Aristotle said:

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.

DaVinci

This is totally cool...The Last Supper in 1600 pixels so you can see all the details close up. Still so much worth the trip to see the real deal in one of my favorite cities, Milano...but if you can't make it, I guess this is pretty cool.

The kids have been studying DaVinci this month. So it's a great educational tool as well!

Click here.

One of the Smarter Shows on TV

I know...I know...crucify me...but one of my favorite new shows is Donnald Sutherland's "Dirty Sexy Money". It's actually one of those shows you walk away from and have to think - novel idea! A show that spurs thought. Hmmmm...

The main character, Nick, is a guy who is a lawyer representing one of NYC's richest families. He was given 10 million dollars to give away to charity as a side bonus of his job. Yet tonight's episode had some great lines about how he was too busy throwing million dollar birthday parties to be able to give an of the money to the less fortunate.

I loved that. We have a bankload of good to hand out, but are just too darn busy with the ins and outs of the everyday to do any good. So many times I go to bed and just think about how I blew it with the kids or whatever, just out of bad habits or laziness or whatever...instead of just taking the time to build in to them like I should. What would happen if I just said, "Screw the laundry and the dishes and the cleaning and I'm just gonna spend the whole day building in to my kids and not getting overwhelmed and yelling at them because their inability to act as fast as I want them too doesn't fit into MY schedule for the day"??? (I know...that was a run-on!)

What would happen if I just gave them my best for one day? How would it change them? How would that change me?

What the heck does that have to do with a TV show? I'm not sure...it's late.

Just more random thoughts....for what it's worth.

Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea?

These are my nephews...SO ADORABLE! I had to share! I love these little guys so much and miss them. I got to see them several weeks back when we went to Maine. UH! I can't stand it! And they have the sweetest little hearts too!

My brother made the costumes. So cool.

Fires

If you pray, pray for the many families in SoCal who are without homes and who have a long road ahead. Particularly pray for the strength and endurance of the many sacrificial firefighters. Pray for their families as well.

We are safe and we are well...but many, many others are not. The kids are asking questions. But they just want to know they are SAFE.

Good Blog

This is a link to a great Blog for info on education and thoughts on homeschool, etc. Bror Saxberg (love that name) is the education expert mind behind K12.

Check it out:

https://communitychest.k12.com/blog

Quote of the Day

This morning right after I woke up I could hear the kids outside playing in the yard. All of a sudden, from the bathroom, I hear various grunts and moans. I quickly realized it was Ethan (6) doing his buisness. It was quiet for a moment and I went back to what I was doing, and then I hear Ethan yelling apparently to someone outside:

"Just a minute Mr. Fodo, I have to wipe my bottom!"

Way to go Master Gamgee. Way to go.
That's what I call, getting into character.

As Time Permits...

I have been filled with so many thoughts and ideas lately about what I want from life, or what kind of life I want to create for my kids to make a lifelong impact on them. So as time permits in the midst of all the chaos I am hoping to randomly get some thoughts out regarding my passions, hopes, dream and ideals. (I laugh seeing as I have like 14 other things to be doing right now and the kids are always coming in...)

Is my life only about my kids right now or is there a way to do/get more? I have this dream to in some small way try to change the world and make it better. (Just a little dream!) But is that even possible as a mom of 4 kids? You could argue that my pouring into them IS changing lives...yes...but I also want more. I want to give them more.

This weekend I watched two really great movies that generate a lot of thought. Beyond the Gates is a BBC film about the Rwandan genocide in 1994 and the lives of a handful of Westerners who were involved in providing refuge and then later bailing on the Rwandan people. (All of this begs the question: What the hell was I doing in 1994 that I was not aware of what was going on...and what the hell am I doing now to end the current struggle in Darfur?)

The second was A Mighty Heart the story of American journalist Daniel Pearl who was captured and murdered in Pakistan in 2002. As it turns our Danny Pearl went to high school walking distance to my house at Birmingham H.S...and they've named a journalist/leadership magnet after him in that school. His folks still live in Encino I think.

People are dying and sacrificing their lives everyday for my freedoms of deciding to choose goldfish crackers over cheezenips. And while my kids are eating their goldfish crackers and throwing away the half a bowl of left overs, children are dying all over the world from malnutrition.

What the hell am I doing?...and what can I do????

I know it is all too overwhelming and I don't really have any answers. But I am asking the questions. I want to be aware. I want my kids to be aware. I want them to know they are priviledged not because they have shelves and shelves of toys and want even more...but because they are alive...they are healthy...they don't have to worry about whether they will have lunch, or dinner, or fishy crackers...they have a home. And they have love.

But I want to do more....so until I up and sell all I have and move to Africa (hey, it's a thought) or whatever I do I want to be asking the questions and shock myslef out of suburbia.

I want to be a mom that is raising my kids to love others and do their part to save the world...and that means more than just recycling and writing to our Compassion Child in Tanzania.

Ok...kids are back. I think I have a bathroom to clean, or dinner to prepare, or school to teach....

Day of Service: GIVE YOURSELF

Today we took the kids down to a church on Wilshire to serve in the Immanuel Food Pantry. It was a great morning to get the kids involved in ending poverty and hunger and bringing about change (be it in ever so small of a way). I want more of this. I want our familiy to be characterized by giving away our time and energy and money and LOVE to others.

It was so easy and so much fun and the best thing was being there together serving alongside one another.

Blessing on blessing. You should try it.

Sun of God???

So we were studying the Ancient Egyptian Civilizations today with Ethan and Sophie. We were discussing one of the many gods, Aman-Ra: god of the Sun.

So when we were reviewing I asked Sophie, "Who is Aman-Ra?"

She replied, "The Sun of God!"

Ancient Egyptian Civilizations and Theological Doctrine with my Kindergardener...Nice...

No baby, Not the "Son of God"...The "god of the sun!"

Oh, how their little minds process!

God help me!

Hiatus

Ok we are now over the "Start of the New School Year Hump"...so hopefully post will start again!