Daily Homeschool Schedule

Well, we've entered our 5th week of homeschooling this year and now we are getting somewhat of a good rhythm.  It takes a few weeks for that to happen and for us to figure out for the next couple months what will be feasible and what things will have to wait until we are stuck inside the house all day long.  Right now, we are doing the basics so that the kids can still be outside for the biggest part of the day.  I always want my kids to choose being outside over being inside.  Anyways, we are loving school so far this year and I hope my kids always want to homeschool!


7:30- up and at 'em! We are usually up before this, but 7:30 is about the latest we sleep.  Jude and elsie will have devotions and I'll get breakfast ready.  Jude and Elsie have a notebook where they write what the Scripture they've read for the day is telling them and what they feel like God wants them to know.  We usually eat breakfast as soon as we come downstairs and I can have it ready- I always joke that my kids will eat the table legs off if I don't feed them as soon as their eyes open! ;)  After breakfast, the kids brush their teeth, make their beds, and get dressed.  I would love them to have their beds made and clothes on before they even come downstairs for breakfast, but thats just not realistic for us, so they do that afterwards.  Then Jude and Elsie will do their chores ( dishes and laundry) and I'll have devotions with the two little guys.

9:30- By this time, we need to be sitting at the table doing handwriting.  After they do handwriting, they will do reading comprehension.  We've been using the Barnell Loft specific skills series- level A of the identifying inferences.  Basically they read a short paragraph and have to pick the multiple choice answer that tells what the story is inferring.  After that they do English and Grammar.  Thatcher has been working on sight words- just 'the' and 'and' so far- mastering those and then we will move on :)

10:30- they take a break- which usually means going outside and riding bikes or playing legos or doing some kind of craft.

12- we eat lunch usually around noon so that Atticus can get to bed.  After he is laid down, the kids play some more and I get things done that I can do much easier while Atticus is sleeping.

1- I round the kids back up and they watch their math lesson and then do some modeling with the blocks.  We just started basic algebra problems last week, so we haven't moved on yet- making sure they master that first!  Thatcher loves watching the math lesson and calls the teacher on the video the 'talking teacher' ;)  He loves playing with the manipulative blocks while we do our lesson.  Thatcher has learned to count to 20.  We then will do whatever our extra subject is for that day- we've been sticking to History on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Science on Wednesdays and then Art for Friday. Somewhere in this time-frame, the kids will do their reading- Jude is reading 'Old Yeller' and Elsie is reading a Magic Treehouse book.

2:30- we are usually done with school by around this time.  Some other things we do whenever during the day we have time to fit them in: Spelling- I know that sounds horrible, that we just fit it in when we can, but we use Rod and Staff 3rd grade spelling book and the kids haven't missed any of the words so far, so we just go over them once and then go to the new list the next week.  We also do our memory work which is- address and phone number, memory verse, continents, oceans, states and capitals, and then for Thatcher, we don't do continents, oceans or states and capitals, we have just started to add days of the week and months of the year.  The phone number, days of the week, and months of the year we do to a song- phone number to the tune of 'Jesus loves me' days of the week to the tune of 'Addams Family' and then months of the year is one I found on YouTube.  Lastly, they will practice piano :)

I hope this is helpful for some of you, and if you consider homeschooling- I hope this gives you an idea of how you can easily set up your day.  Like I said earlier, I like to leave a lot of time open for my kids to be outside while they can- winter will be here before we know it and even though they will still go outside, it won't be for the length of time they do now.  I say that because, it may look like we don't really do much compared to a brick and mortar school, but you have to remember, I don't have 30 students and I don't have to do tons of state/government mandated busy work.  The statistic says that 2 1/2 hours of one on one homeschool work is equivalent to 5 days worth of work for a public school student!!  Crazy!  Anyway, this is basically how our day is set up for schooling- it changes and adjusts to our needs, so this is not set in stone for us.  I hope this helps and I hope you all have a wonderful week!  I leave tomorrow morning for Tennessee- yay!!

Homeschool Curriculum choices for the 2015-2016 school year

Hello :)  Just want to say a quick thanks for all the texts from my last post!! You guys are so good to me :)  I wanted to go ahead and get up a list of the curriculum we are doing for school this year.  I am not a boxed set curriculum kind of homeschooler- I like options and picking what best fits my kids needs.  We pick and choose from different curriculums and it has worked out great for us!  Lets get started:

Math- Math-U-See.  We used Singapore math last year and we HATED it!! It was not a good fit for us.  I felt like my kids definitely need more hands-on, visual math learning, and Math-U-See is both of those.  I had found the manipulatives set at a homeschool curriculum sale and then purchased the rest of the kit on the Math-U-See website  http://mathusee.com/.  I need another manipulatives set (Shelley!!! I am going to make it over to get that- I promise!!)  and I only bought one workbook bc I'm planning on having the kids just write out the problems in their own notebooks so we can pass the workbook on down to Thatcher when he needs it.  Speaking of Thatcher, he will be doing preschool at home this year and I will be getting him familiar with the Math-U-See manipulatives and very very basic math ( counting, skip counting, number recognition)

English/Grammar-  Rod and Staff.  We absolutely LOVE this English and Grammar curriculum.  Rod and Staff is extremely thorough and really hammers these grammar rules into your brain.  The illustrations are very sweet and simple and its all black and white, so if your kids like the colorful artwork to go along with their work, this workbook does not have that.  This is also a Christian based curriculum, so they bring everything back to God's word- love that!  I don't see us doing anything different for our English and Grammar for a long time.  

