We really enjoy traditions in our family. Not only are they fun and help create wonderful memories, but I believe traditions pull everyone together and even when our children are grown and have families of their own, I hope that they will always remember our traditions. Even after they leave our homes, I know they will remember the things we did year after year and hopefully they’ll have such fond memories that they’ll want to carry on some of the traditions themselves.

I would love to know what others do for family holiday traditions. I’m going to list ours below and if you would like, please share yours as well.

Sonya Haskins
www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

- During the month of December, we watch Christmas movies together as a family while drinking hot cocoa and eating snacks. We watch The Polar Express, Muppet Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, traditional Christmas classics (like Frosty), Hallmark Christmas movies, Christmas Shoes, and any other kind of movie related to Christmas!

- We used to put up our tree right after Thanksgiving, but now that we’re in a tiny house, we usually put up our tree about a week before Christmas. Nonetheless, whenever the tree is put up, our tradition is to lovingly unwrap each ornament and talk about it as we put it on the tree. We have handmade ornaments, gold ornaments, and ornaments that belonged to me and Chris as children. The kids especially enjoy hearing about those.

- Chris makes Christmas pancakes on Christmas morning. This was a tradition carried over from his own childhood.

- On Christmas eve, we read aloud the story of Mary and Joseph from the Bible and we read about how they traveled to Bethlehem and had a baby who was born in the night and laid in a manger. The baby was to be our Savior. This is the last thing we do before bedtime and as they go to bed, the children look at our nativity that is set out each Christmas. The nativity lacks one thing - the baby Jesus.

- On Christmas morning, the children wake up to a tree and gifts (modern traditions of society), but even after all the years of doing this, they also look to see if baby Jesus is in his manger. (He has been there every year except for the one year I fell asleep and forgot to make him “born” before morning! We quickly found him and put him in his manger!)

- We normally play a lot of board and card games, but during December and actually throughout winter, we play a lot more indoor games than we do at other times of the year. The children enjoy this and it’s a great way to spend time as a family! If you have young children, I would encourage you to start now and try to buy at least one family game each year as a “group gift” and PLAY IT throughout the year, especially on cold, wet days during the winter. If you have older children, it’s not too late to start this tradition either. Even if you have all teens, buy the “teen and up” or “adult” games and play with them. You might be surprised how much you learn about your child by playing a game of “Taboo” or Cranium “Whoonu.”

- One other tradition we have is that we celebrate with stockings. We use homemade stockings that my mom made for each child the year they were born. I have one from my childhood and Chris has his childhood stocking. Since we don’t share a lot of big gifts, we always have great stockings! When we’ve asked the children one of their favorite holiday traditions, one of the things they mention is the fruit, candies, and small gifts they receive in their stockings each year. This is one of my most favorite traditions as well!

This is a list of books that would be of particular interest to young men. While some children with advanced reading skills will be able to tackle some of these books during their upper elementary grades, the list is meant for students in junior high and high school. I’ve marked a few that are more advanced. I worked with my children (who’ve read most of these) and my husband (who was an English major like me) to list some basic categories for the books. Although the books are mostly fiction, we’ve tried to break it down further by stating whether the books are historical fiction, about animals, adventure books, etc. At the end of the list is another short list of authors who typically write things that would be of interest to boys or men. Sonya : )

For younger boys (age 9 to 12), I’d also recommend the Hardy Boys series (original books only, not the newer books in the series) and ANY of the Random House Landmark books.

For young men approximately age 14 and over, I’d include reading books by the following authors as part of a well-rounded high school reading plan.

- Jules Verne

- H. G. Wells

- Arthur Conan Doyle

- Canterbury Tales

- Augustine (as in Confessions of St. Augustine)

- R. M. Ballantyne

- Lloyd Alexander

- Ralph Moody

- Orson Scott Card

- Charles Dickens

- Shakespeare

- C. S. Lewis

- J. R. R. Tolkien

- Edgar Allan Poe

You should be able to find books by most of these authors. They have some that could be read by younger readers, but primarily I would recommend these authors for the older students.

If you look for some of the books on the book list, there may be a few that are difficult to find. Some are out of print and rare. Others are quite easily obtainable.

Sonya Haskins

www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

I heard something today that really made me think.

This man was talking about his life and growing up in the Great Depression. During that time, when he was 12 years old, his father died, leaving his mother with 7 young children, no money, and no income.

