If I Ran My House Like I Run My Home Business, What Would It Look Like?

1. I would be mission driven.
2. I would not give up.
3. I would have a sense of urgency.
4. I would be able to discern between income-producing activities and time wasters.
5. I would take responsibility for communicating clearly.
6. I would be courteous.
7. I would establish efficient systems.
8. I would show up consistently.
9. I would celebrate success.
10. I would have clearly defined goals that are broken down into specific, daily, measurable tasks.
11. I would have a budget.
12. I would have a servant's heart.
13. I would try to continually improve.
14. I would seek out the best people for my team.
15. I would innovate.
16. I would lead by example.

Latin for Lunch

The "play" at left is Perseus and Medusa...the classic tale brought to life in the adorable Minimus: Starting Out in Latin curriculum from Amazon. Just to keep my boys' brains engaged and fully functional this summer, we are learning Latin...one chapter a week each of the 12 weeks of Summer.

My main goal is to improve their English vocabulary, have fun and keep them busy! Nearly 2/3 of the English language has heavy Latin influence...so learning the Latin roots can really empower your verbal skills. Little did I know that in going through the curriculum, we'd learn other language skills as well such us gender AND that the curriculum is actually based on a REAL FAMILY that lived just south of Hadrian's wall in Great Britain in the year 100 A.D.. To see an actual Roman birthday invitation, real artifacts like dishes, and to learn cool cultural things like how the Romans ate lying down propped up on their left elbow make it fascinating and fun!

Our strategy has been to listen to the audio during lunch each day and do the related activities right after we eat. It's been so successful that even my 4 year old has been asking for Latin for dinner as well!

2nd Grade End of Year Party!

Okay, the picture simply does not do this Swiming Pool Cake justice! My 4-year-old and 8-year-old boys and I had so much fun making it together. The pool really is blue jello and the "steps" in the pool (faintly visible on the left side of the pool in the photo) totally happened by accident. The little swimmers are gummy bears and they are using fruit roll-ups as towels and gummy rings as intertubes. We followed the instructions at http://baking.about.com/od/familybaking/a/swimmingpoolcak.htm?p=1. Clearly, I must have cut the pool a bit too deep because the first batch of jello leaked right through...ACK!...except for a very thin jello border on the bottom of the pool. No worries. We just chilled it in the fridge and then tried again. And the second time worked perfectly! The first leak created a cool blue border around the whole cake that worked out just fine. PLUS, it was delicious!

The cake helped set the tone for a fun 2nd grade end of school year party last week! We created sand art bottles (67 cents/bottle from Hobby Lobby plus the different colors of sand) and decorated summer journals in hopes that they will actually continue to write during the summertime! We also played summer-themed hangman with words like waterskiiing, vacation, ice cream cone, sandals, and more! The kids had a blast and I had fun trying out something new!

Summer Ideas for the Work At Home Mom

SUMMER IS HERE!!! There's no escaping it!
One week from today is the official start of Summer for my boys! I am so excited. My younger son will have one more year of preschool and then it's off to full day Kindergarten so the clock is ticking on that wonderful free playtime at home.

I want to start planning right now to make sure that Summer is full of joy, learning, growth and fun for them BUT ALSO full of growth and momentum in my home business. Also, summer activities must stay within budget so this year I will have to be extra creative since day camps are out!

Here are some key principles that I like to keep in perspective for working from home with kids in the Summer:
1 - Love your work! Your example can instill a value and appreciation for commitment and diligence. It's an awesome thing for our children to see us set goals, stick to them with tenacity and achieve them! If we want our children "to do things heartily as if for the Lord and not for men," then it needs to start with us. I love what I do so when I work hard, I want my family to know that I enjoy it and am so grateful for the way it benefits and rewards my family as well. Your own attitude determines whether your family will have a supportive or resentful attitude toward your work.

2 - Keep a consistent work schedule. Your kids respond well to a predictable and consistent rhythm for your work. It helps them to know what's next and have clear expectations for "mom's in the office" time vs. quality time with mom.

3 - Plan your spontaneity. Build in an "uplanned" slot of time daily to allow for something spontaneous. Kids love this and you will be able to better honor their creativity by planning in this spontaneous time for them.

4 - Build in rewards for your kids. Each month I set specific goals for my business, I post them on my wall and throughout the Summer, I will share these goals with my kids and let them know my progress. As I hit the goals, each month, I will plan a special Friday lunch date with them once a month at one of their favorite places (i.e. Peter Piper Pizza).