Reading-  We don't have a set curriculum for reading.  I go on the Sonlight site http://www.sonlight.com/ and print off their reading list for the grades I need and thats what we do for reading for the year.  This year they are still studying American history for their history so I've also picked alot of books from that time period.  They both really enjoy reading, so I just have them read the book and tell me about it.  For Thatcher this year, we will be starting the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons"  by Siegfried Engelmann.  I'm guessing we probably won't make it too far through the book this year, but I will be reading lots and lots of books to him and Atticus, like we always do.  For the books I'm going to be reading to them, we may start the Narnia series.  We finished the Little House series last year and LOVED them!!

History-  Abeka.  We also love, love, love this curriculum.  Its well laid out, interesting enough for the kids to read on their own, and Christian based.  Jude and Elsie are both studying American History again this year.  We also do a timeline with our history, so they will both be adding things to that.  Most of the projects we do will go along with what we are doing in history (sometimes Science, will talk more about that further down).

Science-  Apologia.  This Science curriculum is not for the faint of heart.  This is the best science curriculum on the market, I hear.  The kids are doing the "Young Explorer's: The Human Body" this year.  It is covers ALOT of material, and its ALOT of reading.  Like I said earlier, my kids enjoy reading, so it isn't too bad for us.  The other awesome thing is that this is what they do for their science at co-op, so I'm not actually teaching this subject.  I just have to make sure they are getting their reading done at home.  They do their experiments in class also!!  We do try to link art and science together a lot just to give us some ideas of what to draw/paint/build/create.   

Handwriting-  Pentime Publishers.  Im not horribly picky about handwriting curriculums at this point in the game.  I found these at the Great Homeschool Convention and thought they looked like what I needed.  Elsie will be transitioning from print to cursive, and Jude is exclusively cursive this year.  Thatcher will be doing the Handwriting Without Tears this year- Jude and Elsie did this when they were first starting to write and its a great handwriting program.  

Foreign Language-  Latin's Not So Tough!  This will be our first year of Latin, and Thad is teaching this to the kids.  We bought ours from the Greek n' stuff site and I got the Level 1 workbook/quizzes/answer key and the level 1,2,3 pronunciation CD for about $40.  Im not sure what else to say about it, bc I haven't looked at much of it since Thad is teaching it.  I will say, that everything I looked up about teaching Latin, someone mentioned this program, so it must be pretty good and seems user friendly.  We also found German Rosetta Stone at a curriculum sale and Thad wants to try and do that this year with the kids also, but we are going to see how Latin goes first.

Music-  The kids are going to continue piano lessons this year and hopefully do community choir again this year.  They also participate in plays at church and do drama through co-op.  

Health-  Abeka, but I doubt we will do it this year.  They are doing the Human Body by Apologia this year for their Science and so I honestly don't feel like we need an extra health curriculum this year.  Health can also include: cooking, which my kids like to do, talking about healthy food choices, and exercise.  My kids play fall and spring soccer and they will also be doing a gym class in the spring quarter for co-op.

Art- Co-op.  Elsie will be doing an art class at co-op this year.  Jude will be doing his art at home.  

Bible-  Most of our Bible work is memory work.  The kids have memory verses each week and they also memorize the books of the Bible and longer portions of Scripture.  I am farming out Bible this year also for one day a week, my father in law is going to be doing Bible lessons with the kids.  And we, of course, have our daily devotions and this year, they will be journaling each day about what they read and what they feel the Lord is speaking to them through their devotional time.

Memory work-  This is a long list of things usually, but this year I found a lady who has put up free printables for what she does for memory work and I am totally doing those this year!! It is such a great list and covers so much good stuff!!  Memory-Flashcards-Main.pdf  and then her Bible memory flashcards memory-flashcards-BIBLE.pdf.

I hope this is helpful to any of you that are homeschooling your little ones, or are on the fence about it.  We have done a lot of live and learn during this process and we love it more each year!! Let me know if you have any specific questions or need links to anything :)  Also, I know a lot of people think that homeschooling is super expensive, but really, I probably spent about $300-$400 this year to teach three students and most everything that I've purchased can be passed down, so my little guys will be even cheaper to school- major plus if you have a gap between your kids' ages.  I'll try to post soon about the schedule I'm  hoping to have this year and other specifics about what we do here at home :)  Have a wonderful day!

