Friday, August 30, 2013

This Morning,,,

I woke up....early
I am listening to this
I had a cup of yummy coffee
I ate a Nutz over Chocolate LUNA bar
I am praying for Ashley's family and my husband's, both released someone they loved dearly into the hands of God yesterday

I am thankful today is Friday!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

This morning...

I am thankful for....
the whirring of the ceiling fans
the green of the trees and flowering bushes in our backyard
the white chocolate macadamia nut LUNA bar I am eating for breakfast
my hot cup of coffee
my pumpkin spice candle
that my kids are finally starting to feel better
my husband, although admittedly a bit weepy because he went back to work this morning
sleeping in
sleeping through the night
the ability to pray
the cup was empty a minute ago when I knocked it over
Rosh Hashanah is coming (I always put too many 'n's in that word)
new mercies every single morning
blogs and emails and words and writing....I love to write, it is such an amazing gift is it not?




Wednesday, August 28, 2013

This morning....

Watching  Identity Crisis

Drinking  cinnamon roll k-cup coffee

Eating  Nutz over Chocolate Luna bar

Praying for Ashley and her family (side link Ashley's Story)

Hoping my kids feel better today 

Monday, August 26, 2013

My kids are sick :(

Saturday night was the looooooooooooongest night we have had in a while in our house.  And that is saying a lot.  Our kids went to bed around eight-thirty.  Since they have not been sleeping well at all recently, I was OVER the moon that they fell asleep that early.  I laid down and was out!  At one-thirty a dry hacking cough and crying woke me up.  We never went back to sleep.  Finally around nine the next morning we went to the local urgent treatment center.  I was sure she had strep, but no just a nasty virus.  :(   

In other news, I found a post that I absolutely adore!  I hope to get back to posting more regularly, I miss writing, lately it seems like I blink and an entire week passes. Well I hope you all have great weeks, I think ours can only go up from here :)

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Our School Room

I am going to try and post pictures this weekend, but let me describe our school room.  We moved into our home a little over a year ago (how has it been a year already?  and we STILL have boxes to unpack?!?!)

My children and I immediately fell in love with our "living room" so we moved three desks in, hung up maps and filled the bookshelves and voila our 'school room' was born.  I am not a naturally organized person, I have a very hard time sticking to a cleaning schedule, so the school room is often "messy", but it is one of the my very favorite rooms in our house.  I am hoping this year will be different, that I will be able to stick to a cleaning schedule, a menu, and still teach school...we'll see :).

Even with such a fabulous school room, we often gather around the dining room table for school time.  There is something special and almost magical that happens when you gather around a table to learn, listen, and read. 

When my husband can help me I will come back and post a few pictures of our school room :).


Monday, August 12, 2013

First Day of School and Curriculum We Use :)

Today was our best school day in a loooooooooooong time.  We did school through the summer, but a lite schedule.  Today was our first official day back.

And it went fabulously.

This year we are taking a Unit Study approach to school, we have homeschooled for six years now and this is the first time we have tried this approach.  Some of the tools (not all) that we will be using this year are...

1) Math Is Fun website.  LOVE this site.  We are on the fence trying to decide whether to try Teaching Textbooks or the Life of Fred...I know - they are VERY different :)
2) The Spalding Method, the Writing Road to Reading...this is intense, but has netted us some beautiful results.  We tried lots of different phonics programs before we stumbled on this one two (maybe three?) years ago and hands down it has worked the best for us.
3)  First Language Lessons - love all four of these
4)  Ruth Heller's grammar read alouds (ex. Merry-Go-Round a Book about Nouns)
5)  Biblegateway audio dramatized version.  We started in Genesis One and will move forward from here, will supplement with Tom Bradford's Torah Class.
6) For History The Story of the World (love this series!) and read alouds
7) For Science we are using some Apologia books as well as read alouds
8) We are using How to Teach Art, Music/Composer Appreciation CD series (cannot remember the name of this one), and Who was/is.... series (ex. Who was Walt Disney)
*edited to add
9)  A Child's Geography by Ann Voskamp


nbts-blog-hop-2013

running behind

I wanted to participate in the NOT back to school homeschool blog hop, but I am running behind.  I am going to do my curriculum post for Wednesday and then our school room post on Friday.  

I hope y'all have a good week this week! 

