Springtime in Kentucky...

Well, today was it! Today spring has come to Kentucky. You may wonder how I know since it is not March 20th. I know because my first daffodil bloomed. And that says more than spring to me.

It says hope and promise and new beginnings. The first flower of spring always makes hope spring eternal in the human breast. It means the long cold winter is over and newness is here.

If you have had a bad school year, or a hard winter--if you have had sickness, or struggles or depression, take heart! God is making all things new. We get a chance to start over, to start fresh, to bloom anew.

OK, maybe I sound too Pollyanna, but I really believe it.

Every spring I look back and re-evaluate the past 6-9 months and then look ahead to what I can do differently in the future to make next year better. If you are raising young kids, look at how far you have come and then make plans for what needs to be done in the future. Somehow the coming of spring makes it possible to renew our vision and go forward with confidence.

I took a drive today to take some spring pictures, but almost everything still looked pretty dead. The grass is greener, but the trees are still bare. At any rate, I will share a few with you...perhaps in a couple of weeks I will post some photos when the red buds are in bloom.

Honestly, there is nothing better than springtime in Kentucky.



Take care,
Jill

My Other Blog...Paths to Learning

Because of the new way Sonlight Consultants do business, I needed to create a new blog because that is the way Sonlight could create a Sonlight Landing Page for me. They took the first two posts from my new blog to make it.

I have posted some of the same posts there, that I have here, but I have some different ones too. My new blog is http://jillevely.blogspot.com/ and my landing page is www.sonlight.com/jillevely

You might want to take a look over there. I am not sure if I will keep up both blogs, or just mainly post on the new one. For now, I will keep them both active and see how it goes. Today's post is "Never Tease a Weasel."

If you have any friends that are interested in Sonlight Curriculum or Homeschooling, you might want to check out my Special Spring Book Drawing which is detailed here:
Take care
Jill

[photo: An afternoon on our KY Farm]

It was the Mother Board!

My computer is back and working fine. I added photos to Maple Syrup Day. I love the one where Molly and Jen are on one side of the saw and Chad is on the other. It took both girls to match Chad in muscle power.

Can you see my smiling?

I should have my computer back by tomorrow...

Hopefully I will get my computer back tomorrow afternoon. :) I am excited to see that Sonlight has the proofs for the new catalog. I am hoping to get my supply by my first homeschool convention of the season which is April 3-4. Check out the proofs!

My computer is still in the shop...

ARGH! My computer is still in the shop and I don't think I realized how much I depended on it until it was gone.

I have four different emails located in 3 different sites on the web. In real life--my life with my computer--they all come into one convenient location. Ahh, so easy. But in this life--my life with my husband's computer-- I have to log in to 3 different sites to see all my email.

And that isn't all.

I have forums that I moderate and I need 2 URL's to view and moderate them. I have my blogs, the forums I follow and an on-line soap and candle business; all these require different sites and passwords. Did I mention my on-line banking? And how about stuff that is in my computer, in My Documents, that I can't access? I am telling you, I am totally too dependent on my computer. Totally!

But, I found a great tool called iGoogle and set up a homepage that I can access from my husband's computer. I put my calendar on it, links to all the sites I need to access, links to all my email accounts and so on. It is not like my computer, but it is pretty good. If you don't have iGoogle as your homepage I heartily recommend it. With it, no matter what computer you are using, you pull up you homepage and all your sites [all your life!] are right there!

I still can't access my cookbook and my camera software that are in and on my computer, but things are a lot better than Saturday night, the first night without my computer. Sure we can't eat or I can't post a picture on this blog, but it's not too bad.

I guess this post has not been about parenting or homeschooling or anything I normally write about, but it seems so important to me right now. My husband's computer is nice, but it does not have the personality that mine does.

Wait! What am I saying?

I cannot believe I am so attached to an electronic device--I almost feel like a kid again!

Take care,
Jill

[Who hopes my next blog post will have some new pictures and I can add some maple syrup day photos!]

Maple Syrup Day...

Yesterday was Maple Syrup Day. Doesn't that sound sweet?

When you think of Maple Syrup you probably think of Vermont or Canada, but in Southern Indiana there is a great Maple Syrup family farm that produces about 1000 gallons of syrup per year. That is about 60,000 gallons of maple water that gets boiled down to make syrup! That is a LOT of boiling and evaporation.

We had grilled chicken with maple Bar-B-Q sauce that was fantastic! We also bought maple cotton candy and maple sugar, but the highlight of the day for most of the gang we has with us was the hatchet throwing. Yes, you heard that right!

In a society where every playground is padded and every kid has to wear a helmet on a bike and be strapped in a car seat till they are practically adult--on Maple Syrup day adults and kids can throw real hatchets at a wood target. Sure, most don't stick and go flying off to the side--but there is a certain satisfaction is the act itself. And, after the flying hatchets, we went over to the cross cut saw area where two of us [or three if one side needs extra help] pull the huge saw back and forth, back a forth, until a round piece falls off. Success! The slice is then taken to the fire where a nice young man brands it with a maple leaf brand!

And the price--FREE! Yes the whole family fun day is free. All you pay for is whatever you eat or the 10 bags of maple cotton candy that you take home. [Oops, did I type that out loud? Now you know.] Yep, I took home 10 bags of cotton candy, 2# of maple sugar candy and a gallon of Maple Syrup.

I will post pictures in a day or two as soon as I can get my sticky camera plugged into my computer. Ugh!

Take care,
Jill

At the End of the Ages in Kindle Format...

You may want to check out my husband's Kindle book here:
At the End of the Ages

One reviewer said: A Vital Work of Scholarship Concerning a Sensitive Subject.,

February 15, 2009

The subject of hell is laden with emotional baggage for many Christian believers, but the author does a masterful job of dealing with this subject in a scripturally solid, yet sensitive manner. He is refreshingly candid as to his own spiritual journey as it involves this particular subject, and thus is able to challenge orthodox belief with compassion and sensitivity. The book is full of solid scriptural arguments for his position and he also does a masterful job of defending his thesis from church history, as he quotes from the writings of such early church fathers as Origen, in addition to more contemporary scholars on this vital topic. It is not overly technical, however, and is easy for the average reader to comprehend.

It is a book that I find myself returning to over and over again as an important resource for the doctrine of Ultimate Reconciliation. I recommend it highly.