This man said that he remembered his mom, like a mother hen, huddling all the children around the casket at his father’s funeral. She looked down at his father, with the children there in front of her and said, “Look at what you’ve left me with…”

And I fully expected her to say something like, “all these children, no money, and what am I supposed to do?”

But instead, she said, “Look at what you’ve left me with” and she looked at the children, “something that is worth more than all the gold in the world. THANK YOU.”

Wow.

I am so thankful for this wonderful example of gratitude, faith, and devotion. I hope it encourages you today as it has me.

Sonya Haskins

www.thehomeschooladvocate.com

Last week, the gal who organizes our website categories created a new category she - Crafts and Recreation. I told her that I liked the idea because homeschoolers spend a lot of time playing games, especially educational games, and with a dedicated category, you’ll be able to find those type of products more easily. Now we are still building our stock in this area, but you should visit regularly to see what we have here.

Meanwhile, here are some of my family’s favorite games. See which ones you already have and also hopefully I’ll give you some new suggestions. I’ve also made some suggestions on ways the games can be used for educational purposes. If your family has a favorite game that you think other homeschool families would enjoy that isn’t listed here, add your own post!

Monopoly
I’m sure everyone has heard of this family favorite. Monopoly is a terrific game for teaching math skills, taking turns, dealing with stocks and money, buying and selling, and money-related terminology such as stocks, bonds, bank, bankrupt, and mortgage. We love to play Monopoly when time isn’t a factor and we can just sit around for hours and have fun.

Life
I remember playing Life when I was a young girl. I LOVED getting as many children as I could. I would will up my car and then if anyone else didn’t want their children, I would pile their kids in my car as well. The cars seat 6 people - 2 adults and 4 children. I would always put the mom in the driver seat, dad in the passenger seat, then I’d end up with about 8 children in the back. They don’t have seatbelts for Life so inevitably my little plastic children would fall across the board each time I moved my vehicle.
Anyway, this is another great game to practice using math skills. You also have the opportunity to bring up discussions about goals, family, occupations, and how choices affect your real life. Like many of these great board games, let even your youngest family members roll their own dice or (in the case of Life), spin the spinner themselves, count their spaces, etc.

Dutch Blitz
Some friends of ours introduced us to this card game a few years ago. It’s a terrific game, although I’ve come away from many games with scrapes and scratches across my hands. It’s a difficult game to describe in writing, but basically your goal is to get as many cards as possible before everyone else gets them. The game is multi-tasking to the extreme and teens/preteens seem to particularly enjoy it.

Cranium
This is a hands-on, fun-filled, intellectually stimulating game for older children and adults. It’s meant for ages 12 and up, but we’ve played it with our middle children as well. It’s loads of fun and requires you to use many different skills to create clay sculptures, decide whether a statement is true or false, answer a trivia question, act out a clue, sketch a clue, imitate a famous person, etc.

Hullabaloo
This fun action game is meant for younger players. Our children have most enjoyed this game between ages four and ten, but older children enjoy playing sometimes, too. Players have to wiggle, dance, hop, step, etc. to a colored pad. Players can share pads and while they are learning to share, there is also an element of cooperative play. Colors, shapes, and names of animals, foods, and musical instruments are reinforced during this action-filled game.

Clue
Children learn to use skills of discernment while trying to figure out who murdered whom with what weapon. Reading and writing skills are also used in Clue. This was another one of my favorite games when I was a child and my own children enjoy it now.

Whoonu
Another excellent game from the Cranium family, this is an great ice-breaker game for young people. It encourages people to talk about what they like or don’t like and you find out things about other people that you may not have known. This game is fun whether you’re six, sixteen or sixty. It encourages reading skills and organization skills. It also includes chips that you have to count at the end of each turn, requiring a minimal amount of math.

Scrabble
Even my youngest children enjoy playing Scrabble! Everyone knows you can learn vocabulary by playing this game, but did you know that you can also change the rules and allow dictionary use to encourage spelling skills, vocabulary skills, and reference skills? We also allow foreign words when we play so that also reinforces any foreign language vocabulary that your child may be learning.

Othello
I’ve never actually played this particular game, but my husband plays it with our children all the time and they love it. I do know it is a strategy game and also encourages math skills. It reminds me of a precursor to chess or something like that, but my children just love it.

