Sunday Afternoon Drive

Thursday Thirteen - Edition #31 - "S"

Continuing with my alphabet theme, here are 13 things in my life that start with the letter S:

1. Sage. My second favorite color currently. (My top favorite is red right now... although my favorites change from time-to-time.)
2. Scrabble. I like to play Scrabble with my husband when we go camping. We've been using the same score pad for about 15 years, and we always mark the date and place. It's fun to look back at past games.
3. Seafood. One of my favorite types of food. My husband doesn't care for it, so I never fix it at home. It's a treat to order it at a restaurant for a special occasion.
   
4. September. The birth month of one of my daughters.
5. Sisters. I have 2, my husband has 1, and our daughters each have 1!
   
6. Soprano. I was a first soprano in my high school and college choirs.
   
7. Sonlight Curriculum. The homeschool curriculum I use, and the company I work for.
   
8. Spanish. I had one year of Spanish in high school. That's the only foreign language I have studied... and that's the extent of my studies.
9. Stars. We like to look at the stars as a family activity. We are just beginning to learn about the constellations. It works best when we're camping in an open area away from city lights.
10. Strawberries. My favorite fruit. (Are berries a fruit? I think they are!)
    
11. Stories. I enjoy fiction of almost any genre. I just love stories! Using stories is the best way I've found to teach as well. That's the method Jesus used... and it works for me!
    
12. Sunday School. I've been a Sunday School teacher for years, ever since I was a teen, I guess. I've taught every age level there is from nursery to adults.
    
13. Sunsets. Each one is different and beautiful. I try to slow down and enjoy the sunset as often as I can.
    

Works for Me Wednesday - Backwards Edition

It's a "backwards edition" of Works for Me Wednesday. That means instead of me giving you tips, I get to ask you what works for you!

So my question is this: In this day of all manner of techno-gadgets, how do you keep track of appointments and dates?The thing is, I really would like to go electronic with my datebook but so far I haven't found a method that suits me as well as an old-fashioned paper-and-pen calendar. The internet-based calendars that I have tried out don't have the features I want, and I'm afraid I wouldn't have the patience for poking around on a PDA with a stylus.

So I want to know: What works for you?

Do tell!

I Love Your Blog

"Homeschool Mom of Four" honored me recently with the I Love Your Blog award! Now it's mine turn to pass it on. Here are the rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve nominated.

The seven blogs I nominate are:

1. A Beautiful Life
2. Bygone Beauty
3. Highlights from Higher Ground
4. Oakrise Cottage
5. The Going Blog
6. The Secret Gardener
7. Yellow Rose Arbor

Back to School

Learning never stops at our house... but today is the day we have designated as "the first day of school" for the 2008-2009 school year at High Way High School. This year we will be taking up classes for 7th and 10th grades. It just doesn't seem possible... but here we go!

For several years I had been trying to think of a meaningful and appropriate name for our homeschool. Several families I know have come up with special names for their schools. Names are important to me, so I wanted a name for our school, too, but I just never could seem to hit on just the right one. Just a year or so ago as I was contemplating teaching through the high school years and considering the fact that my husband was homeschooled his last two years of high school, it came to me! The school name on his diploma is "High Way High School" and it is signed by both his parents. Of course! We would just be the second generation of High Way High School!

I wondered why my husband's parents chose that name. I was pretty sure it had a spiritual application, and when I looked up "highway" in the concordance I found this verse:

A highway shall be there, and a road,
And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
Isaiah 35:8

So I emailed my mother-in-law and asked her. She replied, "You asked, 'How did we come up with the name, High Way High School'? Answer: It had two meanings: A HIGH Way, meaning the Christian (and holiness) way of life, as opposed to a lower way, the way of the world. AND we were located on Highway 29. I don't remember which came to our mind first, probably Hwy. 29 where we were located, and THEN we thought that would be a good name for our school I don't think we thought of Isaiah 35:8 specifically, although I'm sure we were aware of that verse, but we definitely had that concept in mind. OR, we might have thought of it, since it fits it perfectly, but we didn't USE it as a motto, or anything. (That's been a long time ago!)"

But it's a really great verse for a homeschool, don't you think? And did you notice how well it fits in with the theme of my blog? Some things are just meant to be!