5 - Keep them busy with developmentally appropriate fun tasks. They can mirror your own goal setting and reward plan with their own tasks. Also, I have found that children love the independence and clear boundaries that established "stations" can provide. You can use floor mats or beach towels to indicate boundaries for different "games." Then change the stations to bring in new activities at least once/week for variety.

I will revise this as we go, but here's my first crack at the M-F Summer Schedule:

6:45am I get up
7-7:30am My work-out time at gym
7:30-8:45am kids wakeup, get dressed, b-fast, walk dog, check the garden, unload dishwasher

TTH 9am-Noon Solid worktime for me, Kids with Howard
MWF 9am-10:30am My worktime, Kids upstairs or backyard play
MWF 10:30am-11am Snack for kids, Introduce cool activity idea for the day
MWF 11am-Noon My worktime, Kids upstairs or backyard play or Wii

Noon-1 Cleanup Gameroom & Lunch (Fridays, I do quick meal planning for next week)

1-2 My worktime (TV break for them)
2-3 Spontaneous Time! (On Monday, this can be library time. Wed. could be craft supply pick-up time (if needed) and Friday could be grocery time.)
3-5 Swim Time or indoor movie time if rain
5-6 Dinner Prep (plus voice email/email catchup time)
6-8 My worktime (except eating dinner 7-7:30)
8-9 Bath Time & Stories
9 Boys' bedtime & My time to plan tomorrow's cool activity

I have grouped our activities into COOL ACTIVITIES, DAILIES, and WEEKLIES (which may be weekly or just broken up over the long-term):

COOL ACTIVITIES(will add more specific detail and share these as I choose them):

• Art (Pottery, Painting, Drawing, Crafts...like building a birdhouse out of popsicle sticks)
• Cooking (Gabriel can learn how to make one dinner each week...spaghetti, etc.)
• Origami
• Paper Airplane Making
• Mad Science Experiments
• Story Writing
• Model Building

DAILIES:

• Dog Walking
• Lego Time
  
• Gardening (they get to earn $5 a week for weeding the garden and keep aquaglobes full of water)
• Latin (Using Barbara Bell's Minimus Pupil's Book and Audio CD...Target: One Chapter Per Week)
• Summer Reading Program (reward system using age appropriate library books)
• Swimming (2 hours daily)
• TV Time (1 hour maximum per day)
• Wii Time (30 minutes maximum per day)

WEEKLIES:

• Letter Writing (to Childcare Worldwide Kids and grandparents)...Goal 1 Letter/Week
• Scripture Memorization (Psalm 1 for Gabriel and Psalm 23 for Joshua)
• Gabriel's 3rd Grade Math Book (MWF mornings...20 minutes)
• Weekly Library Day

Summer Goals for Joshua (age 4):

• FUN,
  
• Reviewing letters and numbers,
  
• Improving fine motor skills,
  
• Enjoying fun science things (like measuring for cooking and some small experiments),
• Basic knowledge & practical application of the Seven Universal Values,
• Summer Reading Halfway goal 20 books, total 35 books for Summer
  
• Memorizing Psalm 23

Summer Goals for Gabriel (age 8):

• FUN,
  
• Laying a foundation of Latin to improve vocabulary (one chapter per week...total 12 Chapters of Minimus textbook,
  
• Preparing for 3rd grade math (3x week),
  
• Keeping up cursive skills through letter writing (one letter per week),
  
• Basic knowledge & practical application of the Seven Universal Values,
• Summer Reading Halfway goal is 5 books, total 8 books for Summer
  
• Memorizing Psalm 1

CHARACTER-FOCUSED THEME WEEKS:
I am going to loosely tie in the "Cool Activity" of the Day to the Character for Kids curriculum focus on these Seven Universal Values:

• Honesty (June 1 - 14, then skip VBS week)
• Trustworthiness (June 22 - July 6)
• Respect (July 7 - July 19)
• Responsibility (July 20 - August 2)
• Courage (August 3 - August 9)
• Caring (August 10 - August 17, during trip to Florida for convention)
• Fairness (August 18 - August 24)

SPECIAL EVENTS, DAY TRIPS & REWARDS:

• VBS Week (June 15-19)
• Hawaiian Falls Trip...Earned by Memorizing Psalm 1 (Gabriel) or Psalm 23 (Joshua)...Target mid-June
• Ft. Worth Money Mint Trip = Reward for Helping Mama Hit June Business Goals (http://www.moneyfactory.gov/locations/section.cfm/25)...Target first week of July
  
