Flora For my Family

Mom and I enjoy nature.  Birds.  Flowers and all plants, insects, dirt, water, you name it.  When I think of my childhood home I think of the large front picture window chock-a-block full of houseplants.  Mom grew gorgeous,huge tropical plants in our home.  No one ever visited without commenting on Mom's beautiful terrarium-looking front window.  Her plants really made our house a home.

I don't have Mom's green thumb, but I do share her love of flora.  Here in Australia the flora is about 95% unfamiliar to me. Nearly every day I see something that makes me say I wish Mom could see this!  \Today the fam and I went to the botanical garden at Mount Coot-tha. This botanical garden is nothing like the flat Flat FLAT botanical garden back home in St. Louis. Every pathway was either UP or DOWN.

Don't even think about a leisurely stroll through the garden. This was a commitment!

Although the gardens closest to the entrance were beautiful, I simply didn't care to see roses. Instead we tread to the far side of the garden to see the Australia flora, the rainforest flora, and the arid cactus zone. At one point we saw orange hazard fencing growing in its natural habitat.

The walk was grueling but absolutely worth it!
Please enjoy the following pics that I post mostly so that Mom can see them!

This is part of the garden that we will visit NEXT TIME!

I'd like to know the name of this one, but the looks are quite impressive!

GORGEOUS plumeria grows on this oddly empty bush...seen all over Brissie

The next few are Pandanas...generally growing near the coasts, HUGE fruits

The coolest root system.
Somewhere in the garden is a HUGE HUGE pandanas that sprawls all over the place.
It's amazing!

The garden has a HUGE collection of bougainvilleas.
Many different colors and species

bougainvilleas

This and the next pic:  The Grass Tree

This kid had me laughing the entire time!

Throughout the rainforest section we saw some "dangerous" trees

This is like a maple leaf, drops and spins...but it is HUGE!
And the seed is very prickly.

We LOVED the Cuban Royal Palm
When we tapped on the trunk, it sounded hollow.

I don't recall what this huge thing is...
But isn't it COOL!

Then over to the planetarium...

Then on to an art show on the parking lot of the garden

It was a superb afternoon. It was very sunny and gorgeous weather and our family adored the entire visit!

 GREETINGS to my Aussie readers!

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If you enjoyed this post, you may also like: 
Suttons Beach:  Redcliffe, QLD
I'm Not From Brisbane
Bellarong Community Farm:  Brisbane

Dear Me

disadvantages of homeschooling negatives against homeschooling

My Kids must be Frickin' Ecstatic.

Dear Me,

self esteem parenting when it is hard homesick  I am imperfect

You're doing great. I know that the homesickness is really getting to you. I know you are feeling the distance between where you are and where your life is. I know that the house is beginning to feel smaller and smaller by the day. The household chores are such a dang chore... You feel like you are all living on top of each other. But I'm proud of you for keeping the kids focused and for continuing to get them out and about and for helping them to live exciting lives where they are. They may not appreciate it now, but one day...

Up to the Ice Skating Rink...

And another thing, I'm also proud of you for looking for new ways to be productive, for creating meaning in your life, and for doing what you love. It takes courage to risk it in a new career path. But you know that. You have started over again and again. Listen, take all of the time you need, it's quite a learning curve. Stick with it; I'm excited to see where it will go.

Over to Guitar Lessons...

The work you are doing with the kids right now is really meaningful. It is quite thrilling to see their growth and interest! It seems you have stumbled on an area of life that interests both of them! Thank you, Me, for the zillions of kilometers you have driven this week, getting the kids to all of the places that they love. I can see their bloom...  Specifically I can see John actually beginning to embrace puberty, rather than trying to avoid it and deny it. He's going to be a great teenager. Good going, Momma.

That Kick Ass Park in Manly

If I could give you any advice right now, Sweetie: You are watching Breaking Bad until far too early into the morning.  

Go. To. Sleep.

Love, Me

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If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:  
Mother, the Word
Homeschool Atheist Momma
With Flaws and All
Not Very Average
Scavenger Hunt

ANNOUNCING! CAP: Carnival of Atheist Parenting

Atheist parenting secular parenting humanist mothers and daughters, difficult teens, writing criticism

!<-- --="" addthis="" begin="" button="">

  CAP:  Carnival of Atheist Parenting

Click Here For More Information

Carnival of Atheist Parenting

After much research I have realized that the internet has very little for parents who are seeking to raise wonderful secular children.  Not one to sit on my heels, this new blog carnival is for YOU!

