The Simple Life of Eight

Have you been looking?

2011-12-30T23:42:00.000-08:00

Have you lost us?

I have had several folks messaging me, not realizing that my blogging has moved!

We had so much technical trouble here that I decided to move on...

to here:

TRAVELING THE NARROW ROAD

come drop by for a visit when you have a chance. *smile*

May your new year be full of blessings! ~Sheri

2011-08-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

ok...it's not quite ready to take off yet...

but our bags are getting packed and we are getting ready to move over here:

TRAVELING THE NARROW ROAD ~ http://travelingthenarrowroad.wordpress.com/

Changes are in the works (ie dear husband will be a random author on our newest blog, sharing much about faith, fellowship, & fatherhood)

I will still be doing most of the usual postings of home, school, & marriage that you are all accustom to. =)

I am a very slow learner, so please be patient with our newest project....

2011-07-27T12:24:00.001-07:00

Dear Readers,

I will be taking some time off...

mainly because I simply don't have time to hassle with Blogger & it's many faults.

I need to get our house in order.

I need to focus on school starting on Monday.

I need to get my family settled into our *new* normal.

Then... hopefully in a few weeks, I will look into Wordpress, and begin the switch over...

I LOVE this time of year and enjoy posting about the fresh starts of a new school year.
I hope to see you all again by September. =)

Blessings,
Sheri

2011-07-24T16:45:00.000-07:00

Curriculum Outline for...

HISTORY:
American- 1800's

Our main focus will be on the Oregon Trail & the Civil War.

Read alouds, projects, & activities will be used from the library, Robinson Curriculum, a few resources from here
(http://www.hshighlights.com/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=37&ccSID=099cd4217a8b556a4db416c118a5f3a4)
and here
http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/TTS/Early19thCentury.htm

fyi- this doesn't sound lovely, but blogger sucks, which is why I am stuck with black plain font and can't hyper-link the sites I am sharing... I WILL be changing to wordpress oh.so.very.soon!! grrr... insert *fakey-smile* here, lol

SCIENCE:

1st quarter- Astronomy
2nd quarter- meteorology
3rd quarter- geology
4th quarter-biology

random resources that we will share in our Monthly Goals update.

LITERATURE Goals:

TJ- Swiss Family Robinson (RC)
Where The Red Fern Grows
Hans Brinker (RC)
Slave Dancer
Summer of the Monkeys
Grasshopper Summer

Katie- Dear America 1800's series
5 lil Peppers series (we tried to start last year) (RC)
Finish up the Little House on the Prairie series.

LANGUAGE ARTS:

McGuffey Readers,
Language Lesson from
http://www.cyncesplace.com/l-arts
& Daily Grams

MATH:

TJ- review Saxon 7/6, then move to Pre-algebra.
Still deciding if we want him to stay w/ Saxon or use Math-U-See.

Katie- finishing Arithmetic 3 (Abeka), then moves to Saxon 5/4.

FINE ARTS:

will share details in our monthly updates.
We will still focus on 1 artist, poet, & composer per month.

ELECTIVES:

TJ- woodworking, sandcastle art, welding, & basic mechanics.

Katie- Piano, sewing lessons, sandcastle art, & drawing.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE:

Continue French, begin Spanish...

BIBLE:

New Testament studies.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

On a side note:

I will also begin to homeschool Savannah (aka "tutor")
Savannah is a girl whom I use to care for from when she was itty-bitty little til she began school.
(I also babysat for her younger siblings for many years)
Savannah struggles with sensory issues and is diagnosed with functioning Autism. She is going into 6th grade, but we are going to begin her homeschool journey at her learning level, establish routines, and help her to create social skills & boundaries. I will be sharing her journey as well in our Monthly Goals update.

On a 2nd side note:

Andrew is in transition from 'Learning w/ the Littles' status, to the bigger kids updates on l.i.f.e. Academy. For now, I will be sharing his goals & progress via L.I.F.E Discovery updates which is still geared towared the youngest, but thought I better re-phrase the title. I want Andrew to want to be big. ;^) At the same time, I will be doing some preschool activities 3 days a week with Bryson & his friend, Dustin.

hmmm, now if I could only pull my house together from the move weeks ago!
oh, btw, school starts Aug 01, yep 1 more week to get 'er dun! ;^)

2011-07-18T23:40:00.000-07:00

First things first...

Nickolas is "18"!

Now a young man with a future to grasp and reality to face...

