a pillow, the bed, or “air punching”
~Naming the feelings – you can help him – “You’re *really* mad! Can you yell, “Mommie I’m sooooo maaaaaaad!” Get into it – it will help him have permisisson to name scary feelings. Afterall, being mad at mommie *is* scary – and if he knows you aren’t scared of it, he’ll deal with it better.
~Stomping someplace quieter – on the bed. This usually turns into jumping
~Kicking pillows – on the bed is pretty safe. This might turn into some good falling down & attacking the bed, too.
~Name and reflect – Tell him what you see & what emotion it shows. Many many children don’t pick up what the names are for feelings that intense – they just know they feel out of conctrol & it’s scary. Naming the feelings gives them a sense of control, and they realize that you accept them *even* when they are mad. That takes a lot of the anger out of them. “You look really mad – I can tell because you’re stomping and yelling! Mom wouldn’t let you have X and you’re maaaaaad about it!”
~Give him a “scale” of comparison for his mad – this also gives him a sense of control. “Wow are you mad! Are you *this* mad? (hold your hands apart) Or THIS mad? (hold them further)”
~Give him in fantasy what he can’t have in reality. “You want that toy sooooo bad. If you had it, you’d play with it forever. It’s hard not to have it! What would you do with it if it didn’t have to stay in the
store?”
~With children who see humor everywhere in the world, you can help them control their anger with making it playful. This only works if you’re not afraid of their anger & *truly* honor it!!!! If you’re playful to
try to get them not to be mad – it won’t work But if you’re playful to give them an outlet, many children really grab onto that. “Wow, is that the loudest you can yell?? I bet tigers roar louder! (mom roars
like a tiger) Ha! I’m a loud tiger!” Many children love to do some one-ups-manship of this kind. How big is your anger? How loud can you yell? How far can you throw? How high can you jump? How big can you
stomp?
~Fantasy Revenge! When my boys were 3.5 and 6 we had about a year where we’d get into gross-out one-ups-manship. One of them would start to rage, and I’d jump right in with, “You’re so mad you want me to DIE???? OH NO!!!! Would you toss me off the top of a skyscraper? Would I go SPLAT? Would my eyeballs kersplooooode?????” They LOVED it!
The fact that I wasn’t afraid of their fantasy “revenge” on mom’s strong boundaries & high standards and the fact that I’d out do their imaginations cracked them up! It also bonded us – I was “imagining
myself a little boy” – and they felt that I understood and respected their fantasy life. More importantly, though, it gave them permission to act out their anger in fantasy however they wanted to, and permission
to be truly angry and know that mom could handle it, and that *they* could handle it. And my boundary or high standard expectation remained – I didn’t give in, and the strong feelings were diffused.
By Christi, on November 21st, 2011
I’ve been reading The Fitting Room by Kelly Minter. I had the immense pleasure of hearing her speak on the book of Ruth a few months back at a local church and just LOVED her! I finally got my hands on one of her books and it is downright amazing. It’s about “Putting on the Character of Christ” – you know, Colossians 3:12, this is good stuff.
The chapters on forgiveness really resonated with me and did quite a bit of highlighting so I just wanted to get a few things down here so I can reference them more easily.
“When we experience the kindness of God that leads us to repentance, when we understand that no good thing dwells within us, when the staggering weight of our guilt is lifted because of what Jesus Christ has done and we sense the shame of our pasts fleeing as far as the east is from the west, our hearts soften. They stretch. We find we have copassion for others (bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you have with one another), in ways we never dreamed possible.” p. 75
“The command to forgive others as Christ forgave us is not a lesson in trying to muster up the strength to forgive like Jesus, but an assurance that – because Jesus forgave us – we can forgive like Him. And perhaps we will even want to.” p. 76
Luke 7:36-50 is a great story about forgiveness.
“Forgiveness is not the kind of thing with which you can turn the nozzle on and start blasting people. Hence, one of the greatest lessons of my life.” p. 81
“Yes, I knew that Jesus had died on the cross for the world and for me and that He’d forgiven me of my sins. But when He asked me to demonstrate the nuances of forgiveness, I felt like He was saying, “Kelly, when you start forgiving, you will be more convinced of My forgiveness for you.” I suppose it’s like this: The more He asked me to forgive, the more I understood His forgiveness. He wouldn’t ask me to be something He Himself is not.” p. 82
“…He speaks lovingly to me even in my defiance of Him… God blessed me with beauty despite my offenses… He lavishly blesses me, despite my many sins, despite that I’ve manipulated and bullied and demanded my way in the face of His love.” p. 82
“There was no space for me to love Jesus by pouring out my alabaster jar or worshipping Him with my service as long as all of my attention was on someone else’s sin.” p. 85
C.S. Lewis – “Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.”
“Still, when we’re faced with the deepest betrayals of life… just the idea of forgiveness can seem like a reckless invitation to throw our very last vestige of control out the window. In our most painful circumstances, unforgiveness seems like the one thing we still have left!”
