Nov 25 2016

Our Son’s First KSYO Concert

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I can’t believe I have not shared with you guys about my son’s first concert on the stage of the Tennessee Theater, with the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra. He played with the Preludium ensemble, which opened the concert that night. Erin Archer is the wonderfully talented and patient conductor of this group of youngsters.

KSYO Preludium Concert

Our son (photo center, in jacket) during the concert with KSYO. Photo Credit: Faithful Photography

Kathy Hart, who directs Sinfonia and is the overall KSYO manager, told the Preludium after the concert that their pieces were the strongest opening concert of any Preludium in the 23-year history of KSYO. That’s saying a lot. They really did sound so well that night. Continue reading »

Nov 24 2016

Happy Thanksgiving 2016!

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This year, we stayed home and played host and hostess to a small group made up of family and friends. There were ten of us around the table, including the four of us. Viewed differently, there were six adults and four children.

Thanksgiving plate

Thanksgiving yummy food

I made Quorn vegetarian turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, fresh salad with greens, tomatoes and petite sweet peppers, cashew gravy, five-minute cranberry relish, corn and dinner rolls (bought frozen). For dessert, I made pumpkin pie, white cake with cream cheese frosting and crustless cranberry pecan pie. We drank apple cider.

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Nov 22 2016

Tuesday Tome Week 47 – Aunt Erma’s Cope Book

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This was the third and last book I read by Erma Bombeck. It was better than the first two but I don’t know if it’s because she is growing on me or because she actually got better in this book. It’s all a blur by now but I know I don’t want to read any more of her titles.

Aunt Erma's Cope Book

In this book, she mocks self-help books. I guess the self-help movement was taking flight in the 70s and 80s when she wrote and all these people in her life were trying to help her by suggesting this title and that title. Continue reading »

Nov 21 2016

Dutch Oven Bread

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Mothers work too hard. We do. It’s no wonder we must find shortcuts in the kitchen. Recently, I found a shortcut for making my own bread and thought I would share it with you. You may know about this already. But just in case you don’t, here it is: dutch oven bread. No kneading, no kidding.

dutch oven bread

Dutch oven bread, no kneading – so easy, a five-year-old could do it

If you think you don’t have energy to make your own bread, think again. This bread is so easy, you could have your five-year-old make it. I followed the New York Times no-knead bread recipe and changed it a bit. Feel free to adapt it to your own likes and dislikes.  Continue reading »

Nov 15 2016

Tuesday Tome Week 46 – Motherhood, The Second Oldest Profession

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About nine years ago, when I was becoming a mom, a friend told me about Erma Bombeck’s books as the solution to any of my future motherhood woes. My friend warned me that a sense a humor was a mother’s most important tool, if there is such a thing as a mother’s tool belt or tool box. And Bombeck was supposed to be the author who captured the humorous in the worst things about motherhood.

Motherhood The Second Oldest Profession

I don’t know why I never got around to reading Bombeck until now. Really. I don’t. I remember vaguely thinking about going to the library and checking out one of her books, but somehow I never made it that far. Continue reading »

Nov 13 2016

Election Night

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On Election Night, my husband and I allowed the children to stay up and watch the results of the election roll in state by state. We had taken them with us to the voting precinct that morning and we had been talking with them about who the candidates were, what issues we had concerns about and who we wanted to win.

C-SPAN Electoral Map

We referred to this C-SPAN Electoral Map throughout the night.

I printed out some great materials for that night: an electoral map which shows how many electoral votes each state gets and a US map coloring page, which they could color in red or blue as the results were announced. We also watched a video with Grover and Sal Khan, which explains the Electoral College for children.

They went to bed around 11pm and we continued coloring the map the following morning. As of today, they are still counting votes in Michigan, so we are not finished with the project.

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Nov 8 2016

Tuesday Tome Week 45 – Bringing Up Boys

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Bringing Up Boys came out first, before Bringing Up Girls. Dr. Dobson considered that boys were in danger, much more so than the girls, so he focused on them first. Many factors were at play during the 70s and 80s, with the rise of feminism. The book picks up twenty years later, to show the results of secular progressive movements and the pro-homosexual agenda.

Bringing Up Boys

I’m all for women’s lib, but when moms go to work and sons get placed in classrooms which cater to girls, we have a problem. Homeschooling would solve it, but I understand that some people simply cannot afford to homeschool and live on one income.  Continue reading »

Nov 7 2016

East TN Children’s Hospital Mural

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Last year in August, we met up with several homeschoolers from our area to paint. A coordinator from East Tennessee Children’s Hospital explained we were free to paint anything we wanted on this page, as long as we covered it all with color. We were not allowed to have white patches on it.

East TN Children's Hospital Mural

East TN Children’s Hospital Mural

We filled out some paperwork which detailed our grades, names, and details about the meaning of the painting. We were told the hospital was under renovation and one of the new things they were going to feature was a huge mural, made up by children all over East Tennessee. Continue reading »

Nov 1 2016

Tuesday Tome Week 44 – Portrait of A Lady

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Portrait of a Lady by Henry James is on the list of 32 novels recommended by Susan Wise Bauer in The Well-Educated Mind. You can get this book for free on Kindle or from your local library.

Portrait of a Lady

It represents an important novel in the Western history of literature, but it will not teach you so much that you will have to refer to it over and over again. I did not like the protagonist and the plot is sad. What’s worse, the author decided to give us an open end, which I dislike.

Just tell us how the story ends, please. If we all took the time to read your story, why don’t your give us the decency of an ending? Good or bad, we’ll take it, but let the story end. Don’t leave it up to us to imagine what she will do.  Continue reading »

Oct 25 2016

Tuesday Tome Week 43 – Dare to Discipline

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Dr. James Dobson has written several books on discipline and how to raise children. The New Dare to Discipline is a must-read but they all are. If you are a Christian parent, you should read Dobson books. Period.

Dare to Discipline

Now and then, there are voices in the educational realm who throw mud on discipline of any kind. Dr. Dobson documents such books and magazine articles all the way back to the end of the Second World War. The result of these approaches in education have been – among other things – an increase in lawlessness, a decreased reading fluency and comprehension among high school graduates, and the sexual revolution of the 60s.  Continue reading »