*pictured clockwise beginning w/ the back of blondies head~
Bryson 3
Andrew 6
Mikayla 9 (katie-girl)
Nick 18 ;^)
TJ 14
Joe(y) 22
Travis (friend)
Jenna (Fred's littlest sister)

Jenna made Nick cupcakes for his birthday. They are 3 1/2 months apart in age. Nick is older. *grin*

Nick had gone to the fair all day with friends, but we ended this night with our own version of STOMP (http://www.stomponline.com/show.php )

Dear Husband had to work on some rhythm skills with some of the children first. *smile*

Soon Joe joined in with another rhythm,

and Dad rapped it up with the best beat in town.

The Dad that can break dance is also the dad who has the skills with rhythm... Go Figure!

ON TO SUMMER TOPICS...

Our weather is cloudy with a chance of rain... every day! still.

Bryson needs to wash his "motorcycle".

So Sissy joined him.

Then the event was followed by a "tune-up" for the said motorcycle. This was some serious stuff. I am waiting for his front wheel to fall off...

And for those moments when it does begin to pour outside...

fyi... apparently this is a maze of "lazer beams".

It felt more like a spider web to me.
;^)

The transition has been slower going than I had hoped for, but we are bumping along, getting settled into our place. I suppose it doesn't help when we volunteer/go to VBS for double shifts (a.m. & p.m.) the second week we are back in town. *sheepish grin*

The littles are adapting well to the changes (house, schedules, routines, people, etc). The biggies are comfortably set. Katie, well, she's been a bit more off than I expected. I will be making a mommy/daughter date to clear up some expectations (from her and me). She's been needing a lot more nurturing and attention than usual.
so I whisper to myself
...slow down...embrace...communicate....

funny enough, I've been needing more nurturing and attention than usual, and dear husband is enduring it, but his time is divided amongst so many things right now that I really need to lower my expectations for this season of transition...it's just so much more easier said than done...
so I whisper to myself
...relax...pray...smile...

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

2011-07-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

Complementing
a
Compromise.

I am not sure I have explained our exact living situation as of yet. I have been a bit vague due to waiting for the details ourselves.

Here are the facts:
All 6 of our children are living at home for a very special season. I will enjoy every.minute.of.it cuz soon enough two of my man-child's will be moving on... the oldest is taking a hiatus while preparing for bigger life plans, and son #2 is still in the throws of which way to head in life's many options after recently graduating.

Gramma "M" is moving in with us also. This would be my dear husbands mother. This is where the title of this post comes in. I downsized much when I packed out belongings 2 yrs ago. I do admit to probably an overabundance of books, but hey, I still have another 15 yrs of homeschooling to go. Gramma M has had a life time of treasures to collect over her blessed years. I knew downsizing was going to be more difficult for her. Every item she owns reflects a memory, or a quality, which makes it hard to let go. Can I say that she has been quite the trooper?! My husband (bless his heart) is a facts-n-logic man, so "things" in general have no purpose to him. He sees over 1/2 our belongings as non-essential (which is about right), thus not necessary... I, on the other hand, encourage that some "things" make our hearts smile, encourages a cozy home environment, and reflects a little about our personalities.
So dear Gramma M & I have been compromising our belongings.

We use
my dishes (hers are not children friendly, lol)
her pots & pans,
our furniture,
her TV's,
my tupperware,
her baking dishes...
(you get the idea).

So when it came to decorations, we once again compromised.

I love clocks *grin*
Here is just a simple lot unpacked.

She adores Hummels;
figurines, wall photos, music box.

I think when all is said & done,
these "things" will complement each other.

Just as being a family,
with different personalities,
quirks, interests, & gifts
complement the true meaning of our HOME.

So how big is our new home?

Well, after sharing living space in a small home with my parents (bless their hearts!), this house feels rather large, but really is of modest size.

Technically, it is a 3 bedroom, 3 bath home. but... it also has a huge bonus room, an office, and a "salon" aka formal dining room.

This is plenty abundant for us!

The big boys get the bonus room (man cave),
Katie has her own room,
Gramma M has her own room,
Fred & I share a room ;^D,
and the littles are floating a bit as of yet.
(See how honest I am *hee*)

We are using the formal dining room as a school room,
the downstairs closest stores all the busy toys,
and the littles use the little landing pad at the top of the stairs by our room as a mini-play area.