That’s all I can think of at the moment, but if I think of more, I’ll add them. There are still many fabulous toys and other activities on the market that do not require batteries or an electric plug. If your children are stuck on electronic games, take them away for a week and play a board game with them!

Sonya Haskins

I wrote this earlier in the summer, but thought someone might be blessed by it here…

After much frustration with broken lawn mowers that we had been given or I had bought at yard sales, I finally gave away our three remaining mowers, went to the store, and bought another mower that actually worked. We positively did not have the money to do this, but I did it anyway in the name of sanity. It took less than an hour to go buy a very nice push mower. I brought it home, screwed on the handle and I was planning to push it around the yard a few times to create a couple of blocked off areas that my two oldest sons could mow. Well, I literally made it around the yard two times when I heard the most horrible noise and the lawn mower completely died. Â

One of my children had left a pair of clippers (the big kind that you cut shrubs with) out in the tall grass and I had promptly run over them with the new mower. Boy did I lose it. I just completely lost it. My poor children were standing there not sure what to do. I had one hand raised in the air and the other pointing to the mower and I was saying something along the lines of, “THIS is why we do not buy new things. We have not had this mower five minutes and because people do not pick things up in this family now our new mower is ruined! This is a travesty! What a horrible thing to happen!” (Looking back on it, I probably looked a little bit like Charlie Brown…) Â

After a few minutes of this, my eight-year-old walked up to me and said, “Mommy, I need to tell you something.” I said, “Does this look like a good time to tell me something?!?” He said, “I REALLY need to tell you something.” I asked him what he needed to tell me.

He quietly said, “I am the one who left the clippers in the yard.”

Boy was I mad, but I did not yell. I just said, “Christopher, I think it would be a good idea if you just go somewhere over there (motioning across the yard) for a few minutes until I calm down.” As he turned to go, I could see him begin to cry. Â

I felt the not so gentle nudge of my heavenly Father reminding me of how many times I had messed up - in much worse ways than leaving clippers in the yard.

I walked over to Christopher and hugged him and said, “Christopher, I am upset about the mower, but I am so sorry I yelled at you. And I am very sorry I told you to go away. I want you to always remember that I would MUCH rather have for my son an honest boy who leaves things in the yard than a dishonest boy who always puts his toys away.”

You should have seen the smile on his little face. That was worth a dozen broken mowers.

Sonya Haskins

Do you remember when your precious little newborn came home from the hospital? You were sleep-deprived and aching all over, but you still managed to write down the length and weight of your little blessing. If your child came to you through adoption, you painstakingly made sure that all your paperwork was in order and you put all the records somewhere safe. No matter how your child came to bless your family, there are records that you have collected for future reference.

What about school records?

Do you keep a portfolio of your children’s work? Does your state require extensive record-keeping?

Every homeschooler should be aware of their own state’s requirements in regards to record-keeping. If you are outside the United States, you should know and follow the laws for your area of residence. Since I don’t have space here to address all the specific rules of various states or countries, I want to give you some general suggestions about the kinds of things you might want to keep as part of your children’s school records.

-Â Â Â Â Samples of schoolwork

-Â Â Â Â Photos of science or other academic fair projects, field trips, activities

-Â Â Â Â Artwork (or pictures of larger projects that have since been dismantled)

-Â Â Â Â Writing samples

-Â Â Â Â Dictation samples

-Â Â Â Â Copies of letters your children have written

-    Publications with your child’s artwork, poetry, photo, etc.

-Â Â Â Â A cumulative list of outside activities your child participates in. Â Keep up with this on a yearly basis. Â This is especially important as a student approaches college age. Â Active involvement in outside activities might mean the difference between receiving a scholarship or not.

-Â Â Â Â A cumulative list of competitions your child has participated in and any awards he/she has received.

-Â Â Â Â A list of outside classes your child has taken (including co-op classes, local art or music classes, etc.)

-Â Â Â Â A record of grades (if you give grades or if the student has taken other classes where he/she has received a grade)

-Â Â Â Â Field trip log (where you went and when, what you did, notes from the trip, etc.)

-Â Â Â Â Results from standardized testing

-Â Â Â Â Results from other evaluations such as occupational therapy sessions, annual doctor exams, etc.