http://www.sonlight.com/

the mundane- the sweet spot

A few months ago, actually Mother's Day to be exact, I decided to not get on Facebook anymore (although I am linking this to FB, bc the few people who read this little 'ol blog, click through from there I think.  I also still check my FB messages, I just avoid the actual newsfeed and anyones, including my own, profile).  I had went back and forth for awhile about just getting rid of my profile, but b/c of two ministry profiles that I had to post on, I kept deciding not to.  Well, I talked to a friend and asked if she would take over the Ladies Ministry page for me and post on there and then we asked one of our older teens to take care of the youth profile.  Facebook is a wonderful and useful way of communicating with a big number of people very quickly.  I had quit putting anything personal, pictures of my kids(unless I was tagged) for almost a year or two.  I had been feeling for awhile that FB was doing something inside my heart.  I would spend too much time reading about other peoples lives and not enjoying my own.  Silly, but true.  I think as adults, we don't feel like those sorts of things will affect us, but they really do.  I have always been strict about media- social or otherwise since I've had kids.  We stopped watching T.V. when Jude was 6 months old.  We have Netflix that we watch occasionally, but thats something thats easily monitored.  I have a rule that in our house, we can only watch Netflix on the weekends, and only play the wii on weekends (unless its summer break)  and I really always tried to apply this to me as well with social media.  I put my phone on silent up on a shelf while we are doing school, and only would take it down when it was free time.  I found myself spending most of that free time on social media, and it didn't make me feel happy or accomplished- it made me feel like I had to do MORE, MORE, MORE!! I felt like I didn't accomplish as much as this person, or I didn't do as many things with my kids as this other person, I didn't cook (at all! ha! I do not enjoy cooking!) really nice meals like this person.  I was a failure! :(  Now, Im being dramatic, but I did really feel like I didn't measure up to what it SEEMED like everyone else could do so easily.  I think these feelings creep in little by little, day after day and obviously not just on social media, but it sure wasn't doing me any good.  I feel like for some crazy reason, there is ridiculous pressure to be able to do all things and to do them all really well and to never have things go wrong or be overwhelmed by life.  Im telling you, thats just not reality!  I think its also become popular to "unplug" and do you know why??  Because, whether we think its juvenile or immature, media affects us greatly!! Whether its comparing yourself to others and not feeling like you measure up, or just simply the added stress of emails and notifications popping up every ten seconds.  It affects us- I don't know all the psychology on what it actually does to our mind and emotions, I just know how it affected me.  I felt like my life wasn't BIG enough, GRAND enough and frankly, that it was just boring.  So, I decided to just not look- I decided finally to stop looking at everyone else's life and to open my eyes to how wonderful my life already was.  Its routine, its mundane some of the time, its normal, everyday life, but its so so sweet.  I stopped comparing myself and my life to anyone else's and I asked the Lord to search my heart.  I stopped being so self aware and thinking when taking pictures "this is going on Instagram!"  Instead, I enjoyed the moment and wanted to capture it, just for the simple reason of looking back and remembering how good that moment was.  I felt relief ya'll- I was measuring my life by what God wanted me to be doing and seeing it through His eyes ( The Lord has REALLY been speaking this to my heart for about a year now- seeing things from His eyes-I'll blog about it sometime soon)  I just want to measure up to God's will for my life and I want to be content.  I don't have to be able to do a million things at once ( although with 4 kids that I homeschool and am with all the time, I still feel like I do a million things at once!! How do you working moms do all that?? You are all amazing!)  I just do the small, simple things that don't get seen most of the time, and I do it with the joy of the Lord.  Right now, I am a servant, thats the stage of life Im in right now and I have been praying for God to give me the heart of a servant, to be joyful in caring for the blessings He has given me.  To not wish this stage away- it goes so quickly and then its over.  So, this right now is my sweet spot- the place where my passion and my calling intersect.  And its a worthy calling- parenthood is indescribable in blessing.  It is truly one of the best, most rewarding things I have ever had the privilege of doing.  So, if you read the last time I posted, the Lord has been slowly working on me about being more vulnerable with people.  Its hard you guys!! I hate talking about things like this because I don't want to be judged.  So, Im praying this speaks to someone, and if not, it just felt good to get it written out ;)  Thanks for reading :)  I also wanted to ask if anyone is interested in any posts about homeschooling and kind of what we do, our routines, anything like that??  Leave a comment and let me know!  Have a wonderful day!

word dump.....been a loooong time...

         well, ya'll its sure been awhile!  How, how, how does time fly by so fast??  I wanted to post on here, bc I do come back here every once in a great while to read through old posts and some of the drafts that were never posted but bring back good memories :)  We have just ended our school year just over a month ago and Im soooooo happy!!! Im telling ya, when you homeschool, summer is just as exciting for you as it is for your kids!  We have some plans for the summer, but not many- I just want to pitter around the house/yard and enjoy NOT doing stuff all the time.  We will be doing summer reading program of course, Thatcher starts swim lessons Monday,  and Thad and I are planning our 10 year anniversary trip for later this summer.  We have been relaxing, playing in the sprinkler, and walking along the bike path.  My kids make started making summer goals last year and we did again this year too- Jude wants to get better at soccer, research lots of different animals, and cook more.  Elsie wants to get better at rollerskating, ride her bike without training wheels (finally!!), and cook more.  Thatcher said he wants to get better at drawing people, learn how to swim, and cook more.  :)  I love these kiddos of mine and they are so precious and innocent and sincere.  I hope that lasts awhile longer for them.  What are you all doing for summer?
 
          now for all you mommas- i wanted to share some things that i have been feeling/thinking and see if you can relate.  lately, ive been kind of in a slump emotionally.  i was talking to my momma and she said "I totally get it-ive been there!"  and i think that alot of moms can relate to this-  i feel like im alone.  I feel like there arent really many of my friends that are in this stage of life that im in now.  im not a newlywed, im not a young,new mom, i have 4 kids-which nowadays is an oddity, i stay at home, i homeschool, im in leadership at church ( which sadly, i feel like makes you have to put up a guard) and i was feeling lonesome.  i told my mom that i was feeling sorry for myself for a couple days and then i just told myself "thats enough-take this to Jesus!!" so i was laying in my bed that night and just crying out to Him and all i could think to say was " i want to be KNOWN" and then kind of fell asleep talking to the Lord.  i woke up the next morning feeling so much lighter- thats the only way i can describe it.  i heard the Lord whispering to my heart- "I KNOW you!! I know every hair on your head, I know the desire of your heart, you are KNOWN daughter."  Shew.......God loves us so much!  Can you moms relate to this? Being a mom can be kind of a lonely thing sometimes, especially a stay at home mom.  you are around people all day, but its little people- not adults, and man, thats a big difference!!  You know what I mean??  i feel like we put boundaries on ourselves- we impose them on ourselves and it holds us back.  I dont know if thats fear, or lack of experiencing letting things/rules/boundaries go and stepping out??  i feel like i limit myself on things that i do bc of my kids.  not blaming them- its totally my fault, and honestly i think my kids would so be game for stuff that i think would be stressful.  I need to let that go- stress will come, but worrying about it and not experiencing things just makes you feel lonely.  I dont know if ANY of this makes any sense at all, but i just want to experience this journey on a whole new level. i want to be more hospitable, i want to CONNECT on a real level with other women.....and i want my kids to see that.  i hope i dont sound super melodramatic, i LOVE my life, and i LOVE being with my kids, and i have wonderful,awesome friends that i love so much!! Life is just a roller coaster sometimes!  Im so glad I have this little space to share things and hopefully get some feedback.