As for sleeping, the youngest 2 are in our room for now, quite frankly because they would be anyways, regardless of us choosing a room for them. There will be a futon available in sissy's room for them to sleep in, and also a bunkbed in the man cave... I really wasn't joking when I said that they were floating, eh? ;^)

Will share pictures of our home once we are completely unpacked...
our office is full, but effecient;
the family room is simple and spacious;
the garage, once cleared out from the sorting, will give us a work-out area;
and if I, personally, keep our individual items down to neccessity,
I will be able to use our rather large walk-in closet as a prayer room.
You know, a place set aside to spend with the Lord before each day begins.
I figure as busy as I am going to be, this will be a must to keep my priorities and sanity in check. *smile*

2011-07-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

Discovering Treasures

in our new backyard.

We have found ...

lots & lots of STRAWBERRIES.

I'm dreaming of smoothies & strawberry shortcake. yummy!

Besides two strawberry patches, we also have....
an apple tree...

a cherry tree...

Grapes....

and a pear tree & apricot tree that I haven't taken pictures of yet.

Yes... we have 4 fruit trees, a grapevine, and 2 strawberry patches

in a teeny tiny backyard. *smile*

The move is going well. I have to say that we have spent the last week downsizing!! After living with very minimal material things for 2 years, it was quit the shock to adjust to all our stuff that has been in storage for these past 2 years. And to think I DID downsize when I had packed it all. oh my! I do have to remind myself we had lived in a decent sized home (back in the day)with LOTs of storage space.

This new home is beautiful & spacious too,
just less nooks & crannies to hide things in, thankfully.

Hope to share more soon, but I'm off for now to unpack some more boxes...

2011-06-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

GRADUATION

~Homeschool Style~

Our
Panoramic
View...

360 degrees
of scenery...

in the Pacific North West...

Including a beautiful view of the Sound, along with some random rain showers...

Followed by our favorite sports stadiums;

Qwest Field
&
Safeco Field

...and as we come around full circle...

...the sun peaks out for a moment.

After all, it is summer, right?

If you haven't guessed yet, this is our view from the Space Needle.

So, what does graduation look like for a student that is homeschooled?

The advantage of homeschooling is that you can personalize not only their education, but create a graduation that truly fits your student's personality.

Nickolas...

our gifted athlete, with a competitive drive within.
Thoughtful,
practical,
with a spark of humor & charm.

He opted out of:

Senior pictures; he prefers THIS picture. It reflects his senior year, his dog, his moments in soccer, his schooling.
Graduation announcements; we even bribed him with the idea that some folks may even send money as a congratulations of a job well done. He preferred not to have the extra attention.
Graduation party; again, not eager for tons of attention, he shrugged this idea off.

So what did we do?

I pondered his relationships with other folks, his interests, his personality...

then came up with a plan of celebration.

3 Surprises:

1) Biggest brother, JOE, along with TJ, took NICK to a concert.
A Christian Rock Concert w/ The Newsboys, The Disciple, & Kutless

2) A senior grad & dad overnighter at the Great Wolf Lodge with Nick's best friend & his dad.

3) A dinner at the Space Needle with us, the parents. We invited Nick's bestest friend from public school (which they were in the same class Kindergarten - 3rd grade). I thought it fitting to have his last "field trip" be with the friend he had his first field trip with. *grin* This is where we handed him his Diploma & his high school transcripts.

We are so very proud of Nick. He has worked diligently, as some things did not come easy. He has been my faithful slow-n-steady learner.

Always respectful;
listening & learning,
absorbing & applying
more knowledge than he lets on.

Congratulations Nickolas,
grasp the future and make it as you wish,
believe in yourself,
and trust God always,

We love you!

2011-06-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

Our Yearly
School Schedule

One of the fabulous things about home-
schooling is the ability to create your own flow of how you want to enjoy your seasons.

We don't school year round, although we seem to always continue to learn.

For many years we followed the school district's schedule. After all, what else was there? I soon realized I didn't appreciate all the extra days off at their convenience- holidays, teacher in-service, etc- This was interrupting our own routines.

2 years ago I began to outline our own school year.

We began the 1st Monday in August. This is 4 weeks earlier than our public school peers. August is hot, and boredom sets in...so we choose to begin school. We follow a 9 weeks on (equal 1 quarter), 2 weeks off format. The 2 weeks off gives us time to finish a book, get paperwork in order, add a few field trips, & regroup for our next quarter.