-Â Â Â Â Proof of homeschool registration (if required or desired)

-    Copies of your children’s birth certificates, social security cards, vaccination records, etc.  (You may not have all of these, but if you do, it’s good to know where they are at all times.)

-Â Â Â Â Precious memories (Write down those cute things your child says and does. Â You are likely to forget these things in a few days, but if you keep a journal of precious memories, they are certain to bless you for many years to come!)

Remember that many of these things will never be needed for “official” purposes.  The local superintendent’s office may not ever require any of these items, but you will have them if you ever need them.  Also, if you are a diligent record-keeper, you will have the things you need for future reference if you need them for other purposes.  We recently needed some of these items when we were completing adoption paperwork.  Since I keep all of these items as part of the children’s school records, I was able to pull out what I needed for our adoption application.

I would never advocate additional legislation or record-keeping. I believe that violates a parent’s right to train their child in the manner of their choosing with as little state-interference as possible.  I do think it is a good idea to keep records handy, however, so that if you ever do need them, they will be available.  You will also have a nice portfolio of materials to share with friends and relatives who desire to know more about homeschooling.  As your children grow older, you will be able to look back on your “school records” with pleasure when they see how much they’ve learned over the years and you recall the funny, sweet, or otherwise precious memories you have collected over the years.

So don’t let record-keeping be a troublesome burden!  Keep it in perspective and have a little fun as you compile the various items that will satisfy legal requirements and delight your family in years to come.

Sonya

www.sonyahaskins.com

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Homeschoolers don’t have to attend parent-teacher conferences. Most homeschoolers don’t give out report cards (although we do sell some really cool ones through homeschoolstore.com) and even if they do, the parents are usually the ones giving the grades. Some homeschoolers don’t even participate in standardized testing. So how do you really know that your child is learning anything?

You will know your child is learning because YOU are the parent. You love that child and you want your child to succeed. You know your child better than anyone except God. It does not matter if you have a PhD in child development. It doesn’t matter if you were trained to teach reading, do advanced mathematical applications, or conduct complicated science experiments. It doesn’t even matter if you have a high school diploma. Almost every parent can homeschool. You will know that your child is learning because you began watching your child’s progress from the moment he/she was born and you have also kept your eyes open for any indication of a trouble. Even when doctors or regular teachers cannot see small signs that there is a problem, parents typically see that there is something wrong.  When you homeschool, your child has a unique advantage of being tutored one-on-one by someone who loves them and is personally committed to their success.

When your baby was learning to talk, you knew he was learning new things because he began to use new words that you repeated to him.

When your toddler was learning to walk, you taught her to walk by holding her hands and walking along beside her. When she fell down, you helped her up and walked beside her while she tried again.

When your preschooler wanted to use crayons, you gave her the tools to color and you gave her the discipline to know not to mark on the walls.

When your child is learning to ride a bicycle, you run along beside him and when he falls down, you encourage him to hop back on and try again.

Suddenly your child is school age and you want to homeschool, but you are nervous about how you will know whether or not you are doing a good job. Some states will require evaluation and testing, but you will also know that you are doing a good job homeschooling when:

- you hear your 8-year-old son in the store explaining the causes of World War II to the cashier.

- your preteen daughter offers to watch the neighbors children “just because” the mom isn’t feeling well.

- your high school age son is plays dolls with his little sister.

- your children would rather read books than watch television or play computer games.

- your children ask questions to which you no longer have the answer.

- your children tell you things that you didn’t know because they read it in a book.

- others begin to recognize that homeschooling is a good option because they have met your children.

Just as you knew that your baby and toddler was making progress because you could see the results, you will also know that your school-age child is progressing well through the same process of teaching, encouraging, watching, correcting, training, disciplining, answering questions, and loving your child. If your child is showing signs that there is a delay in his development - academic or otherwise - you will know this because you know your child so well that it is easier to recognize when he/she is having difficulty in a particular area and you will seek help because you want the best for your child.

The neat thing about evaluating your homeschooled child is that unlike an institutionalized school setting, you are concerned about much more than an A or B on a report card. You will see academic progress, but you will also be able to watch your child develop in areas outside of academics. The progress you see over the years as your child matures will remind you that the decision to homeschool is not in vain.

