I have to admit that my dander got a bit het up today.

A post on facebook got me upset because the person was all upset about the use of tablets and cell phones in church.   Saying the people shouldn't have them there, that they should use a regular bible and notepad.

I tried to show grace, I really did.   I tried to call for understanding, but I don't know that I was heard because SOMETIMES I think people have an agenda or an argument and they don't want to hear the flip side.

So this here below is my tablet.    Samsung Galaxy Tab A 9.7 inch.   It comes to church with me every Sunday and EVERY single service I go to.    It comes with me to meetings, field trips and anywhere I think I might have to pay attention and remember things.   Places where having focus and not distraction is important.  If it doesn't come, then my cell phone does (has the same programs, just not as easy to use).

When I started bringing it to my church, a fairly set in it's way church with MANY senior members, people wondered what I was doing, but because they know my heart, they asked why.

I said "this helps me to pay attention to the sermon".   When I started I also had my physical bible with me but now I just use the bible app on my phone and/or tablet.   My son will read along with one, I on the other.  :)   We highlight, we pay attention and it works for us.  :)  He's learning to take notes and to pay attention to the sermon.  When he was little I drew little pictures on a paper to help him remember.  

I have attended services were people are somewhat less than kind... where I've had the tablet literally SLAPPED out of my hands by angry people.  DON"T PLAY GAMES IN CHURCH.   Then I explain that I wasn't playing games, I show my evernote app, I show my sermon notes and my bible app and I TRY HARD not be hurt.  I try hard to say "hey.. this is an aid to me just like your bible and your notebook are an aid to you".    I don't always succeed in being kind and polite.   But I DO try to.  

It's not like I'm laughing, it's not like I'm texting, it's not like I'm sitting down not singing, I am ACTIVELY participating in the worship of God.   But my tool of choice, of necessity, it my tablet rather than a pen and paper.

I'm not doodling in a notebook (been there... did it for years as I tried NOT to be the highly distractable daydreamy person that I am).   I'm not reading other scripture and ignoring the teaching that God gave to pastor that Sunday (also did that for years).   I'm paying attention actively.

The Distraction and The Choice

Is it easy to lose my focus and what to check my email or a message that comes through?   Yup.  BUT ... it's funny how it works.    I don't.   I see them come in, and can make a mental note, but unless it's a horrible Sunday for me... where I am distracted by people turning a page in their bible, or by the wind going through the trees outside,  it is NOT a distraction for me.  Then quite frankly... it's just a mess and hubby can tell just by a glance at me that I'm a goner...  But MOST Sundays...it's a choice right?

A WHOLE LOT of things are a choice when it comes to a person's behaviour in church on Sundays.

I've been in churches where I see people going through their avon books, where I see children/youth reading novels, playing with toys, colouring pictures etc.   I've seen adults sleeping, texting, and what not have you.  I'm not talking the quiet toys that people use with wee children, I'm talking children/youth 8+ years old.  I've seen people drawing pictures in their sermon notebooks that have NOTHING to do with the sermon.

I've seen it.   I know it can be a struggle.   I have TOTALLY BEEN THERE.  And I know that MOST people aren't me.    Most people aren't distracted by the things can set me off into nothingness....

But you know what?   In MOST churches the sermon is 15-20 minutes.     If people can't pay attention for that length of time then they have bigger issues than I have.    My sermon length is 40 minutes.   AND 90% of the time with my tablet I HEAR the sermon and I remember it.   It's so totally cool.    You have NO idea how very cool it is.

It's been such a life-saver, spirit lifter and boon for my soul to FINALLY have the tools that I need to really worship the Lord on Sunday mornings and not just feel like I am going through the motions.

Do I still have bad days when NOTHING is going to get me to focus?   For sure.   But those days are fewer now.   Partly age, partly experience, partly tools at hand.

I honestly don't know what it is about the tablet that does it for me.    But it works in a way that pen and paper simply didn't.

It's taught me to show grace to others and how they manage to retain focus in different situations and not do what's been done to me... with the slapping of helpful tools out of my hands and the angry tones imparted. 

Watch, listen, ask before administering judgement that may be completely unfounded.

The question that needs to be asked is this: Where does your heart lie?   When you come to services...where is your heart?   Is it on learning from the Lord?   Is it on embracing his glory and singing it out the world?   Where is your heart?   Ask that question of yourself, and then ask it of those that may be struggling with what they should be focusing on.   :)

What helps YOU in a service?