Friday, August 9, 2013

One Of Those Weeks...

You know the kind where your husband comes home for lunch and then goes to go back to work and out of nowhere the car won't turn over.  The battery (I think) is fine, it could be the starter...again.  Who knows?

Then you are serving pizza and one of your children reaches forward at the EXACT moment that hot cheese slides off and it burns her hand.  You feel like the worst mom in the world because everything you try seems to make it hurt more so you dig out a can of sprite and make a bowl of ice water and soak her hand while she eats her piece of pizza with dried tears on her cheek. 

I still have random moments of dizziness, I have overslept every single morning this week, and have yet to be able to complete a to-do list that I have made.  My dog desperately needs a bath (bless his heart), I need to make a menu so we don't get to five o'clock and scramble around trying to throw something together for dinner, and ...it has just been one of those weeks. 

SO glad it is Friday!

Monday, August 5, 2013

It is time for registration

Come one, come all!!!!!!!!!!!!  It is time for Bible study in your PJ's with a hot cup of steaming yum!  I absolutely LOVE Hello Mornings!  It sprung from one mom's idea to get up for her kids, not to them. 

For those who don't know, Hello Mornings ('click on above link for their blog) basic concept is this. 

God. Plan. Move.

Get up and spend time with God (either through their sponsored Bible Study or something you yourself do)

Plan your day.

Get MOVING, exercise - walk, run, dvd - something to get you on the right track to being/staying healthy!

This fall I am wanting to get a consistent routine down and stick with it.  I hope you guys will check out their website and join in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Christian Community

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Another school year sits on the horizon, I can see it peeking over the edges.

I furiously scribble my plans in a brand spanking new planner.  I LOVE lists, I love to make plans, but I am perhaps the most chaotic person you will meet.

Think Pig-Pen.

On steroids.

I am constantly losing things and forgetting to do something, I am like a walking mess.  But for some reason that does not dim my love for making plans and lists one bit.  Each new school year begins with the hope that this will be the year that we do not spend more time in doctor offices, at the pharmacy, or traveling to the children's hospital than we do on field trips.  That we will read more books than I have written down instead of the other way around.  That I do not hit that mid-winter slump or let the dishes and laundry pile up while we are diagramming sentences and working math problems.

But you know what?

The laundry and dishes will more than likely pile up, I will most likely lose our read aloud at least twice during the week, forget to write down what I did that day, and I almost certainly will hit that mid-winter slump.  But as I am writing this post, I am reminded that He has never failed to meet us each step of the way.

His grace encompasses all of my weaknesses, the ones I see clearly and the ones I am oblivious to.

His grace is there when I lose that book and when I find it.

His grace is just as much in the pharmacy waiting area as it is at the Museum.

His grace is in the smile my kids give me when we read something funny, their willingness to forgive my mistakes and failures, His grace is in the moment they learn to read and to add and to subtract.  His grace is in the lesson we have to repeat over and over and over until it clicks.  His grace is in the cold coffee forgotten in the microwave, the laundry I forgot in the washer, and the cinnamon toast I burned.

I am slowly realizing all is truly grace. 

Every.single.thing we have is an expression of God's love.  His grace.  His mercy.  Freely given, lavishly bestowed.  Completely undeserved, but oh so appreciated.

So I write down my plans, pray and ask His guidance, and give this year my very best.  And give thanks to God for His love, His grace, and His mercy that will carry us through another year.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Our Summer So Far

This post is more for me than anyone else, I am sure most people could care less about this, but I don't want to forget :) This has been a very unusual summer for us. We haven't done the normal summer things, but it still has been good over all. Our favorite movies from this summer have been, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again and Elf. Our favorite activity has been when we colored coffee filters and clipped them together with a clothespin to make a flower bouquet. We have seen a bunny, a falcon, a baby turtle, and two crawl dads, all in our backyard or front! We haven't read as much this summer as other summers :( but our favorites thus far has been Brighty of the Grand Canyon and The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean! I have found a new favorite thing, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut energy bars (by LUNA) and I am really sad because two close friends of ours moved this summer. I am counting down the days until fall!!!!! In other news, I cannot type on blogger, I open it up to post and it won't let me type, so I have to do it in HTML and then hit compose. NO idea what is wrong with it :(