Conveniently, with starting in August, our Christmas break lands just right. And we wrap up our school year in mid-May, which just happens to be when we have state testing, and this works for us!

Getting out 4 weeks earlier than public school gives us the opportunity to explore adventures before all the crowds set in. *smile*

For those who homeschool,
how do you approach your school year?

and for those whom don't homeschool,
how do you adjust to the random days off the school district needs?

2011-06-21T16:21:00.000-07:00

Routines

Since I have been on the topic anyways, I am linking up to Tri-moms to share our schedule.

With our impending move (did I mention we are moving? *smile*) , I've had time to ponder how our schedule will best fit our family. Our outline for the past 2 years has worked well because we have not had any distractions. With us now heading back to our hometown, there comes activities, friends, and....church. Ofcourse these are favored choices within our family dynamics, but I want to stress balance in our lives.

Daily Schedule:
I struggle with wanting to start early. I *heart* mornings! I love Kathi's hours. That works for me, but my life isn't about me. My children adapt better with a slow-n-gentle start.

I also recently read about a mom choosing afternoon hours for schooling, which I think is a fabulous way to adapt to one's family. Yet, for us, attention spans begin to wane around 2 o'clock.

So, we are some where in the middle. Ideally, I like our day to begin around 8, but we tend to flow with the circumstance. I intend to rise early to enjoy my sanity, er, some quiet time.

Come August 01, here is our school routine:

Mornings:
(older kids / the littles)
Morning routine
Bible w/ breakfast
Math 1 hr/ 1 hr exercise for me
History 30 min / Circle Time
Science 30 min/ Story w/ craft
Language Arts 30 min/ Activity Time
Recess for ALL. 30 min.

Afternoons:
lunch clean up/ Andrew's reading lessons
Fine Arts/ Quiet time
Spanish & French/ still quiet time (hopefully)
Jurisdictions (chores) for all
Free time til Dinner

Evenings:

A family read aloud, I'm leaning towards C.S. Lewis this year.
and a literature book read before bed as down time.

Here is my faint Daily Flow chart:
The camera wouldn't focus :^/

I simply penciled in school & quiet time. It gives Grandma M an idea of what we are doing w/o getting bogged down by the details. I intentionally left Saturdays empty. We'll just place sticky notes on any activities or plans that arise.

*Tomorrow I will share how our yearly school schedule is laid out.

Now I must confess I find it amusing that many of us homeschooling families are discussing routines, school or otherwise, while many families are just beginning to embrace their summer break with not a thought about the first day of the next school year yet.

It is even more amusing to think that during my own summer breaks when I was young, I was planning, preparing, and teaching...my stuffed animals. Roll call and all *grin* Hey, give me a break, I was an only child for many years, and a latchkey kid...atleast I stayed out of trouble *hee*

2011-06-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

My Lil Ballerina...

I may have been caught in the rain showers chasing after roses for our ballerina; she, on the other hand, showered us with her grace on stage.

We loved watching her in
"Sleeping
Beauty".

She curtsied & twirled as a courtyard lady;
she swooped and swirled as a minion (bat);
followed with a final performance as a "lady in waiting".

The Calm before the Chaos

Most things are now packed and ready for our big move. Now the boredom begins to set in...

Unless, ofcourse, you have a fun dad...

What does your husband do with marshmallows?

Mine happens to like those gigantic campfire ones to teach the kids how to make "taffy".

I just prefer not to watch as they enjoy their ooey-gooey-icky-sticky mess. =)

Preparing:

I have pulled together a monthly meal plan. It's simple & rotatable (is that a word? hmmm).

I have created a chore chart, implementing our morning routine, jurisdictions, & evening routine. Just so you know, this makes me smile #41.

Besides our typical daily school schedule, I put the "flow of our day" on poster board, with the adaptability of placing sticky notes on any changes out of the norm. This is with the intent of letting Grandma M. see how our days flow. We are a busy bunch, and I can see how the chaos could be confusing. This way she doesn't always have to chase me chasing someone else to ask what our plans are for the day.

And since I am such a planner, (you did know that about me, right?), I have already laid out how I would like our belonging to be set in our new house.

I am especially thrilled with choosing to use our formal dining room as our school area. I am leaning towards simple & natural. Many ideas are dancing in my head....

and then their is school planning to ponder in this week of down time. We love, and will implement the Robinson Curriculum. Our hot topic is of our foreign language studies. Several of us want to continue French, several others want to begin to learn Spanish. We have friends we will see quite often who will be learning Spanish due to possible mission work in the years to come. This would be fun to learn together. My quandry comes in the possibility of a multi-lingual approach.

