More than a decade ago I began advising homeschoolers not to worry too much about cursive writing, and a couple of years after that I found myself advising parents to eliminate the teaching of cursive in favor of keyboarding, spending only enough time on cursive that kids could READ it. I was solidly against A Beka's insistence on teaching cursive in Kindergarten, a move that I believed to be not only unnecessary but damaging to some children. 

The direction of communications and technology in the years since I first espoused these views has only confirmed my decisions. I did not teach cursive writing to my last two kids, and I would never spend time on it again with any child unless said child wanted to embrace it as an art form or a novelty, much like calligraphy is thought of today.

And though I would never use what public schools are doing as a driver of what I think is best for my kids' education, in this case I believe that many schools are seeing the handwriting on the wall and choosing to spend their limited time and dollars on skills that kids will actually need in the new millennium. 

It's been a strange week, getting used to the new MacBook Pro while trying to carry on my normal tasks. So far I'm loving most things about it...I don't like the fact that some of my treasured programs won't run on a Mac and so I'm forced to decide between trying to shuttle back and forth between two computers or putting software on the Mac which will run Windows. Neither seems a happy prospect, given what I've heard and read from all but one person about the Windows for Mac option. So. My decisions aren't all behind me yet.

(Anyone have a recommendation for some good Mac software for a recipe database?)

The Papa and I found a nice new restaurant Thursday night. Actually a new iPhone app found it for us, and I want to plug the app as much as the restaurant. It's called Urbanspoon, and it's a great way to find a new place to eat. We get stuck in a rut when we go out, afraid to take a risk on a place we know nothing about. This app uses your present location and gives you suggestions based on your choice of cuisine, how far you want to drive, and how much you want to spend. Then for each suggestion there are maps, reviews, etc. to give you an idea of what you're in for....So, we spun the dial and came up with Roaring Fork...and we were delighted! A nice pre-Australia date. And any place that makes a Fried Avocado and Crab with Chipotle Mayo is doing something right  :-)

I'm so glad our taxes are done. Even though we had to pay, it's DONE. And I'll be snickering at the lines of people at the post office on the 15th. Yeah, I'm that way.

Loving the new season of Army Wives...and also loving seeing Season 1 of Downton Abbey via Netflix. This weekend I also went back and watched most of the first season of Pushing Daisies, which I never saw when it was on TV, and caught up on some old Monk episodes. Yeah, I go through these phases...

The Papa and I also finished up book #7 in the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series (Blue Shoes and Happiness) before he left. And I've ordered the next one...oh, what will we do when we're out of Precious Ramotswe??

And during the past week I finished The Red Queen, which I adored, and began the audio version of Metaxas' Bonhoeffer biography. There just aren't enough hours in the day!

Recommendation: If you're homeschooling and haven't yet discovered or switched to Teaching Textbooks for math, cut your losses now and run to their website as fast as your fingers will carry you. Even if you're not homeschooling, your kids could benefit from the excellent help in this program.

Have I mentioned how excited I am that we are gaining TWO new grandbabies this spring/summer? CAN'T.WAIT!

A man and his John Deere--happy combination.

I think I would like to see The Donald become president just for the fun of seeing what would happen to his combover while walking away from Marine One. (Oh, come on, you know you would too.)

This spring seems to be so beautiful. We don't have as many bluebonnets as some other years, but the greens are so lush. I think the milder spring temps have a lot to do with it even though we haven't had enough rain. This has been a weird year...tomorrow night our low is to be 43! April? In San Antonio?

This morning in worship, we shared a song that's been played but never yet sung (waiting for our CCLI license) in our services, and it was so meaningful as to bring tears from a lot of us. This exquisite piece, "In Christ Alone," is becoming one of the new but soon to be classic anthems of the faith...

Enjoy your first week of April!

We're just back from our very pleasant, uneventful spring break in north Texas. I will sum up its loveliness with a comment from Shelley, our 18-year old: "You know why I love spring break? No one judges you for taking multiple naps in one day." Yep.