           Im hoping to post here more often and want to say thanks for reading! will you pray for me?  this is so totally out of my comfort zone to share personal things like this, but im feeling that nudge from the Lord to be more vulnerable with people.  thats hard!! Please pray that ill trust the Lord and listen to His voice.  Thanks friends, and also, please email, comment, text, call anytime :)
         

He's working

A couple weeks ago now our women's ministry had a decluttering/organizing class.  We had about 15 ladies that came to get some new tips on organization and to hang out and snack and chat with each other.  I had been looking forward to it, like I do with all our meetings, but this one I was particularly excited about because I love to clean and organize.  Yes, it's true, I find it relaxing and it is a major stress reliever for me.  I was anticipating all these great new ideas and ways to implement them into my home and life.  Well, I got those things, but I also got a whole lot more! Our guest speaker shared a message with us before she got into her tips and tricks of the trade.  She shared a message that she felt the Lord wanted her to share with us, and I'm telling you, she was spot on!! I sat there thinking, "this is for me, if for nobody else, its definitely for me!"  She shared the story of the talents.  She also shared part of her personal testimony.  It was a beautifully heartbreaking story that I could 100% relate to.  She shared about always feeling as if she had nothing to give, nothing that was of value that she was gifted with.  I have felt this so many times in my life.  I have felt the sting of jealousy at others' accomplishments, the wishing that I had the gift or talent that someone else possessed, but of course had not been bestowed with.  My best friend can pretty much do anything- She is organized, a wonderful mom, so gifted in talents with music ( guitar, piano, beautiful singing voice) an amazing artist, she loves to bake and is good at it ( people pay her to make cake pops and other goodies.) Basically, she is one of those people who can "do it all" and still be such a genuinely happy, joyful person who is always pleasant to be around.

 I have many, many friends who I could say many of the same things about.  As I shared in my last blog ( before this ladies meeting!)  I don't feel that I am particularly talented in much of anything.  As I sat and listened to her speaking straight to my heart, I felt the Lord's gentle nudging.  He has not given me gifts or talents to be buried hidden away, He has given them to me for a purpose and He has equipped me with everything I need to excel in those areas.  I have to just trust. Just trust, whew! Why is that so hard?  What are we afraid of?  We put way way way too much stock in what other people think of us.  I know we've heard that our whole lives, but we really do.. It's time to stop comparing and wishing, and just be what God created you to be and to be joyful in that!  I loved what she said toward the end of her message- "When our passions and gifts intersect with kingdom purpose, we have found our true calling."  Beautiful!!! I have been praying since that night for the Lord to show me what that looks like in my life and my family's life.  I want to foster that in my children! What an amazing gift to give your child!  I love Jesus and how He always works things out and shows us His purpose!  What are your gifts and talents?  Are you letting Jesus use those to have an abundant life in Him? Or are you burying yours for safe keeping?  Let the Lord use you and I promise- you will never look back!

Where do you find inspiration?

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Great Homeschool Convention.  I had been looking forward to it for months ( I was looking forward to the conference, but also, really, really, looking forward to spending time without all my kiddos- I did have Atticus with me- and spending time with my best friend and her sweet baby girl, let's be real!)  I knew I was going to go and sit in a few sessions and get to look at all kinds of curriculum ( there were almost 1800 booths!!)  But what I didn't totally expect was how challenging and how inspired these speakers and families would leave me feeling.  I am the type of person who needs to be inspired by outside sources.  I'm not naturally creative or talented at much of anything.  I have to work to be good at things.  I read A LOT! I've always been motivated/inspired by literature and storytelling.  This is my favorite!  To Kill a Mockingbird
 I find myself doing lots of research about varying topics that I have an interest in learning to do better.  I read quite a few blogs.  Here are some of my faves lately:   http://jonesdesigncompany.com/,  http://paigeknudsen.com/,  http://www.flythroughourwindow.com/ Many of them are from seasoned mothers and saints of the Lord.  I listen to music quite a bit and am usually trying to figure out the harmonies.  I think this fall after Thad graduates, I may take some voice lessons.  I am very emotional about music- I think many people are like this, which is why music is so powerful- but I tend to listen to music that reflects how I'm feeling.  Lately it has been these musicians:

I say all this to basically just say: Be inspired! Its an amazing thing to talk with other people about life and to just be real and to learn so much from being vulnerable and open about your experiences and what you've learned.  I was so incredibly inspired by these families at GHC and how they were bravely making the choice to school their children at home and hearing their struggles and victories.  I am so thankful that the Lord is still working on us and that He has made us relational people that can encourage each other in our daily lives.  What inspires you?

oh boy!! back again!