I am a completely open atheist and very willing to represent our growing and vibrant community!

This weekly (bi-weekly?) carnival is for all atheist/agnostic/humanist/secular parents who are THINKING and wanting to create a healthy, vibrant, and positive upbringing for their beloveds and who want to share their ideas and encouragement for secular parents in this nonsecular world.


This is NEW.   It will change, evolve, and GROW.  Please help me to get this venture off of the ground by getting your courage up and sharing your blog post with your secular musings, thoughts, activities, joy, and entertaining writing for the secular parent!  Be on the cutting edge with me.  My goal is to grow this blog carnival for atheist/agnostic/humanist/secular families and to, NOW, a website just for the carnival.

WHAT IS A BLOG CARNIVAL?
There is so much stuff in the internet in general and on the zillions of blogs out there, just finding worthwhile pieces to read can be time-consuming and frustrating.  If you are blogging on secular parenting, this carnival is the place to share your work with like-minded bloggers.  If you are a secular parent, this carnival is to bring good writing to you from others who are DOING IT!

GRAB THIS BUTTON!

You can help the secular parenting community by sharing this carnival on your blog, on facebook groups, in your other social media, by encouraging your known associates and friends to read and contribute, and by grabbing my button and sharing it on your blog and other social media.  But mostly, by reading, writing, and sharing.

Your blog post does not have to be, specifically about atheism or secularism, but should reflect these qualities.  Ideally, posts will focus on secular parenting, it's struggles, joys, questions, advice, daily moments, humor, and the like.  Though I highly prefer openness, I understand the struggles many secular families endure in the name of freethought; you are welcome to use pseudonyms.  New or very recent blog posts preferred.

Submissions are due Sunday evenings at 6pm.
If this carnival does not get off the the ground within a few months, I will end it.  Let's make it work.

Send the following information to Karen.loethen@gmail.com

Type CAP SUBMISSION or Carnival of Atheist Parenting in the email subject line.
TITLE OF BLOG:
URL OF BLOG:
TITLE OF POST:
URL OF POST:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION of writer or blog:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF POST:


All comments and questions should be directed to karen.loethen@gmail.com

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;-)  Look at this!  I'm so happy.  Hemant Mehta blogged about the carnival!!!!!!

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2013/10/02/a-blog-carnival-for-atheist-parenting/

Whatcha Doin?

homeschool

No really! 

Whatcha been doing?
Are you working on any interesting lessons lately?

We have been working on several things, but today our Assertiveness Lessons were GREAT!  Although I had planned on about an hour for today's lesson, the kids found so many ways to connect with the lesson!  It was a great start to learning more about clear and effective communication and the essential components to assertiveness.  We stuck with this for almost three hours!

New Zealand's Papaloma Beach

The other day we were down at South Bank at a very nice coffee shop and we got to talking to a woman working there who is from Estonia.  We learned so much from her about her home.  Today we got online and read more, looked at maps, listened to music, read history, watched a Youtube video on the capitol city Tallinn, and generally began to think that a trip to Estonia looks awesome!  Even though we checked out all of the online stuff that I had prepared for the kids, they were very interested and we spent quite a bit of time exploring more and more about this very young country.  It was fab.

Next, Elizabeth is looking for part-time jobs.  She and I have been out and about several times talking to people about part-time work and filling out applications.  We learned that people applying for jobs here, with or without any work experience, must also have a resume.  Because Elizabeth has a resume for her performing arts, we used that resume, modified it a bit, and resumed our job search.  We talked to some AWESOME small business owners with tremendous input and advice in looking for jobs down here.  WOW.  This afternoon was so amazing.  LOL

And, finally, today we just continued with some Geometry from the Geometry 1 book that we all share.  Both kids are at the same level in this high school text.  We have been working on compound linear inequalities.  THEY get it.  
I get hives.