Sonya Haskins

Horizon’s Preschool is a Bible-based program providing 180 lessons that are designed to give preschoolers a solid foundation for future kindergarten success. Bright and colorful pages provide hands-on learning activities with an introduction to social studies, language arts, math, phonics and science. Children will also learn about health, safety, music, giving, crafts and much more. Easy to use Teacher Guides with lesson plans make the curriculum extremely straightforward to use. There are five lessons provided per week and you can customize your school to accommodate the lessons any day you choose. Half day, full day, three times per week or five…it’s your school room!  Also, if you have some children that might be bit older or moving at a faster pace it’s easy to move them onto the next lesson. Horizons Preschool works for activity centered programs as well as academic centered programs.

The multimedia kit contains 2 Student Workbooks. In Student Book 1, children are introduced to the first four days of Creation which covers lessons 1-90. Subjects include:

·        Light and darkness

·        Plants and seasons

·        Tracing exercise and coloring sheets

·        Arts and crafts

·        Letter, shape and color recognition

·        Counting numbers

·        Addition and telling time

·        Exercises such as skipping, hopscotch, jumping and stretching – develop motor skills

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Student Book 2 contains lessons 91-180 and students learn about days 5, 6 and 7 of Creation. This includes:

• Animals and man
• Body systems
• Gluing, painting, molding and stamping
• Letter sounds, letter blends and increase verbal skills
• Subtracting and adding
• Health, hygiene and safety
• Making shapes, writing names and addresses
• Exercises such as jumping jacks, riding tricycles, tossing rings and tag – develop motor skills

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The program can easily be used without the multimedia set; however it compliments and enriches the curriculum with fun-filled music, animated videos, and educational software. This is a great tool for preschools or any parent looking for a fun and organized way to introduce learning and character building to children! Â

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What Is Being Said About Horizons Preschool?

Wow!! This is a great program! This Horizons Preschool curriculum introduces knowledge and skills all at the appropriate time. It has been very well thought out.

Heather C Maranatha KinderPrep Kansas

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We started using the Horizons Preschool curriculum this year and are very happy with it. Even the parents have been thrilled with how much material the children are absorbing.

The curriculum does a very good job at incorporating many different senses into learning so that the children retain more information. There are more than enough activities and ideas to keep them busy all day long. The children are learning how to write very quickly. The amount of practice they get with this curriculum has dramatically improved their writing skills beyond what I expected of them at this point in the school year. Thanks for putting together such a great program. Janelle W. Liberty Academy Missouri

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I just received the new preschool curriculum and it is exactly what I was looking for. The format is easy to follow and still allows for flexibility in the teaching style. The integrated way the lessons flow allows me to add other ideas and studies, but not detract from the overall lessons. This curriculum is absolutely awesome. The colorful pages and activities are very exciting.

I’m so glad you developed this curriculum. It is unique! I looked at several different publishers before purchasing this one. It is by far the most teacher friendly course. An added benefit is that it is truly created for the preschooler and is not trying to push the child to do work at the kindergarten or first grade level. This builds up the child’s self esteem and is a wonderful atmosphere for learning. Elizabeth D. Â Texas

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My daughter is enthralled with Horizons preschool materials. She especially loves the Character Builder DVDs. They have provided sold reinforcement of the character concepts we are teaching at home. She loves how the work book pages have many of the same characters that are on the DVDs and CDs. I feel that the academic content as well as the character building lessons that are found through out Horizons preschool materials have allowed my daughter to gain a solid foundation of academics and life values.
Melissa Hamilton

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LINK TO PRESCHOOL BLOG

http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2008/02/what-is-horizons-preschool.htmL

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Co-ops and support groups are popping up all across the United States. With almost four million (by latest estimates) homeschooled children in the country now, parents have successfully built support networks that cater to a diverse range of homeschoolers. There are secular groups, Christian groups, groups that fall somewhere in between. In addition to groups for the entire homeschool family, there are groups for homeschool preschoolers, elementary age, middle school and high school age students. Some groups are open to anyone and others have strict membership requirements.

Below is a description and comparision of the two main types of support for homeschool families.

In terms of homeschooling, “co-op” is short for co-operative education. Co-ops can be set up in many ways, but the general idea behind them is to provide a place where homeschool children can take classes that are taught by other homeschool parents. Some co-ops allow classes to be taught by outside experts. Others allow homeschool students themselves to teach classes. Most all co-ops require parental participation since that’s the whole idea behind co-operative teaching.