Shewy folks!! Life is always full speed ahead isnt' it?  I have neglected this 'ol blog for quite awhile now, but lately have been getting the itch to write again.  I have no real "theme" for this post except maybe a "lets chat and catch up on life!"  I looked through some of my old posts and realized that the most recent one was right before or around the time I found out I was pregnant with our #4!  Well, #4 is now almost 9 months old and his name is Atticus Lee Williams. :)

 He is a precious little man who loves his momma ;) He is very attached and its kinda really okay with me! ;) I have a feeling this may be the last of our little family (maybe?) and I have honestly felt that with each child my okayness with their attachment has progressively grown, knowing how truly, incredibly fast they grow up! I look at Jude sometimes and I just can't believe I have an almost 8 year old!! Didn't I just graduate high school?!  Man oh man!
 We have grown in size, but our home hasn't- we are all still packed in 1600 square feet and its.......interesting! But I am so thankful for what the Lord has blessed us with and I have no complaints- in fact when we do sell this house, I know that I 'll be very sentimental! I brought all my kids home here and they spent most of their early childhood here.
Thad is about 4 months from graduation- Praise Jesus!!!!! I am soooooo ready for him to be finished!!! He is such a good man who works so hard for his family and I appreciate him so much!
Thad and I are both still involved in ministry at our church (Youth pastors and I'm the Ladies president)
I haven't been helping with youth lately bc of the little man, but we have had an influx of teen girls attending lately so I think its about time for me to head back in.  We have an awesome teen youth worker, Mike, but Thad says he needs a lady helping also.  Atticus probably wont be thrilled, but hopefully mommy Martha (a wonderful dear friend of mine that loves my babies) will be willing to help me out with the little guy.
Jude and Elsie are on Spring Break this week and Im loving it!!! Woohoo!!! Jude is actually in Missouri with Thad's parents and Elsie and the two little boys are at home with me.  We have about a month left of school (if I work it out right) and then SUMMER BREAK!!! I cannot tell you how excited I am for summer break!! Elsie is finishing up 1st grade and Jude is finishing up 2nd grade.  I have been doing a basic preschool with Thatcher this year and he has done so well! He knows his shapes, some colors, and all his letters and letter sounds.  We have also started speech therapy with Thatcher this year to help him along with catching up his speech.  He is progressing so well in only a few months- Im so proud of him!  Little Atticus is growing so quickly! He is crawling all over and getting into everything.  I held off on solids with him, so that is still a work in progress for us and he isn't the best sleeper out of all the kids.  He is still up every two and a half to three hours throughout the night!  I think another benefit of having more than one child is the fact that its gets so much easier to tell yourself that "this too shall pass," because you know from experience that even if, in the moment, it seems so hard and you're so sleep deprived, that it won't last forever (which is exactly what it feels like at 3 a.m.!!).
Well, I am going to end here for now. This post took me all day- I started it at around 10:30 when I laid Atticus down for his nap and I'm just now finishing up at almost 9!! We had a good day though, lots of outside play and the kids had a friend over for the day so I had just a few opportunities to sit down and write! I hope you all had a great day and were able to get out and enjoy the weather!

Busy Season

Busy season has started!! We are busy with getting everything caught up in school in time for Christmas break, decorating, winter-proofing, celebrating birthdays, and thinking of some gift ideas ( yes, I do realize that there is less than two weeks until Christmas, but.....this is how we roll EVERY year!) We also have lots of church events to attend and other things to look forward to, I love this time of year! I hope that you are having a wonderful time getting ready for this Christmas season too and taking time to remember why we celebrate! I will be back ( hopefully tomorrow) to show some of the ways we are keeping our focus this year, and more of what we have been up to! 

( we are all honestly feeling a little bit of this though too!! ;) )

Fall Lovin'

We are loving this fall weather- its so beautiful out and has been for the past couple weeks- we are gonna have a 60 degree Thanksgiving!!  The kids have still been outside playing a lot and tracking all kinds of leaves and dirt in the house. Fun.  But I wouldn't have it any other way! I love that my kids love playing outside, do you? I have to admit though, that there are times where it is beautiful out and the kids don't want to go out and I threaten them that Im gonna kick them out and lock the door ;) No, but I do sometimes make my kids go out and get in the fresh air even if they don't feel like it.  Its good for them and great for my sanity :) Here are some of my favorite pictures of the kids on the fall.

This one of Jude is probably one of my favorites of him of all time! I love it!

Love these kiddos- hope you enjoy your week and the weather is beautiful where you are! 

Have a great weekend!

This is a picture from the first day of school- they are so happy! We are feeling that way today too because its the weekend!!!  Next week we only have two days of school and then thanksgiving break!! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your rest and your family!

living literally

I read lots of blogs.  Usually I read blog's of other stay-at-home-moms, of course, because I can relate.  I love finding new ones and reading through their archives and "getting to know them."  This one has really encouraged me this past week, as far as being deliberate with being a mother and living the term stay at home mom literally.  We often, especially as moms, and as women in general feel an overwhelming pressure to be able to "do it all."  And I am really really being proactive about shunning that pressure to be supermom.  There really is no reality in being great at everything- we can try, but something will always be lacking, something always gets the leftover energy and time.  I want to do these few things, these things that have come to define me, as well as i possibly can.  I want be the best woman of God I can be, that takes my time and energy and God's grace, but its something I have committed to doing, and its not just for my benefit, but I notice when I really take the time to spend with the Lord, my whole day is better, my patience is greater, my love given more freely.  I want to please God.  Next, I want to be the best wife I can be.  Sometimes with everything else going on, this is the relationship that takes a back burner a lot ( especially when you have small children that take a lot of your attention.)  After our covenant with the Lord, this is the most important covenant we have, the one with our spouse.  If things are going on in your marriage, that effects everyone else in the family- your kids will notice.  Work hard to protect your marriage! Make time for your marriage! Time doesn't just present itself in this day and age- you have to make it and make it work for you and your spouse- it is vital to the family!  Next, I want to be the best mom I can be.  I LOVE being a mom- does that mean Im perfect at it? Absolutely not! I have small children, so I am still learning everyday.  One thing that I have done, and I really enjoy doing is talking to other moms- gleaning advice and encouragement has helped me so much.  Asking for advice and help is somethings we should never be ashamed to do- we all fail sometimes, we all are clueless about things, or just need that extra little encouraging here or there.  Soak in the wisdom that so many people are willing to share if you only ask!  If there is one thing I hear from parents of grown children, it is that us women and mothers ( parents in general)need to shrug off that burden of having to be amazing at multitasking- especially with our kids- enjoy them, and enjoy that precious time that goes way too fast!!  No more supermom syndrome!!  Enjoy your days and see what a blessing your life is!!