“For a relationship to be put back together and sewed up, you have to have the discussion and then apologies. But you don’t need to have either of these for forgiveness. You just need God.” p. 98-99
By Christi, on November 7th, 2011
http://www.momsmustardseeds.com/2011/11/ten-days-of-growing-leaders-day-1-core-phase-of-learning/
This isn’t the first thing I’ve read about this idea – but it really resounds with me. One of the main reasons I HS is because I don’t want my children’s core to be influenced by people who don’t believe as we do. I firmly believe that I can’t raise my child to know what I believe, behave the way the Bible commands and be the light if they are spending 3/4 of their time under the influence of others. If I want to teach them these things they need to be with me more than anyone else.
And as I watch Ry pout and stomp and hate his schoolwork I’m starting to think that I’ve missed something and that as crazy as the above may sound to some it might be just what I’m looking for. I mean, what does it matter how smart/schooled you are if you SUCK as a person?
By Christi, on September 24th, 2011
I’d like them to make a movie that’s actually appropriate for my kids to watch.
I Wanted to take the kids to see Winnie the Pooh, but we missed it at the $ theater.  So what IS playing? Zookeeper and Mr. Popper’s Penguins, which I happen to be reading to the kids every night (we are on chapter 8). So I look them up. WHY must they make such nasty movies for KIDS?? I know they’re rated PG but COME ON!!
Zookeeper, just a few of the really bad things, there’s much more:
Bears, for instance, tell Griffin how important it is to walk around with one’s crotch (referred to several times as a “pudding cup”) thrust forward. “Show ‘em the goods!” they say. A wolf advocates turning every date into a “home game” by marking territory with urine.
A bear brags about how his own paramour has an extra claw “and she knows how to use it.” Someone makes a crass reference to breasts.
Griffin and a co-worker have so much destructive fun at a wedding reception that they jokingly mull making a career out of it; Griffin further suggests they knock off a convenience store. (They don’t.)
Characters say “h‑‑‑” four times and misuse God’s name nearly a dozen. We also hear a few curse word stand-ins such as “frick,” freak” and “jeez.”
One bear suggests to another that he’s been defecating in the drinking water. “You said that was vitamin drops!” the other bear exclaims. There’s a reference to a “hot stinking pile,” accompanied by a great deal of talk about urination, defecation and boogers. A wolf is caught licking his private parts. “I certainly wasn’t cleaning my basement,” he says.
This summertime slip-up of a flick, which carries the brand of Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions (Sandler himself voices the astoundingly annoying Donald the Monkey), is a kids’ movie only in the sense that it’s childish and juvenile. And it’s only a comedy in the sense that it’s kinda funny that anyone thought this was a good idea for a movie.
http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/zookeeper.aspx
Now we haven’t finished Mr. Popper’s Penguins, but being 1/3 of the way through it I just can’t see that it’s going to end up being ANYthing like this movie. In the book the main characters are married and have two kids. It sounds like, in the movie, the parents are estranged. Hmm, maybe just read the synopsis of the movie and then of the book and we can all wonder together WHY IN THE HELL they had to take a wholesome story and EFF it all up so I have to tell my kids they can’t watch it after reading the book.
Tom refers to an older man’s energy as “viagratality,” a winking reference to sex and the little blue pill. He also uses the word “sexy” and quotes Beyoncé’s song “Single Ladies.” When talking of single women, Tom tells Janie that Martha Stewart is a powerful woman who sleeps with her dogs (which is just vague enough to earn a tentative double entendre warning). In a cold room, Tom indirectly refers to his erect nipples. Gonorrhea comes up in conversation when Tom and Amanda pretend to be infectious disease experts.
Janie asks what to do when unrequited love hits hard and a boy kisses someone else. As they mend fences, Tom and Amanda—who already has a new boyfriend—flirt. Lovey is just that, and it’s said that he fathers several chicks.
The s-word, almost used in reference to the penguins’ poop, isn’t fully said. “Freakin’” stands in for the more obscene word once or twice, and there are a couple of incomplete exclamations of “what the …?” We clearly hear one each of “h‑‑‑” and “d‑‑n” in song lyrics played during the closing credits. God’s name is misused around 10 times. Tom calls his ex-wife a “buzz kill” in front of their children.
Tom’s neighbor rightfully complains about the mess and noise of penguins, but to no avail because Tom tends to think laws or even the need for common courtesies don’t apply to him. Some of his business deals are shady. And his attitudes can be seen coming from his kids, too. Janie, in particular, can be pretty disrespectful to her dad.
Long-time fans of Richard and Florence Atwater’s Mr. Popper’s Penguins, the 1939 Newberry Honor book, might think the many liberties this contemporary film adaptation takes with a much-treasured story are about as appealing as eating raw sardines. And, it’s true, the movie version certainly won’t go down in box office history as an award-winning must-see.
I’m just so irritated and tired of it. Why can’t they just make a GOOD movie for my kids that’s not Pooh?
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Michael in Ghana 
Compassion Sponsor Child Damali in Uganda 
Correspondent Child
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Christi has
read 9 books toward her goal of 100 books.
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