Some of my Top Posts Over This Past Year.   Click image to go to post.  :)

I have to admit, I found this kinda fun to do.   Posts from all over the place.  :)   Many are current, but many are not.   Kinda neat eh?   :)

Did you notice that I made some changes around here?   

Just a few, perhaps not so noticeable ones....  

Three different watermarks that I can add to my pictures, to help prevent theft.     :)

A new banner for my website and facebook page.  I think I put it over on twitter as well.

I've added a new button as I'm sure you've seen over on the right.

I can't say that my family is particularly delighted with the changes that I've made.   They liked the old style...but I wanted to add a touch of flair.     I like the blue green colours I had in the past so I was delighted that Melanie was able to keep the blue/green colours for me.  :)

While Melanie was at it I had her design a new disclosure banner for me as well.  This one for generic reviews that I do.

And this one for the reviews for the TOS crew.   :)  I wanted to have a clear way of telling them apart immediately.   :)   Plus the crew needs precise wording for the legal end of things.    This way I have a pretty disclosure banner and meet needed requirements as well.. works out good eh?

So just who is the Melanie who helped me out?     She's a young adult in our church just starting to spread her business wings.   You can find her at her website.   Bear with her as she needs to flesh out her website abit yet.  :)    Didn't she do a good job for me?

I was quite pleased.

When I get a new website I plan to have her update things with my own website name and what not.    Anyways, I didn't find her services to be outrageously expensive or anything like that.  :)    So if you need buttons, banners, watermarks and what not done, ask Melanie to help you out and be of good cheer/encouragement to a budding entrepreneur eh?   :)

A new year is starting with the TOS Crew.   Old friends remain, new friends remain to be discovered.  Here are many of our blogs for you to visit.   Please do so, there are many fascinating people to meet.  :)

A couple days ago I posted what who the winners were in the TOS blue ribbon awards.

I thought I would take the time today to tell you who the winners were in our household.  :) 

StarToaster is our overall winner.

We haven't quite finished this program yet due to busy schedules and other priorities, but my son returns to it determined to finish it off.  :)

Caring for Orphs while practicing math, memory retention, logic and vocab skills.  It's all good stuff for children.

We've also made favourites of the following. 
IEW.  Writing skills that are easy for a lad to complete.  Grammar taught using a story.  It's a good fit.
Cursive Logic.  My lad is getting better with his letters, though he still struggles with what some of the written letters really are.   It's a struggle at times, but it's become a daily activity to work through.

Even though my son struggled with doing his first official study guide, it was a good experience overall for him.   Stone Fox Study Guide that we did from Progeny Press worked well at helping him look at the book more deeply.  At the end though he HATED the book Stone Fox because the dog died...and my soft-hearted boy just really struggled with that aspect of the book.  Knowing it was based on a true story helped him with the processing of it all.

Next up was Brookdale House with their Drawing around the world: Europe study.  Though the set up of the study itself wasn't a great fit, the opening up of opportunities for learning about the countries of Europe...Being spurred on to cook, watch videos and such is such a great fit and we're having so much fun doing so. 

Brinkman Adventures brought us Christian Stories that made us think, sometimes laugh, and definitely share.  

Visual Learning Systems and SmartKidz Media are both programs we enjoyed using, it's sometimes difficult to remember to work them into our schooling though.

For math we worked with Great parents academy and Stinky Kids Math.  My son's comment when asked to choose which he liked most was "I kinda liked both mom".  We haven't continued with GPA Math since as we progressed through the program I found that he was too often skipping the practice part and saying the tests were too easy so we moved to a workbook approach.  Stinky Kid we continue to use.

The game Wonky continues to be a huge favourite in our household and beyond.   It frequently travels with us and I am so glad that USAopoly was one of our review products this year.   Wonky is a great game.

So I hope you've enjoyed my walk through this years reviews (at least the most memorable ones for us).    Hopefully within them you find some treasures of your own.

You'll be able to find the link live on Wednesday.    GO HERE.   MIss Kemi has been writing a series on Stay at Home Moms and asked me to take part.  :) 

So don't go until Wednesday.  :)

Have you seen these yet?    My son and I were so amazed.

