CRUMB TOPPING (optional, or not)
in separate ramekin or bowl – mix with fingers a few
1 T butter, 2 T flour, 1 T brown sugar,  1 t cinnamon

Add crumb onto top of mug mixture.

Cook  1 min 20 secs. Cool for a bit.
Serve with or without yoghurt or ice cream.

I actually wandered into Facebook and Farmville and Country Life … for a couple of years. It was fun for a while. I met some nice people around the world along the way. But the literacy level of too many FB users is low and reading posts was for the most part mind-numbingly, well, numbing! Not to mention the irritation of people who don’t know your from you’re. Or its from it’s.

I’ve read some interesting thoughts on homeschooling, church drop-outs, parentings skills. I fiddled with apps that allowed me to make a “movie”, enter competitions ( I won two lots of chocolate and movie tickets), and play more zombie games.

But I needed to subscribe to two WordPress blogs recently and a much more interesting world opened up to me again. And I’ve re-met some ‘old friends’ in the form of elegantly written blogs.

This week:

http://2restore.wordpress.com/ - husband’s counselling comments

http://kathryncooke.wordpress.com/ - niece’s global “ramblings” through Canada at present

http://rightanglegirl.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/home-sweet-home/ – a young friend recovering from back surgery (scoliosis)

http://www.aholyexperience.com/ - this is one of those elegant blogs

Found on http://homegrownmom.com/ 

Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure …! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

http://www.homeschooling-ideas.com/strewing.html - Strewing – the art of leaving interesting things in your environment for your children to find and interact with.

http://www.teach-nology.com/ - lesson plans, worksheets, printable generators
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teach-nologycom/107363172624986?ref=mf = their Facebook page

NZ HOMESCHOOLING

http://nzhomeed.wordpress.com/ - NZ home education support groups. Check out rest of website, especailly if new to homeschooling.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=207213913219 - Homeschooled NZ Facebook page

http://muir.massey.ac.nz/bitstream/10179/1227/1/02whole.pdf - thesis – “Parental Choice and Education – Homeschooling in NZ”

NZ CONSERVATION – natural and historic

http://www.doc.govt.nz/getting-involved/for-teachers/meet-the-locals/ - again trim the URL > www.doc.govt.nz/

MATHS + SCIENCE

http://www.khanacademy.org/ - 1600+ videos of maths, science, and “other stuff”

http://www.mathsisfun.com/ - activities etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hNL__IJxGw&feature=player_embedded - The Making of a Masterpiece – baby development

HISTORY

http://www.connectthethoughts.net/offers/11520-20100816-1st-Your-Weekly-Journal.pdf - a week in history (hournal) - trim back the URL for a look at the website.

http://heartofwisdom.com/homeschoollinks/free-sample-lessons-and-book-excerpts/ - as it says

WRITING

http://www.daily-writing-prompt.com/daily-ten-prompts.html - guidelines to help getting started with writing

READING

http://www.jmeacham.com/emergent.readers.htm - Mrs Meachem’s Emergent Readers – scroll down or f7 search page

GENERAL – mix of subject areas :

http://www.senteacher.org/Links/ - aimed for special needs children, but great resources for under twelves. All sorts of age/activity generators. One of my first homeschool favourite websites. ***

http://it.coe.uga.edu/wwild/pptgames/ - general, making powerpoint games …

http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/id1.html - Basement Workshop

http://www.kidsknowit.com/ - Learning Activities

Enjoy your days learning with your children!

In some ways, habits and routines help us to cope with the huge amount of information in the world around us. They help to limit the number of judgements and decisions needed to make contimually – all day, every day.

A lot of what we do is based on the successes of the past, yet throughout the Bible a lot of words are used to encourage us to put the past behind us and walk in the path ahead, make good choices at crossroads, forgive wrongs supposedly “done to us”, “the old had gone, the new has come”, put off the old put on the new.

When Jesus was with Peter, James, and John up a mountain (Matthew 17), he appeared with Moses and Elijah. Dear Peter wanted to build booths or shelters for the prophets. Maybe it was his way of holding on to what he’d seen, to hold on to the glory and blessing of that moment.

I think this is what we’re doing with our Churches. They have become mausoleums to an age long past – 1700 years past. We have built a booth around an idea – but are we gathering or “meeting together” in the way Jesus intended? Are we open to new things? new ways of worship – walking-around-every-day worship? Or are we more interested in propping up and defending the institution instead of truly following Jesus – and walking with others on this journey of life?

Hebrews 10: ²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Isaiah 43:  ¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
       do not dwell on the past.
 ¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
       Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
       I am making a way in the desert
       and streams in the wasteland.

Are there some booths you need to remove from your life?
What new thing is God wanting to build in your life today?

- Emilie Buchwald.

I can relate to this. Would love to see more.

Anyone who thinks this way near Hamilton, New Zealand?

–

*  Long Live Organic Church!  
But what do we do if the world isn’t transformed?

sign – for your van window?

Caution
Unsocialized
Homeschoolers

You really need to be homeschooled to fully appreciate this one.

Help Others.org: For the Man Who Hated Christmas — A Kindness Story.

Purchase a Christmas jar or canister, or decorate one of your own.

On 2″x4″ strips of paper, write questions that pertain to Christmas. Fold the strips and place them in the jar.

During dinner each night in December, have a different family member pull a question from the jar. Then go around the table, taking turns giving answers.

• Here are a few questions to get you started, but part of the fun is coming up with your own.
• Describe the sounds that might have been heard in the stable on Christmas night.
• Who do you think took care of the sheep when the shepherds ran off to see baby Jesus?
• Describe a Christmas tree to a blind person.
• What do you think the wise men wore when they visited Jesus?
• What smells do you imagine were in the stable?
• What do you think the animals were thinking when Jesus was born?
• What is your favorite Christmas present ever?
• What Christmas tradition means the most to you?
• How much light does it take to drive out darkness?
• What are some amazing facts about the Christmas story?
• What is your favorite Christmas carol?
• What is your favorite Christmas smell?
• What is your favorite Christmas food?
• What is your favorite Christmas memory?
• Describe how the sky looked when the angels appeared to the shepherds.
• Which person in the Christmas story would you like to have been?

http://www.amazon.com/Celebrating-Christ-Centered-Christmas-Ideas-Z/dp/0802416993

by Sharon Jaynes

• Publisher: Moody Publishers (August 1, 2001)
• ISBN-10: 0802416993            ISBN-13: 978-0802416995