The co-ops in which I have participated have always offered a terrific line-up of classes, including elementary zoology, Revolutionary War history, art, ballet, electric circuits, World War I and World War II, sign language, and Five in a Row (a class based on the books by Jane Claire Lambert). When we participate in co-op, I typically volunteer to teach a language class because this is my passion. The kids love it and I love it. This is what makes co-ops so effective. When homeschool parents teach a subject about which they are passionate, the students recognize this and they not only learn the subject matter, they frequently develop a passion for it as well.

Whether or not you can count the time in a co-op toward your homeschool hours, the classes can be very beneficial, especially in difficult subjects. Co-ops can be a great place for families to find a little extra academic support.Â

Some states do not allow parents to count co-op classes toward their required school hours while others don’t care or at least don’t specify whether you can or not. Some states require pre-approval to count co-op classes for homeschool credit hours. You will need to check your state regulations to determine what types of outside classes you can count for credit for your homeschool.

Support groups are set up to provide support and encouragement to homeschool families. Frequently you will find field trips, lending libraries, retreats, clubs, sports, and other activities. Many support groups also have co-ops, usually open to members of the support group. Support groups can be physical support groups where families meet once a month or more; they can be e-loops that provide support to homeschool moms, dads, teens, or even younger students; or they can be a mixture of the two. Some support groups sponsor sports teams and provide an important opportunity for homeschooled students to participate in athletics where they might otherwise not be able to do so.

Some support groups are set up to cater to families who use a particular type of curriculum, such as Charlotte Mason, Waldorf, Classical Education, or Sonlight curriculum. These support groups are nice because parents can discuss particular aspects of their common curriculum, share books, and trade teaching ideas.

Many support groups are set up based on religious choice. There are support groups for particular denominations, more general groups such as “Christian,” or specifically non-religious groups that prohibit religious discussion. Another alternative is to have a support group with Christian leadership and open membership.

While some support groups are set up for a particular age group, this can be beneficial, but it can also get tricky.  You might set up a support group for homeschool preschoolers, but eventually your own child will outgrow this. When you have a support group that caters specifically to the high school age group, this can lead to a clique type atmosphere.  This can be prevented, but you should be aware of the possibility that this can occur.

Either way, when people ask about “socialization,” I always want to ask them if they are aware of how many opportunities are actually available for homeschoolers in their area. Where I live, for example, there are over 20 homeschool support groups and co-ops (many of the co-ops are part of a local support group). This does not include any online support groups or smaller home support groups in the area, which would raise the number. This means that there are literally dozens of opportunities for local homeschool families to fellowship, play, take classes, etc.Â

It is great fun to get together with other families who are dedicated to teaching their children at home, whether you do this in an art class, at a soccer tournament, or on a field trip. If you are able to join a support group or co-op in your area, I would encourage you to do so. If you cannot find the type of support group you are seeking in your area, start one!

There’s nothing like having children around to help us keep a positive perspective on life…

We’ve spent much of the previous two days at the doctor’s office. We’re trying to adopt and this involves tons of paperwork, doctor’s appointments, interviews, etc. We’ve been poked, prodded, measured, and collected.

Yesterday we were at the doctor’s office getting vaccinations and Hannah had a bad reaction to one. Today we ended up back at the office to have her leg checked and see what they could do about her breathing difficulties. There were many discussions about the fact that I really hadn’t wanted the vaccines in the first place and how the doctors were just “certain” her symptoms were simply from a virus that she just happened to get on the day she was vaccinated, despite the fact that she has been sick only two days of her five young years. Needless to say, by the time we left the doctor’s office, I was a bit frustrated.

As we walked out of the office, there was one of those huge trash trucks driving by. This was the kind of truck that had the huge metal arms that come up over the top of the truck with the industrial size trash can in tow and it dumps the trash into the back of the truck.Â

The children were walking in front of me as we left the office and Christopher saw the truck. He said, “Hey look, it’s a Solid Waste Management truck!” (He was reading the side of the truck.) Daniel looked in the direction Christopher was pointing and replied with appropriate awe, “Ohhhh.”Â

So the next time you’re tempted to see something negative in a situation, remember that you can see the trash OR you can see the amazing machine that takes it away.

Sonya

www.sonyahaskins.com