And while much of the country has succumbed to March Madness, we in San Antonio are still consumed with our NBA favorite sons. The Spurs have the best record in the NBA, far ahead of our nearest rivals, and they are one of only three teams in the country to have already clinched a spot in the playoffs. Of course, what happens in the playoffs is often very different than the season at large, but we're hopeful for a great end to the season. Yeah, we're kind of nutty around here, already counting down the weeks until the first pre-season NFL games, and, naturally, the Fighting Irish season!

Spring, of course, wouldn't be complete in this part of the country without bluebonnets, and as we drove south yesterday we were welcomed home by just a few whispers of our favorite flower, as well as by the many precociously cheerful Texas Redbuds, two of which were planted in our yard last fall and were definitely showing off when we arrived.

Before we left, we made the purchase that wouldn't wait: a new lawn tractor. Ten years had made ours a shadow of its former self, so the Papa used this as his permission to buy himself a bigger, badder John Deere. It will be delivered tomorrow, and I think he's outside right now watching for the Lowe's truck.

Well, that's a lot said about spring, seeing as how it's my second least favorite season, stealing my favorite winter away each year. Maybe it's easier to welcome spring this year since we had such a lovely, unseasonably cool and long winter! Can I hope for the same next year?

Nathan comes home this week! He'll arrive from Biloxi on Wednesday, having completed both AF basic training and tech school this year. We will be glad to have him back in the fold, even if he'll soon be looking for his own place :-)

You know you have a house full of young adults when the decibel level and the calorie consumption go up AFTER 11pm. I've learned to enjoy it rather than fighting it...just like every other season of life, it doesn't last long enough.

Halfway around the world, this season will always be remembered for the historic earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear "event." Hundreds of thousands are still homeless in bitter cold, and tens of thousands, maybe more, injured and bereaved. May God show mercy to the hurting and show us all ways to help...

I have no idea what to think about Libya and our involvement in yet another conflict. Seldom is something like this attempted without it escalating, and I ache for the men and women we may lose along with all we've lost in two other ongoing wars. I fear that, in the long run, there is nothing we can do to make a difference in Qaddafi's territory...and yet the people there are hurting and I long for something to make a difference. Earthquakes aren't the only things that ruin lives.

Plans are piling up for our next school year: co-ops, dual credit college classes, driver training. It will be John Caleb's senior year, and most of what he's taking will be done away from home...in this case, homeschooling means "home-directed" education and not necessarily the kind that's done at the kitchen table. Tim will be a sophomore next year, which means that we have only three years remaining in this homeschool journey. My eyes and ears are already open for ways I can participate more actively in the education of the grandkids!

Speaking of homeschooling, if you haven't already read this excellent post by Susan Wise Bauer, please click over and read it when you're through here. She's been one of the steadiest, most seasoned voices in the home education arena for years now, and she's worth hearing out.

In the next few weeks we will undertake the huge job of recarpeting and reflooring the entire second floor of the house. We had the downstairs done about four years ago and the upstairs has been begging for it ever since. I dread the whole process of moving everything, but it will certainly be an impetus to clean everything out!

During the trip this week, I "Kindled" (new verb, with a capital K) John Piper's Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God. I highly recommend it.

And I've taken up a new book, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer. My interest in the power and the workings of the brain seems to know no end, and this is my latest fuel for that interest. When I took up the challenge to memorize the book of Philippians in 16 weeks, I had my doubts that a brain like mine, unaccustomed to memorization, could even do such a thing. I didn't embark on it as a mental challenge...I really wanted to plant the Word in my mind and heart to a greater extent than I had in years. But now that I've gotten halfway through the third chapter of the book and think that my goal might just be accomplished by Easter, I am even more interested in the theories involved in memory storage and active memorization. 

Hope you're having a wonderful Lord's Day and a wonderful first day of spring!

In case any of you have been checking back to see what I think of our new writing program, I wanted to give an update.

We've been homeschooling for 26 years now, and I have never found a program that's brought us as much benefit as Classical Writing.We've tried Understanding Writing, Writing Strands, the writing component of Tapestry of Grace, and several others whose names I can't recall right now. While we've found some good points about all of these, we've never seen the kind of success we'd hoped for, either in results or in our ability to be consistent with the programs. And despite that fact that I am a writer, I was never very good at teaching writing skills. I can mark up a writing assignment just fine, but pointing out errors is a far cry from teaching good writing. 