This weekend is quite exciting because Elizabeth is being picked up by a friend and her family.  They are driving down to Dreamworld theme park down in Gold Coast, and then she is spending the night with her friend.  John and I are joining Jerry at an observing event for a little astronomy fun later on this weekend.   Right now, though, John John is out skateboarding with a neighbor kid.

So that's just wassup for today.
How about you?

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If you enjoyed this post, you may also like: 
Getting it Right
How Do I Homeschool?
Some Days Suck 
What Do You Do All Day? 
Teaching Things That I Don't Know

People Comment on Posts: Shades of Grey

self esteem, atheist pride, mean comments

I am in the position of having my work commented on on a fairly public forum and I'm so surprised.  People out there must not have lives!  People who comment seem to be so sure that their choices and decisions and lives are so perfect and they think that their opinions are RIGHT and others are WRONG. 

Even with my thin skin, I'm so not hurt by them.  Instead I'm thinking "WOW, People, what does it feel like to always think that you are right?!"  I have always been a person who despises debates.  But not just on principle.  Because of the shades of grey that LIFE is.  Because you and I might have the same choices before us and, for our own reasons, make completely different choices.  And that's part of the wonder of being alive!

The other day I met a nice mother, new to a playgroup that we participate in.  As we talked for the next hour or so she kept saying that she thinks in black and white; that she is incapable of recognizing the areas of grey.  She went on to give me example after example of black and white thinking.  I'm not sure if she was trying to convince me or herself.  She was telling me a story about a friend who was marrying a person of the same gender and how she, my friend did not go to the wedding on principle.   But, she said, I regret that.  Today I would go to her wedding because I love her and support her.

Congratulations! I said, you just discovered a shade of grey!

I'm surprised with myself for being so unaffected by those negative comments on Hemant's blog post.  I'm proud of myself for recognizing the total pointless of engaging these people.  Honestly, who can read a few blog posts and think that they know enough about an entire person/idea/movement/etc that they can publicly vote nay on them!  I can not imagine making such judgements on another person or choice. 

Recently I have thought of the many, many times when someone is telling me a story and I feel myself looking at them without emotion on my face.  I realize that I am waiting for that person to tell me the point of their recitation.  I listen to stories and make no judgements.  It just recently occurred to me that these people are waiting for my judgement.  And I am like, Um, I'm just listening...not judging...it's all OK with me.


Anyway, from now on I plan on NOT reading comments when I read an article or blog piece.  They really detract from the original piece!  But YOU....YOU need to leave comments here!

Sending GREETINGS and AFFECTION to readers from America!

I'm feeling a bit homesick...

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If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:  I Stumbled on This...

Or you may enjoy reading:  The Circle Continues...

Or try this one:  Dear Christian Readers of my Blog

Carnival of Homeschooling October 1, 2013

Welcome to this 405th edition of the Carnival of Homeschooling! I haven't read the Carnival from the beginning; I started reading round about the 350th one.  LOL  It's my time! It's your time too.  This is the time that I am focused on homeschooling my kids and on reading as much as I can about providing the best experience that I can for them. It's my time!

 

Check them and and PLEASE leave a comment!
Bloggers love your feedback in terms of questions, comments, 

commiserations, confession, acclimation, compliment or salutation!
 

If you like what you read, please share the goodness on your blog, 

on Facebook, in your homeschool group, and with friends!

 

• Jennifer Needham of Time4Learning Community Blog sent this blog post on the use of lapbooks in homeschooling. I am completely unfamiliar with lapbooking, but this link will take you to a blog post on lapbooking a nutrition lesson. Let me know what you think! I don't think the post truly fits this carnival, but others on that site do, so I thought I'd pass it along.  Check out the post called Socialization, Seriously!?

• Tara at Organized SAHM has been taking her homeschooling blog readers through the alphabet in a continuing series called Preschool Homeschool (A-Z) for her preschooler and she is up to one of my favorite letters: J! You will enjoy her Jack-o-lantern themed post. Tara is homeschooling mom to four Little Things, ages 8 month to 8 years. She writes about budgeting, recipes, sewing, and homeschooling. So check her out and subscribe for her regular blog updates!

• Rebecca at Down a Rabbit Trail:  Interest-Led Learning with a Charlotte Mason Flair blog is a second generation unschooling mother of three who writes as a woman in love with life and learning! For a beautiful example of true child-led learning, read any of her posts about surprises of the day and recognizing their value.
  