new school year, new schedule

This is our schedule from the very first day of school.  We still use the same basic routine, with little changes here and there.  I have gotten a little lax with writing down our schedule EVERY day, I write it down once for the week and only add daily things if it is different from the everyday schedule ( does that make any sense??)  I also use iCal a lot for everything that our family is involved in so i can get to it easily while Im at the computer during the day.  Alright, Im going to go ahead and show you what our schedule looks like right now.  

8:00 am- I try to get the kids up around this time, but if they have had a late night, or aren't feeling very good then I will just let them sleep.  We eat breakfast and brush our teeth and get dressed before we start ( the kids do anyways, Im usually still in sweatpants)  

9am- try to get started with school around this time, but again, it depends on what time we get up and get done with breakfast

We usually start with handwriting and the kids do that while I read the Bible.  We have been using the Reese Chronological Bible ( you can find it here)  We did order the KJV.  Im not a stickler for KJV, but I thought the language would be good for the kids to hear and get used to. We discuss what we've read then we pray together.

After Bible we do our presidents song.  I tried last year and the beginning of this year to just do straight memorization with no help. Just didn't work for us.  I now use this song ( you can find it here) and its been making it a lot easier for us ( yes, us, I need to learn them in order too!)

If its a Monday, we will do the pledge

Language Arts is next.  Their K12 curriculum is pretty basic for Elsie, just read a story and recall what happened and answer questions- she loves it and most of the books are really cute and enjoyable for her. Jude's is more in depth as far as beginning writing and learning the parts of a sentence and how to really structure one on his own.  He has been learning subject and predicate and also, how to write and invitation.  We also started the Little House on the Prairie series and we are to book 4 now On the Banks of Plum Creek.  I do this as extra reading and we have all loved this series! 

Next we usually do the extra or enrichment subjects.  Jude has History ( he is learning about ancient history-we did ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt and now he is to Judaism)  He also has social Studies ( learning about money- supply and demand, needs vs.wants)  He has Art ( he learning about landscapes and landscape artists)  And last, he has Music ( learning stick notation)  and Science ( we have been keeping a weather log and keeping track of rainfall starting today)  Elsie has Language Skills ( right now she is learning kitchen words- this subject to me is extremely below her skill level and so i just let her enjoy doing the online activities and don't really spend a whole lot of time on this)  She also has History ( learning world geography and about different cultures) and Social Studies ( learning about families and working together as a community) These are the courses that have the most online activities for the kids and they really enjoy them.

11 am- we usually have lunch around this time, sometimes later if we are still working, but for the most part its always around 11.

12- Thatcher goes down for his nap, so the kids get about 30-60 minutes to play and have free time, but around 12:30-1:00, we start back with school

12:30- I usually have the kids do the opposite subject of each other, one will do Phonics, while the other does Math, that way one can be on the computer doing their activity while I'm working with the other one.  Jude has been learning letter blends for Phonics and has improved so much from last year- Im so excited and proud of him!!!  Elsie is learning the double oo sound and is a natural reader ( typical girl).  Jude is doing addition past 20 right now and is very good at math and enjoys it, but just has a hard time keeping his focus- Im going to try and few different things for him to kind of switch it up and not let it get monotonous to him.  

Last we do journaling every other day, so Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  This is just extra practice that I make them do, its not part of their curriculum.  And last we usually do sight word practice- takes a little while for Elsie b/c I have her learning the same words that Jude is learning, but she is doing remarkably!  

K12 has a program called Reading Eggs and my kids LOVE it- they are required to do 5 lessons a week and this is what the kids usually do while I clean and get ready for dinner.  

On Mondays Jude has Karate so we leave the house around 5:30-6:00 and get home around 8-8:30

Tuesdays are our free night as a family until next week, b/c Thad is starting back to school.  

Wednesdays, I drop the kids off at 5:30 for piano and then they go straight to church from there so I don't see them again until around 9pm.

Thursdays, Thad and I have FBI youth service and the kids stay with their Papaw :)

Fridays is pizza and family night- we order pizza and just hang out- this is when the kids usually get to watch a video :)

The kids bedtime is around 8- or whenever we get home and get them to bed ;) Thad has also been reading The Hobbit to the kids and we are so excited to see the movie!  