• Friday/Saturday Summer Camp for 8 Year Old (July 10-11)
• Six Flags Trip...Part 1 of Summer Reading to be earned by completing 5 age appropriate books for Gabriel, 20 for Joshua...Target Mid-July
• Glen Rose Dinosaur Park Trip...Part 2 of Summer Reading to be earned by 3 more books for Gabriel and 15 more for Joshua...Target August 22 (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/dinosaur_valley/)
  
• Convention/DisneyWorld Trip (August 11-17)
• Reward for keeping their toys picked up = Playdates for friends to come over
  
• 1st Day of School is August 25

Day Trip Idea(s) w/o date selected:

• English Horseback Riding Free Lesson Coupon for Gabriel

P31 Woman Works From Home!

For the last 7 and one-half years, I have had the honor of being a work-at-home-mom. About the first year of that experience, I had this continually torn feeling...by working, am I not focusing enough on my family? Are my priorities in line with what God wants me to do with my life?

What a heartening and refreshing fact to know that even the Proverbs 31 woman...the "wife of noble character" that the Christian woman aspires to be WORKED FROM HOME!! Listen,

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark; she provides for her family and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.
Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:13-30)

Talk about SuperWoman! The Proverbs 31 woman is a woman of action. Here's a list of what she does:

• brings her husband good
• selects wool and flax
• works with eager hands
• gets up while it is still dark
• provides food for her family
• considers a field and buys it
• plants a vineyard
• sets about her work vigorously
• holds the distaff
• grasps the spindle
• opens her arms to the poor
• extends her hands to the needy
• has no fear for her household
• makes coverings for her bed
• makes linen garments and sells them
• supplies the merchants with sashes
• can laugh at the days to come
• speaks with wisdom
• watches over the affairs of her household
• surpass them all

These are her attributes:

• Noble
• Worthy
• Giving
• Eager
• Industrious
• Thoughtful
• Prepared
• Empowered
• Discerning
• Diligent
• Business savvy
• Hard-working
• Resourceful
  
• Committed
• Focused
• Generous
• Fearless
• Creative
• Strong
• Dignified
• Watchful
• Aware
  
• Wise
• Faithful

This woman is clearly empowered by God to honor her husband and pursue a life of excellence. She is not sitting or wondering what she should be doing. She's not pining away for things lost or past things she felt she deserved. She's not sitting around watching Oprah. She's not waiting for the knight on the white horse to give her anything. And she does not have time to worry! She is a worker. She is fueled by Godly discernment, wisdom and love for God and family.

Best of all, in spite of her diligence, I get this sense that she's NOT got too much on her plate, but that she is actually balancing all of these things well. Her actions are in line with her beliefs. Her strength, dignity and nobility of character come from a harmony between God's plan and purpose for her life and the daily steps she chooses. Those day by day little choices have made this woman great. AND, even with all of her success, you know she's not a workaholic because of the warmth and esteem that her husband and children have for her. That can only happen when she puts her love for God, husband, and family in the right order BEFORE all of her work...yet she is still able to thrive and succeed in her work...in fact fueled by her love for God and family.

Reading and meditating on the Proverbs 31 woman totally removes any hint of being "torn" between work and family. It provides clarity, identity and purpose for the modern woman just as vividly as when it was first written.

The NO YELLING Campaign

I am ever convinced that God has a mighty and powerful sense of humor. For years in my family, we've battled anger...from my own eight-year-old eyes on family violence to my own loud, impatient voice as a mother allowing frustrations to take hold of better judgment. If there's one stronghold in my house that we are losing, it's anger.

Counseling. Prayer. Promises. And still anger persisted, winning over our "quality time" all too often. My eight-year-old even launched a "No Yelling" Campaign complete with signs in every room of the house. The signs did not help that much though...instead it was like a constant irritating reminder of failure. Then there was the "Mama Should Be Nice Petition" signed by both children. And then we got a rescue dog from the SPCA. Eight pounds of weenie dog that pees wherever he is whenever you utter the first audible hint of a yell. I believe the technical term is "submissive urination." So I believe that God is being funny and real and personal. He is digging into our daily existence and letting us know that if we yell, we will have a lot to clean up afterward. He is reminding us that "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for a man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." (James 1:19-20)

RELATED LINKS:
http://www.angerbusters.com/index.php
http://iblp.org/iblp/seminars/anger/need/
http://www.familylife.com/
http://www.spca.org/

Do It Heartily - The First Science Fair Project

Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men...."