Well, so far this academic year, Tim has produced a dozen good pieces and has learned a lot of grammar and diagramming skills to boot. I will humbly confess that this is probably more than I've ever accomplished in an entire academic year with any of my other kids, as writing was always one of the first things to fall off during the crazy times (read: several times a year). Well, we've had our share of crazy times this year, with a wedding, travel, BMT graduation week, etc. and yet we've still managed to accomplish what I consider a tremendous amount of quality learning. 

Granted, I am only teaching one student writing this year (John Caleb is taking his writing through our co-op). I can't claim that everyone is going to get the results we've gotten with Tim. However, Tim is a boy, and boys tend to be more resistant to writing than girls, and yet he is thriving in this program. As a matter of fact, what I've learned this year is that he's already a very good writer and I just didn't know it! He's enjoyed each piece he's done, especially because much of the material has been very guy-friendly: Trojan horse, Genghis Khan, etc. And during the weeks that we haven't been able to do a writing project, he's actually been disappointed, prompting me to check to make sure he's feeling okay. I've NEVER had this kind of writing enthusiasm with any of my nine, even with those who are natural writers.

Have a wonderful week!

Here we are a week and a day after the big wedding and just getting back to "normal". That's in quotes because normal is a family joke here at Granny's House and in our adjacent family households. It doesn't look like what you'd think...

We still have a lot of straightening up and organizing to do, filling in holes left by our bride and putting away some of the decor. I haven't been too obsessive about it, as we still have big changes coming. Kristen and the elves, who are quickly growing out of elf stage, are moving out on Saturday and will be setting up their new home in Fort Worth. Sad as this makes me, I'm rejoicing with them that all the week-long separations are over and their family can be together full-time.

Have I mentioned how good it is to be rid of Windows Vista? The new computer is fine, but I don't have many new bells and whistles so it doesn't seem all that different...but oh, how I love you, Windows 7!

But in case I haven't said this yet, I am sincerely hoping my new HP survives me. I can't even tell you how much I detest switching computers. Every program, every application, every database has a different 26-step process for transferring it to the new computer. And two of those steps generally involve writing the help desk at the developers and promising them your firstborn child if they'll just find a way to magically get it all transferred. No, external hard drives and "Easy Transfer" cables have not been the panacea some promised me. I'm still dyin' over here.

And in other techy news, I continue to enjoy my new iPhone 4. NOW I see why so many people love their iPhones while I hated my old one. And I mean hated it almost from the month I got it. Now if we could just get 3G to work in San Antonio, that might help, huh?

I finally finished a book last week (see sidebar). My reading has been awfully sporadic this year, and I won't complete nearly as many books as I normally do in a year. Even with my Kindle, which is most of the time in the hands of my traveling husband, I haven't done all that well. This will be on my New Year's resolution list. Yeah.

School took a hit during the past three weeks, but because we got such an early and successful start this year, I'm not beating myself up. Tim's freshman year is perking along and I'm enjoying the increased one-on-one time with him.

Okay, I realized a couple of days ago that I will be traveling, as in AIR travel, on the morning after the election. How could this political junkie have managed to schedule THAT? I will need to be at the Honolulu airport by around 10 on the morning of the 3rd for my flight home, which leaves precious little time to catch up on late returns and close races. Ugh.

Don't ever, EVER go to Maggiano's and not get their Crispy Zucchini Fritte. I'm here to tell you that would be a very bad idea.

Every one of those Sister Wives deserves her criminal husband. Sheesh.

This weekend, The Papa and I had the pleasure of being with our church family, and I do mean family, at a retreat in the scenic (and cooler-than-San Antonio) Texas Hill Country. Meticulously planned and exquisitely executed by our deacons' wives, it provided a welcome refreshment for more than 80 of us. We came home after the first night, as John was tasked to preach at the worship service for the group who stayed behind, but even so we had a glorious taste of what "retreat" means  :-)

TOMORROW is the first day of early voting in Texas. As soon as the day's schoolwork is finished, I will be at the polls casting one of the first votes for the firing of the majority and the reinstatement of common sense (See Atlas Shrugged, please.) No one will be more glad than I am to see Nancy P. collect an unemployment check. Okay, well, collect a six-figure pension. But still.