Shew!!! Well, I hope this was helpful for someone and if you have any questions, please comment!!! Blogging feels very one sided a lot of the time! Hope you have a great rest of the week!

homeschool- new year

Well, we have been rolling along ( more like bumping along.) Its been hard figuring out homeschooling with two students this year- alot more challenging than I thought it would be.  We have changed our schedule two times already this year so far and we're not even to Christmas break yet!  I have been trying to work out the kinks and get it all figured out and its been a kind of "try this and see if it works approach."
I so very much enjoy homeschooling my kids and figuring out their learning styles. Sometimes we have really great days, where everything runs smoothly and we are all in good moods.  Those are the days where I am so glad we tried this approach or that approach and see that its really working well for us.  Then there are those days where it seems like nothing is going right and we are all getting frustrated with each other and just plain ready to quit- those days are hard. Really hard.  Those days I think, "My life would be so much easier if they just went to 'real school'" ( thats what we call brick and mortar school) I think of all the things I could get done throughout the day, how much more organized I would be, how much cleaner my house would be and fantasize about all the free time I would have.  But then one of them will have something on those days that just clicks and they really understand what they are learning, or Jude will have a rough time focusing and I can sit down with him and help him get through a math worksheet and thats when I think " THIS is why I love having my kids at home learning and schooling with me."  I cannot think of anything better than having these sweet babies here with me and helping them learn in their own individual learning styles and giving them the one on one attention that they wouldn't get anywhere else.  And to be honest( I may have blogged about this before? who knows?) I have a really hard time trusting ANYONE with my kids.  I know that no one can love my kids like I do and will put up with my kids like I do.  No one knows their personalities like I do and what really motivates them or really shuts them down like I do.
This has been a more challenging year than I had anticipated so far, but like most things in life that are hard, its SO worth it!

( crazy kiddos:))

We're Baaaack!!

I feel like I have maybe titled a post this already, but, you know how inconsistency is....inconsistent, so I have probably had a few We're baaack posts ;) We had a long, sweet summer and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  Im going to share our summer in pictures :) Enjoy!

we did quite a bit of swimming this year- the kids did swim lessons this year, but when I got my iphone, i forgot to download all of my pictures off my evo onto the computer, so they are all gone :( but you can check them out here, and we can also be frieeeends ;)

Elsie was OBSESSED with Underdog pretty much all summer long, and wore a cape all summer  long....she is going to be Underdog when she grows up ;)

building tracks and plating in the back room have been some of our favorite things around here this summer....

Some of the kids collections in the back room window :)

LOTS, LOTS, LOTS of trips to the library!

still kicking it at karate!

 We decided to get rid of our internet for the summer and tried to unplug in alot of areas- we had a specified day for movie watching and we haven't had t.v. in about 5 years.  We have truly enjoyed spending time together this summer, and we hope you did too!

Here's to you Summer!

Here is our life...in a few words, bc Im tired and my blog is neglected, and ....Im tired!  Summer is busy for us with our students at FBI with camp, pivot, fundraisers, end of school events, graduations.  Jude is thankfully done with school with k12, so we are going to be a little more lax for the summer.  I bought him a journal to keep over the summer, a sketchpad, and he has alot of worksheets for extra practice and they do the summer reading program for the library.  We are also still doing karate Monday nights and looking for a piano teacher.  The kids also have swim lessons this summer- Elsie is excited bc she is old enough to do them this year!  We also have Jude turning 6 at the end of this month and Thatcher turning the big 1 at the end of July, so got some birthday plans in the making :) Im so sad my kids are growing up :( Its amazing to see though and we are SO proud of them!  I love having things to keep us occupied, but   I am thankful for pools, and walks in the evening and good books in the summer time too ( the mundane things, what you always think of when you think of summer) Hope you all have a great weekend!

Food Friday

Hello!! Its Food Friday.....buuuut...for some reason, I cannot load pictures and it would be a really boring post if I just listed what we ate :( I am going to try my phone and see if I cant get it to work for me, but, if not, Im sure you're not too disappointed bc I was sick this week and didn't cook a whole lot anyways

Life

well life around here had been mostly out of doors for my children. As soon as they get done with breakfast they are ready to go outside. :-) I really don't mind, my house stays cleaner! Elsie had been really into coloring sticks with chalk and we now have a whole collection of them. The kids also, a couple of weekends ago wanted to make tie dye shirts so daddy bought the kit and we made some pretty sweet shirts! ;) Jude is completely done with kindergarten and is loving the more relaxed days. I am going to keep doing things over the summer, but I'll share that in another post . I just want to try and keep a pretty good routine down, and don't want him to forget what he has learned this year. Sorry if this post is all over the place, I am trying to blog from my phone, and I'm feeling horrible today (sinus infection, I think) I'm gonna end for today, pray for me if you think about it, see you for foooood Friday!!

what a character

Do you ever read something, or watch something and think- "what a character!"  I do this alot and one of my favorite books and movies is "To Kill a Mockingbird" I absolutely love the characters and think of it often when I am doing certain things. Atticus Finch is an iconic father figure and I think of his character alot when disciplining my kids and telling them stories.  I also really wanted to name my kids Atticus and Scout, but Thad wasn't to keen on those names ;)  My all-time favorite character from the book is Scout though, and I can see a lot of her in my Elsie

Scout HATES wearing dresses and Jem (her brother) teases her on her first day of school bc she has to wear one.  Elsie doesn't mind wearing dresses, but she wants to change into pants or shorts as soon as she can- Scout likes playing with the boys, Elsie very much likes playing with the boys and playing boy things, she really has never been interested in dolls or Barbies.  She likes Hotwheels and Legos :) She loves to hunt bugs with Jude and would play outside all day if I let her.  Elsie, on the other hand, isn't as stubborn as Scout, and her favorite color is pink :) But I think of Scouts character a lot when I think of how Els is and I have to say, I don't mind the comparison!

What character  ( in literature or in the movies) do you love?