Other things knocking on my door...

1) I've been asked to go to a Zumba class at our church...every morning. This disrupts our school schedule, or maybe not. The littles can go with me, the older kids can do their scheduled math hour while I am gone. Honestly, I need the exercise. really!

2) I am excited at the thought of offering Bryson's little friend to join us for preschool hour(s). Let's face it; songs, fingerplays, crafts, and stories are more fun with a friend.

3) I have been asked about homeschooling someone else's child. I.am.praying.about.it. This is not a new offer, it is something that was being pondered before the move.

4) to co-op, or not. 4 moms, including myself, may rotate Friday mornings to teach our own beloved topic. In other words, I would have one morning a month to share nature studies with a lovely bunch of children. Katie & I had wanted to begin a Nature Club anyways, so this may just be the right approach. In turn, I would have 3 other friday mornings a month without the littles. They would be off having fun doing creative arts, food crafts, etc.. and quite frankly, I like the thought of some quality time with my older boys. =)

5) my biggest contemplation is the desire to begin to unplug our family. I will save the details for another post, but really, this tugs at my heart...

So, What's been knocking at your door?

2011-06-19T15:50:00.000-07:00

Treasure Hunts....

lead to a box...

filled with candy.

Daddy's favorites:

gobb-stoppers
whoppers,
Nerds,
Junior Mints,
Sprees,
Mike & Ikes,
Reeses Pieces,
& Hubba Bubba Gum!

Needless to say,
the kids were all over daddy in the hopes that he would share. =) **note that Bryson's mouth is already full of candy, he's quick like that.

This daddy style dessert was followed by a fantastic steak supper for us all.

I am grateful to have such a fabulous dad for our children!

Dear Fred,

Thank-you for your incredible patience,
your thoughtful guidance,
your wise opinions,
your energetic fun,
and your endless love to us all.

Happy Father's Day
We love you!!!

2011-06-16T00:33:00.000-07:00

Random Rant...

soooo,
is anyone else dislike blogger right now?

So rumor (too lazy to look up the facts- any volunteers?) has it that Blogger changed some of their codes. If you have blogger, and you don't use a pop-up comment box, fellow bloggers cannot leave comments. really. and it is annoying. after all, I've got so much to say to other lovely folks, right? ;^)

My other aggravation with blogger is that "spacing" is a huge battle. The more you try to correct it, the more wacky it gets. At this point I'm just throwing perfectionism out the window *hee*

So, I have a question for my faithful readers...
What do you use? and do you like it?

I am seriously thinking of changing things up around here (ie switching blog resources). I need easy-peasy and inexpensive.

Also needing to update our blog "title". We've spent the last few years with more than our "simple 8". Title ideas anyone? really, I am not creative in that area *sigh*

~Sheri

2011-06-15T00:49:00.000-07:00

Rocketry~

backyard style.

We had studied rocketry in April & May.

Our first easy-peasy experiment was "blow rockets". We placed a skinny straw into the tube of the rocket, and BLEW. We explored theory of the angle of the fins, and the amount of fins used.

Next we attempted "pop rockets" by using mini M&M containers.

Add water, insert alka-seltzer, seal lid on, and voila..
FLOP...as in flopped over!

not.so.exciting.

So, I bought fuji film. Yes, real film. It comes in a white canister. *smile*

Got our protective eyewear on.

Had a
stopwatch
to record
'time to blast off'.

Dad judged the distance of the 'take off', while we tried a variety of water levels, amount of alka-seltzer, and even tried soda (pop).

It was too fast to catch it well on camera,

but it was fun, and the kids thought it was great.

Our last event in this series was the "sling rocket".

Do you see Katie's on the ground? That hot pink 'stick' in the ground. That was a flopped shot. *hee*

These were so much fun!!

They go so far, we ended up heading to the local elementary school to use their field.

Basically, it is a fancy paper airplane that you use with a good rubber band. (yes, we did snap a few in the process, stings pretty good after about the 3rd time)

We had a good contest amongst us all.

and the littles would chase after them as the flew across the field.

Here is an upclose view.

Can you tell we are a 'color-coded' family?