I am constantly amazed at the creativity that God placed with us.  From making painting, carvings, statues, and more...and now even in the rice... Creativity abounds!

I went looking for more pictures online and came up with this video.

My blue Infusion Tea Pitcher.

I LOVE IT.   I do!  

I have to admit, I can't remember if I got from Teaopia or from David's Tea...one was higher priced than the other, but were basically the same thing but we got last years model so it was cheaper.  It was an instore sale, and affordable.  :)

I've had it about three months now.... and I use it frequently.  I love that I can toss my loose leaf tea into it and walk away.  I drink about half out, pour in more water, let it set again for a spell and then pour it into a glass pitcher and I have a ready made drink that I enjoy. :)

So just how does one use this tea pitcher?

Step One
Put two to three tablespoons of loose leaf tea into the holder.   Most will call for two but because I like to refill the pitcher I put in three.  :)

Step Two.
Twist the tea infuser into the top part.

As I do this I have filtered water pouring into the pitcher.
So that would be step three technically, but really I call step three screwing the infusor into the holder.   It fits tight so you have no leakage of random tea bits (the bane of other infusion methods I've tried).

Looks boring here doesn't it (above picture)
But look what happens when you let it set for a spell.  If you put it out in the sun it goes faster, and for a sweeter tea mix somehow makes it taste even better.  BUT for a "i'm not sure what this is tea" setting it on your counter works really well.

This coppery red colour just continued to deepen and my lad REALLY likes this tea.  :)  MOM!   Can we make more???   Our Brazilian student likes it as well.  :)

Here is a picture of our tea shelf.  Most of our teas are labelled, but a couple are mysteries.  I've learned to let hubby sniff them as I don't do cinnamon teas (and my hubby tends to favour them).   My preference is for fruit teas.  :)

One thing I HAVE to show you is the ease of clean up.  It is SO easy.  :) 

Rinse a few times and voila!  See how clean it is?

I sweeten my tea with a touch of spenda, unless I have a cold then I add lemon and honey and warm it up.   How do you do your tea?

I have to admit to feeling a bit flummoxed today....I had a hard start to the day, and I like writing interesting posts and I have nothing.  :)   Can you imagine me with nothing to say?   Shocker isn't it.  :)

I do suppose though, that one can always find something to talk about though.   Like some of the really interesting posts some folks are writing.  

I read a couple of different posts about how people school for six weeks and off for one, or they work for four weeks and take one off.  The week off gives mom teacher a chance to make a schedule that is shorter in duration, and reflects one's ability to make changes.      I have to admit, that REALLY resonated with me.    I hope to do something similar.  Giving myself a chance to do some scheduling of work (as I can usually get something to work for a month and then it fizzles) and can therefore (I hope to be very adaptive).  :)

I liked this post, which will be good for down the road with highschool needs.   Grading without tests.   I don't know about you, but I haven't had the need to test my boy all that much.  For the most part I know what he knows when it comes to the core subjects.   But it makes me think about how I will have to introduce testing to him.  One doesn't want taking a test to come as a complete surprise in grade nine... so I need to start thinking about this now don't you think?

I appreciated this post on what if you can't afford to homeschool?   It all costs money right?     Some good tips were given on what to do to make homeschooling more affordable, or rather, how to work within your budget. 

I've read posts on colour coding your school supplies, organizing your homeschool, planning your curriculum, how to FIND curriculum and so much more.   It's been fascinating and I hope you've enjoyed the ride.   Tomorrow is another day as well... I hope you enjoy the reads that people will come up with.

Such a talented group of people, you are bound to find something that will be of use to you.  :)   If you do, can you tell me what you found and why it was interesting to you?   I'd really appreciate it, maybe you'll find something that I missed in the busyness.   :)  Cheers!

To read what others wrote during this back to school blog hop you can start here with these folks, and then move on to all these fine folks.  :)
Cristi @ Through the Calm and Through the Storm
Meg @ Adventures with Jude
Dawn @ Double O Farms
DaLynn @ For the Display of His Splendor
Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling
Steph @ Indy Homeschool
Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break
Tawnee @ Adventures in homeschooling
Lisa @ Tales of a Homeschool Family
Jennifer @ Organized Home Organized School
Callie @ Mama's Coffee Shop

Just because I love watching people dance well with their dogs... Here's a video for our viewing pleasure.  :)

Where that one was pretty, this one is fun.  :)