Food Friday

Alright folks, I know that you may be sick of me talking about food, but here comes some more!  I am going to start doing weekly posts with specific themes to keep myself motivated to blog! The first one being......drum roll.....FOOD FRIDAYS!!   I will probably only be posting recipies here and there, mainly I am just going to kind of show you what we have been eating ( mainly the kids)  for that past week.  So, I am going to just jump right in :)

Shrimp Alfredo- Jude usually only eats the shrimp, Elsie, the noodles

Organic, green beans, and broccoli cooked in coconut oil, organic strawberries, and cornbread with unsalted REAL butter- this was our lunch for me , Jude and Elsie

This was Thatcher's :)

Dinner- Panini

Lunch- Organic Peanut butter-crunchy, Organic Broccoli, raisins

Baked chicken with Italian dressing, and parmesan cous-cous 

Veggie stir-fry cooked with coconut oil and unsalted real butter

I didnt give Thatcher the veggies, just bc of how they were cooked, so he got this- kiwi, organic zucchini squash steamed, and baked chicken cooked in red wine vinegar- turned our chicken pink- Elsie loved it! ;)

Here are a few things we have been snacking on

Thatcher's all time favorite snack- Blackberries!

Craisins and organic creamy p.butter

Thatcher and Elsie love this stuff- Jude, not so much, we also ALWAYS have the dried salted edmame and the wasabi peas

We have been trying really hard to eat clean throughout the week, but here are a couple weekend snacks that snuck in :)

so yummy!

Thad and I had this snack after pizza night with our movie :)

Well, there you have it, the first food friday- hopefully this will maybe just give you some ideas to incorporate into your own meals :) Have a great weekend!

goings on

Right at this moment, I am blogging ( or attempting to) and Jude is at the top of the stairs peeking around the corner and waving to Thatcher who is cracking up, Elsie is dressed in a cow costume ( that actually moos) and pretending she is a dinosaur?  Dinner is in the oven and laundry in the dryer, schooling is done for the day and I am ready to see hubby and just chill for the rest of the day :)  We had a fun weekend over here and it went something like this:

Friday Thad took the day off and took the kids and I out for pizza ( yes, I totally had a cheat WEEKEND!) Thad had to run errands and get ready for the youth camping trip that night.  You remember, hubby LOVES camping and backpacking

So, anyways, we got all the things ready for the trip and made sure we had all the permission slips and all that good stuff and we said goodbye to daddy for the night.  The kids and I went to the dollar store and got some goodies for the night- soup and popsicles :) We came home and had our food and went to bed right at 8 o' clock! I wasnt going to miss out on a whole evening to myself!! I hung out with my friend Ericka until about 9 then she headed off to work and I got some hot tea made, and climbed in bed and just vegged out! It was bliss :)

Here is a peak at my bedside table the next morning (ignore the retainers!!)

I never got around to my nook, but I really need to get back to reading- I have like 4 or 5 books on my goodreads.com currently reading list that I have only just started.  Sigh, I'm working on it!

The next morning (Saturday)  Elsie went with my Mother-in-law and sister-in-law to a girl scout outing- they went to see the movie Chimpanzee :) Jude had a day out with Papaw and I laid Thatcher down for a nap and got back in bed too!! It was wonderful!! haha, you see a running theme here of how going back to bed is such a great thing! :)  Anyways, Thad got home from his camping trip around noon and we just hung out with Thatcher and had lunch.  We got ready and headed to Thad's cousin Ashley's little boys birthday party ( Jude and Elsie stayed at Mamaw and Papaw's the whole day until we picked them up for the party.)  We had a great time getting to see everyone from that side of the family :) We stopped at the grocery for baby food and then headed home, put the kids to bed, and Thad and I followed not too far behind!  Sunday morning, up for church , and then relaxed for the day :) It was really a great weekend!  

We have been outside as much as possible- playing out in the backyard, riding bikes on the sidewalk, and heading out to the bike path

I have been really trying to cook more- I am spending so much on groceries trying to eat organic and just healthier in general, that if anything goes to waste i am so mad at myself!! We have been limiting ourselves to our Friday night pizza night for out to eat and thats it- most f the time ;) There are still occasions where we stop and grab something quick but, rarely anymore.  Here are a couple things I have made lately

Guacamole (which I could eat 24 hrs a day) We make this all the time at my mother- in-laws house- she is who I copied ;)

2 whole avocados mashed

cilantro-to taste- which for me is a whole bucket full ;)

lemon and lime juice-I used one whole lemon and about 5 squirts of lime juice

tomatoes- i used about a handful of grape tomatoes- because its what i had and they are sweeter

seasoning packet- one whole packet ( regular or mild flavor)

you can add onions and other veggies too, but I like mine simple

We used Garden of Eatin' organic Blue Corn Chips- YUM!!!

This is a crock-pot dish that my best friend told me about

Frozen chicken breast- I used about 4

1 whole jar of salsa

Pour both into the crock pot, turn on, once it is cooked, shred chicken with a fork

We put ours on the Smart Sense Tortillas- 13g of fiber/tortilla!!

with cheese, spinach and a little ranch

The kids didn't want tortillas, so they did spinach wraps with theirs

I LOVE to eat, but I DO NOT enjoy cooking, so these things i love b/c they are so simple, but super tasty!

Jude is 100% complete with all his courses except for Phonics, so we will probably be finished with Kindergarten by the beginning of May! :)  He had his Spring testing, and they said he is completely ready for 1st grade!! He is so excited and we are so proud of him!

Here is a few more little things we have been up to lately

Last, but most certainly not least, this is what I saw when I was walking out to my van Sunday

This cat has a sandwich bag on it's head!  I tried walking towards it, but it ran away hahahaha- that made my afternoon- crazy cat!!

Hope you are having a great week!!