Rockets, events on the calendar, school folders,

Yep, everyone has their assigned color. Interesting right now though, cuz Andrew *likes* blue, which has always been TJ's color, so we've been going with the dark/light variety.
I figure that's one way to compromise. ;^)

With the mix of all this fun, we read a good Rocketry book, viewed a variety of educational videos, and even watched some fun shows from "Myth Busters"

In conclusion,
we had a blast with this study!

2011-06-13T22:58:00.000-07:00

These Economic Times

National deficits are high,
gas prices are ridiculous,
taxes are not fun...

but when it all comes down to priority,
family is what matters.

Our time with my parents are coming to a close;
they are embracing every moment left.

A common topic that I have been overhearing lately is about "kids" still living at home. Ofcourse, this is meaning adult kids. I hear rants about kids sucking it up and getting on their own; get 6 room-mates if you have to, etc. While I don't promote the lazy adult child sitting in a basement doing nothing all day, I also don't encourage our children to move out at all costs!

Is it just ME? or just our family? that has hit difficult financial times a few times in their life? If you haven't...consider yourself blessed...and look to bless others.

Here's my personal "adult" journey through interesting times:

1984-
I moved out when I was 17. Not because I wanted to. My mom was my very best friend. (yes, I was that cheerleader type person with way too much energy w/ an endless smile whom had more friends than was necessary, but my mom was tops!- which is a whole different post, lol)
So, why did I move out so young? I started school early- 5 yrs of age in 1st grade- thus I ended school early. So what are we 'suppose to do' when we are finished w/ highschool? Move Out, right? I didn't have a clue what I wanted out of life (cept to marry Mr. Right and have children-which was clearly not in the near future). So I went to Beauty School. Someone offered a place to stay and do this, so I did it. btw...this career was more fun than work.

1988-
thrilled to be pregnant, not so thrilled with some ugly stuff of marriage & divorce that occurred all within a dragged out year. I was left high-n-dry (gratefully so), and worked oh.so.very.hard. I knew I would be "moving back home" at the end of this pregnancy. I pre-bought everything I needed for this baby with the tips I made from cutting hair. I had a ridiculous amount of diapers stocked up (really!). Then came December, and the blessing of a precious new baby boy. *smile*

1989-
took a 'leave of absence' from my job. No income, and thanks to the ex, no medical, thus I went on welfare. I think I got about $300 a month. I was not in for a free ride, and insisted to pay my mom "rent" and to help with groceries. I did the bare minimum of anything cost wise, used the money wisely, and embraced the beauty of motherhood for a few months before heading back to face reality of life. 6 months on welfare, not proud moments, but blessed all the same.

1990-
returned to my job- my mom followed- and we ended up "room-mates" for a season. I was adamant about splitting the bills. Integrity mattered. =)

1991-
married, learning to trust someone else with the finances. Funny too, cuz he made way more money than I did.

1993-
Husband became jobless, and our 2nd child was born. During this 6 month season, we moved in with my mom to regroup our circumstance. A husband, a wife, and 2 young children all in one room, and grateful. Interesting enough, dear husband changed career directions, starting at a bare minimum wage... just a couple more years later, we had child #3, and I became a stay-at-home mom.

1999- Job is fine. Father-in-law is moving to Alaska, and needs someone to rent out his house and look over his property. This is in another state, but only an hour away move. It didn't effect Fred's job, so we agreed to help.

2002- child #4 is about 18 months. Finances for the first time are great (for us). We get a new van, and our own home!

2003- a.very.long.union.lay.off. We lose medical benefits. Child #2 gets his appendix out 2 weeks after this took affect. We also lose our home to foreclosure; move into a townhouse.
2004- unemployment benefits run out-0 (zero) income for 6 weeks. I find out I am pregnant w/ child #5 (our only surprise, btw). Kindness of strangers in our community help us through this. A church paid our mortgage for 2 months!!! Our utilities were paid anonymously that month. I then began to run a full time daycare (I had already been watching 2 lil ones, but it had been more for fun) not by planning it that way, but by God answering prayer. We needed food on the table, and I wanted to stay at home. Several families had been referred my way for childcare. I also was able to maintain an on-call job for a law firm. I did haircuts on the side. And the church we began to attend offered my a janitorial job, which could be on my own schedule and the kids could come with me. God is so cool! Fred was working odd jobs, and wasn't getting paid for one of them. We ended up filing bankruptcy. He finally found a 'non-union' job in his field. 2 weeks before medical benefits kicked in, child #3 had an emergency room visit w/ stitches to the head, and.the.very.next.day, child #1 got his appendix out also! Grateful for income, but our accrued debt was very daunting. (we did get things reduced, and paid off, and eventually became debt free)

2006-
Fred gets a job offer to help start up and run a company. This comes with a work truck, a huge pay increase, & fabulous benefits... all to take a risk to get this company up and running. The best offer was that the owner of this company was a Christian man wanting to run this company on Christian morals (and lots of prayer). Within 6 months the company had a strong start.