If you're one of my friends in Texas Congressional District 23, VOTE QUICO CANSECO!!

Hoping you have a most excellent week, savoring the blessings of God's grace!

Well, we have just a snippet of time left before CJ and Tony's big day. I was startled to see her Facebook status today saying that she's getting married NEXT WEEK. Okay, still 13 days, but it is technically next week. So we have essentially one week for everything major and then the crazy wedding week begins :-)

Who'd have thought we'd triple the amount of coffee we drink in this house with the arrival of the Keurig? Making coffee is so much fun that even Tim has decided to join in. And don't even get me started on the hot chocolate!

Dave and Kristen have signed a rental agreement on a house in Fort Worth, so they'll be moving shortly after the wedding. I'm actually glad about the timing...I wanted them here during all the activity and not just popping into town the day before the wedding. But I'm glad they have a new home secured and can start the next stage of their lives without being too far away from us. (For those of you who aren't familiar with the relative distances up and down I-35 in Texas, it's about 275 miles, or 4.5 hours by car.)

A real serendipity is that the house where the Slaughters will be moving is two doors down from one of my brothers and right across the street from another brother and his young family. They'll also be within five minutes of lots of other extended family, including The Papa's parents. So settling in should be easier than in a neighborhood of strangers, and it should make for some fun family dinner nights!

Are you registered to vote?

Forgot how much I love REAL ranch dressing. Well, you know, the kind you make from the packets. I can actually eat it without salad, though I'm not sure I should. Can we just call it cold soup?

Up this week from Netflix: Into the Arms of Strangers, Princess Kauilani, and Up. And I'm going to stream a series on China.

Food for thought as we wend our way through the maze of important decisions on how much public spending there will be on health care: How much is a life worth?

This article discusses a new drug for end-stage prostate cancer that costs $93,000 for roughly four months of extended life expectancy. That's $775 dollars a day. Would you pay for it? Would you insist that your insurance company pay for it? Would you expect the government to pay for it? Just asking.

I will be going to see Waiting for Superman. And no, I'm not Waiting for DVD. 

I'm not too happy with the new WYSIWYG editor in Blogger. Lots of bugs, and some of the changes don't make any sense to me...they make things more and not less complicated and intuitive. But then, how many people are still blogging? Maybe they just don't care.

And how about Eddie Long? I'm sure he's just misunderstood.

Okay, short language rant, since I can't hold some of this in: Folks, you're not bias or prejudice about something...you're BIASED or PREJUDICED. (Unless you hail from a town with under 300 people, and then you're hereby excused and you can be bias about anything you want.) You don't get orientated, you get ORIENTED. There is no such word as irregardless, no matter how many dictionaries have caved. DON'T.DO.IT. And vaccinations are part of PREVENTIVE health care, not preventative. ALL RIGHT is TWO WORDS, as is A LOT. Whew....all right, that's relieved enough pressure that I can last another week.

This week I gave Tim, 13, a writing assignment. I told him that it had to be at least 300 words and that it could go up to 750. He asked for some leeway and it ended up being around 850. Then he asked if he could do another one along the same lines and if I'd allow him time in the school week to write it. "Sure," I said, nonchalantly as I could manage. So without waiting for the new school week he started in on it, and as of this writing it's 5,547 words. We'll be contacting a publisher  ;-)  (And yes, this is some success and enthusiasm I chalk up to our new writing program!)

This week will see the turn to October and we'll be headed for the holidays. If that comes with cooler weather, great. If not, I'll have a really hard time getting into things. I'll be cranking up the air conditioner and driving everyone in Granny's House into hoodies.

The Snippets will see you next month :-)

When the valley is deep
When the mountain is steep
When the body is weary
When we stumble and fall

When the choices are hard
When we're battered and scarred
When we've spent our resources
When we've given our all

In Jesus' name, we press on
In Jesus' name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on