Well, we have finally arrived at the age of the science fair project with our older son. And I am wondering how we instill a love for excellence in our children. Healthy pride without arrogance. Commitment without obsession. How do we help them get the balance right? And how do we best model that balance as well?

Thank God his teacher provided incremental deadlines throughout the project to help us avoid procrastination. Yet, today with the project due tomorrow, still most of our weekend has been devoted to the project.

Amidst my own memories of vinyl lettering and construction paper assemblies in wee hours of the morning and given the fact that he needs to grow and learn on his own, I have still grappled with these main questions in the experience:

• How much should I help?
• To what degree should I offer correction and suggestions?
• How much should I let him use the computer in the process?

I opted to be a sounding board for his ideas and offer supervised Internet access to help get the ideas flowing for a project that he would love and enjoy. Then, throughout the process, I served as a checkpoint and editor for each phase that he incrementally turned in. His dad served as the earthquake simulator and helped with the construction and actual implementation of the experiment itself. Then, I served as a computer assistant to type up his hand-written materials. The most difficult part for my husband and I as designers was letting go of the layout of the board and to allow him to mount things as he saw fit to the actual display board.

Throughout, I really had to keep watch of myself to only play a helpful role and not a take-it-over role (though it clearly would have been more efficient to do so, I was able to resist the temptation!). In the end, we survived it and the only thing I am left wondering is why certain aspects where my husband and I offered clear suggestions of best methods were completely ignored in lieu of efficiency. I think it came to a point where my 8 year old just wanted to get it done and unfortunately was willing to compromise quality in order to do so.

He did end up working hard and he did finish it which is good. I am only left to ponder how I can offer my suggestions in a way that they will be compelling enough to utilize and raise the bar of quality...yet not overpower his own creativity and choices.

RELATED LINKS:
http://www.ipl.org/youth/projectguide/gettingstarted.html
http://www.juliantrubin.com/branchesofsciencefair.html
http://www.christian-parenting-source.com/sciencefairprojectsideas.html
http://www.super-science-fair-projects.com/
http://www.thinkquest.org/library/cat_show.html?cat_id=13
http://science.howstuffworks.com/

Anyone for Another Drink of Bisphenol A?

I had an overflowing cabinet of plastics in the kitchen. A plastic for ANYTHING...cups, lids, sippy cups, round plastic, square plastic, rectangular plastic, water bottles on the go, etc. You name it we had it in plastic. Then, on a quick errand I noticed a big "BPA-FREE" tag on a water bottle at a sporting goods store. Huh? I'd heard the term before but really had no idea what it meant and certainly no idea why I should want to pay more for it (or rather for something withOUT it).

So I started doing my research online. Apparently Bisphenol A is a potentially harmful hormone-altering chemical found in some plastics (particularly a sub-set of the plastics with recycling label #7, and in particular the hard, clear plastics). Hmmm, those are the ones my now eight year old has been using ever since he could successfully drink from a cup. AND, better still as I read on, I found numerous recommendations to chunk all plastics over 6 months old and any plastics with cracks. OKAY. ALL of my plastics were over 6 months old...most over 6 years. And, many of them had cracks. I never liked the orange look of plastics that had previously stored curries or tomato sauces, but I had no idea it could be harmful to my family.

Seemed to be an affirmation of that voice in back of mind saying, "Hmm. This does not look so good for storing, keeping and re-heating my food. And maybe that sippy cup lid is yielding more plastic flavor than actual drink at this point after being chewed on so long?"

So, even on a tight budget, I took the plunge and equipped each family member with one Klean Kanteen for outings and totally cleared out the cabinet full of plastics and replaced it with about 8 different shapes and sizes of Pyrex dishes with lids from Target. I chose the Klean Kanteens because they don't have the epoxy resins that Sigg uses and are slightly more affordable and one month into it still prove to be leak-free. I've also started saving and reusing the glass bottles that jellies, sauces and kimchi come in for additional storage without additional cost. PLUS, that huge family of plastics hasn't exactly been kicked to the curb...just relocated to the gameroom and closets for storage of markers, buttons, legos and other goodies that are quite happy to have new see-through homes.

My thoughts are this...if there's a reasonable cause to suspect that something may be harming my children and if convenience is really the only thing preventing me from changing...then that is the kind of change that I can and should support. Not panic, not paranoia, just trying to provide the best I can for my kids.

RELATED LINKS:
http://greenliving.suite101.com/article.cfm/kitchen_plastics
http://lifewithoutplastic.com/
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2004/11-09/chemicals-plastic-storage-containers-article.htm
http://healthychild.org/uploads/File/PocketGuidePlastics.pdf