  Her contribution to today's carnival is a magnificently-crafted post called
  Fabric Scraps, Glitter & Puffy Foam Stickers:  What We Leave Behind. I'll bet that many of us could write a post with this post's message. And maybe we should.  Rebecca, thank you for sharing this one; I would hate to have missed it! Another post I highly recommend giving a read to is called Back to (Un)School, that post we all feel, even if we don't write it, at the beginning of the school year. And, lastly, Rebecca recently hosted a blog carnival called the Hearts for Home Weekly Blog Hop!
  Now doesn't that sound interesting?!

• At the blog Tea Time with Annie Kate, the eponymously named blog by Annie Kate, I was reminded why these carnivals are so awesome! This blog is worth watching!  Annie Kate submitted a post called You, Your Teen's Guidance Counselor. Anyone with homeschooling teens will appreciate this post as she has put down the necessary steps that we, the parents, need to take to get our teens from homeschooling to university-ready!
  
  Here is another post by Annie Kate on strewing called Leave Some Good Books Lying Around. LOVE IT - this is a woman after my own heart. Thank you so much, AK, for participating this week!

• Barbara Frank at the incomparable blog Barbara Frank Online reminds us, with humor, of those elementary school years.  Flashback Friday:  Not Exactly Fond Memories of School will touch you. Can you relate to this encore post?
  
  Barbara is the mother of four adult children, all homeschooled. She is now the author of Thriving in the 21st Century, Women of the Old Testament: 14 In-Depth Bible Studies for Teens, The Imperfect Homeschooler’s Guide to Homeschooling, and Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers, along with a couple of eBooks (with more to come).

• Shaz at Homeschooled Twins has offered a post entitled Homeschooing Your Gifted Child - Links for My Talk at the 2013 VA Homeschooler's Conference. The post is an EXCELLENT resource for homeschooling parents with a comprehensive list of websites, video, and many supportive and educational sites. This blog has been nominated as a top Education Blog!      
  
  This blog post may be included in this carnival through my own error, but I decided to pass it along for the great resources!

• Julie Bogart on the Most Excellent Brave Writer website offers this piece called When Your Child Writes Hurtful Words. Reading this piece, I am reminded of how complex parenting really is and how important it is for us as parents to be adult and compassionate, even when our children hurt our feelings. Julie recently blogged about single parents who homeschool. I have seen NOTHING on this subject before! Please enjoy this piece called For Single Parent Homeschoolers and Their Friends. Another post worth reading is Boredom is a Red Flag. Please spend some time exploring this blog!

• Jennifer Saska, a software professional offered this piece to homeschooling parents called Do More With Software:  Teaching Reading Fluency with Podcasts. This post seems to be a marketing tool for a book. Generally I would not include this type of a post in this carnival, but I thought someone might appreciate the resource. 

• Henry Cate, owner of Why Homeschool blog and founder of this carnival, offers a post called Introducing Homeschoolers to Toastmasters on Toastmasters, the public speaking hobby group that offers learn-by-doing workshops that develop leadership skills and skills of communicating effectively. Read his post! I can also highly recommend Toastmasters as a group as well as an idea for a co op! We did a Toastmasters co op group one time and the feedback and opportunity for speaking in public were highly informative!

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I have included clip art that I have created especially for this carnival.
You are welcome to use these freely.

Thank you for visiting the carnival this week. 

Your submissions for next week's carnival will be due by Monday, October 7, 2013 unless otherwise noted on that blog. If you wish to submit your blog post with a homeschool focus for the next carnival, follow these instructions:

Submissions are due to: CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com by 6:00 PM (PST) on the Monday evening of the week. 

It is greatly appreciated when the submissions come in earlier. 

Please send the following information:

Title of Post
URL of Post
Name of Blog
URL of Blog
Brief summary of the post
Brief introduction of yourself
(With "carnival" or "submission" in the subject field of the email.)

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If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:  
 Disadvantages of Homeschooling 
Are Homeschoolers Weird?
Top Ten Habits of a Happy Homeschool Mom 
What Do You Do All Day? 
You Must Be So Patient!