2008-
I was able to begin a new season in life of letting go of the daycare kids (which, btw, was emotionally difficult, I just loved those kids) and begin to enjoy the simple moments of mommy-hood. Child #6 was born; My husband set this blog up for me; Child #1 was moving out and starting his own 'adult' journey.

2009-
Job expansion took us out of state, and near family. With the crashing housing market, dear mother-in-law lost her 30+ yr career in escrow. I believe God's timing is not by coincidence, and we felt blessed to help pitch in financially while she sold her home.

2010-
Still in transition of landing a permanent residence, my parents ask us to stay w/ them through this season. We help w/ bills, they share their home; family bonding is strengthened.

2011-
Job expansion is reduced, things are slower, but still steady, & we are grateful to move back to our hometown (where the kids were raised). We have offered for my dear mother-in-law (G'ma M) to come with us. She is quiet and lovely; hopefully she will survive our busy-ness, lol. We also have big brother Joe, who would appreciate rooming w/ his brothers for a season. He is wanting to save up some money for 'future plans'. *grin*

Should we tell him to suck it up and find 6 roommates ??? or be blessed by fellowship, creating stronger bonds with our younger ones (whom adore him btw), and receive more help around the house? If he's 'our Joe' that we know, he won't be home much anyway. A girlfriend, helping w/ local ministries, and a job will keep him busy enough.

So I guess the moral of my story is that some days we need some help, and some days, we will find that we need to help others.

2011-06-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

What are your days looking like?

We're pretty laid back right now.
Can you tell?

Sissy is reading in her spare time. Never mind that it is a school text book and that we are on summer vacation. (and that we don't even use textbooks for school anymore, lol).

Andrew is enjoying being, well, Andrew! Loves the simplicity to just play, imagine, do.

~psstt...He's secretly learning to read, as I have caught him reading zoo, boy, so, go, & stop. Random? I kinda think so? He knows waaayyyy more than he lets on. I'd like to think it was because of Asperger's, but really he probably inherited that trait from his dad. *smile*

The littlest brother had fun helping make spaghetti this week. They even took turns
"stirring" which doesn't always come so easily. =)

The Calm....
before the storm...

sort of...

Things here are pretty low key. The weather is still Pacific North West Wet. We are slowly packing up our things, mostly our school books, since everything else has lived in storage for 2 years. Katie-girl doesn't quite know what to do w/o me coming up with "all the fun things to do". We are having to get creative for fun while packing up all the fun things.

I am excited to be moving! I love a fresh start to getting organized! I almost thrive on it. *hee* My dear husband is not such a fan, lol. Bless his heart, he is hanging in there well. He's needing to help his mom some as she will be living with us too.

I try not to think about what we are going to do with 2 households of "stuff", oh my!

I, er, my husband, downsized us quite a bit when we moved up here 2 years ago...
gave away our TV's, couches, some desks, a foosball table, etc...
so we are pretty low key...
i hope.

What am I most excited about with our new house?

3 toilets!

and that we will be using a formal dining area as a school room.

A whole room for school!

now THAT is my kind of fun!

2011-06-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

Somedays are simply...

about having fun!

Sharing Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream is fun!

Finger-
painting
any.
way.
you.
want
is fun!!

'Making leggo weapons' in the name of entertaining littlest brother... is fun!

Today was my day to have some fun...

I had the blessing of meeting a bloggy-friend in real life today...

We are nearly the same age...
yet she has homeschooled nearly twice as long as I have
and has twice as many kids as I have.

Thank~you Mama D
for finding time out of your busy days to visit with me....

~She is as lovely in person as she is portrayed on her blog *smile*

and yes, this is the same sweet lady who encourages me with my 'Takin' Care of Mama' series.

For sometimes it is just plain nice to have someone to share the journey with.

2011-05-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

Shining His Light...
and breaking statistics.

This is a testimony (of sorts) about broken families and God's love.

I was raised in a broken home.
My dad was a druggie.
My 1st step-dad was a drunk.
My mom, although young & naive & making poor decisions,
was always loving. She always did the best she could do in the circumstances she found herself (& I) in.
Which led to my being raised in my teens by a single, hard working mom.
In turn, I helped my mom raise my little sister.
We are 11 yrs apart, and the best of friends.

As an adult, my own family began in a broken state.
A rushed marriage, a wanted child, and a much needed divorce found me all at the age of 22.
My blessing in the rubble of the choices I made, was my first born son, Joey.
Another disguised blessing came when this son was about 8 months old.
I met my dear husband Fred.
He also came from a broken home.
We entered a marriage not knowing what marriage was, or even what love was for that matter. We "knew" we loved each other, but it would take many years to truly begin to know what that really meant.

After years of walking away from Christ, or atleast neatly tucking Him away so I could do all the fun things I thought I needed to do, I found my way back around to Him again. Years later, Fred, within his own journey, came to be saved.

Our son Joe had been raised in a loving family, but he knows, remembers, our non-Christ-filled days. We also opted to let him go through the public school system via his own request. (Since this blog shares much about our homeschool journey, I figured I should share that.)

Many things we have cared, shared, & mentored to this specific son. After all, he is the guinea pig of our parenting, right? We were both raised w/ loving moms, but this newer experience of having a Father to help guide us, put us on a learning curve. We have listened to God earnestly, and have learned much, and we have continued to share the values placed in our hearts to all our children.

1. God cares, we matter.
2. Walk the walk; don't just talk the talk.
3. Always shine His Light in all circumstances.
4. Are you going to be a statistic? You know, the one that gives the ridiculous high percentage to say that children that are raised in a Christian home will walk away from their beliefs somewhere between 18 and 22?

Our Joe is now 22.
In high school he ran into little trouble (although not a perfect child, lol), and made tough decisions that took me awhile to realize. One being that when one of his bestest childhood friends (whom came from a fabulous Christian home) began to make poor choices (ie partying) our son chose to hang out with different friends. One friend he hung out with was not a Christian, but a great kid none-the-less. His name... Chris.

Well, I am pleased to say that not only has our son broke the "statistic", but has also been sharing His Light along the way. Chris not only is now a Christian, but it going to seminary for a BA in Theology Pastoral Counseling. *smile*

Here is Chris's attempt at blogging... http://christophersphilosophicbrain.blogspot.com/

I think he is doing a fine job, and it is wonderful to see young men stepping up to make a difference in others lives... even if it is simply to shine His Light.

2011-05-28T18:07:00.000-07:00

Our Precocious Princess is at it again...

Katie-girl is always finding things on a whim to do. You know how many kids whine the infamous "I'm bored"...
Yeah, well, my dear daughter always has a way to "find" something to do...

and wants it to be done...NOW.
;^)

So today it was to find a new recipe.
She came up with the idea, looked up the recipe, watched a 'how-to' video, printed out the recipe...
...and Viola....

Home-made
Fortune Cookies
complete with Biblical encouragement.

2011-05-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

RC...
and what our year looked like...

Go HERE to for the details of what RC is.

This is what RC looks like in our home.

There are no textbooks...
no lapbooks...
no quizes...
nearly no tests (we do have spelling/vocabulary tests).
No more loose papers,
nor stacks of workbooks,
nor stacks of papers to correct,
and no more CHAOS!

What do we do, you ask?

...simply read.

We read good old fashioned books. The quality of the content in these books has opened my eyes at how much the educational system has been watered down over the years, both in education and morals. Not to say that all curriculum out there is bad; I'm just saying that we have found a better choice for our family.

Someone asked about boredom. No thrills, frills, etc... We are only a year into this new journey called RC, but thus far boredom is certainly not something we have ran into. Instead we have discovered that letting go of busy work lets us focus on content, and the quality of the books keep them interested.

Our Classroom Schedule:

Morning:
1/2 hr writing
1/2 hr English (grammar, punctuation, & vocabulary)
1/2 hr Science
1/2 hr Literature
1 hour Math

Afternoon:
1/2 hr French
1/2 hr Fine arts

Evenings:
1 hr history(reading, map work, & sometimes history related activities)
This is intended as a family read aloud. I missed out on so much details of our history, that I am enjoying learning so much more through these quality books.

Fine arts is broken into days:
(this is not RC, but I feel it completes what I want out school years to look like)

Monday is our official Bible lesson,(w/ scripture review the rest of the days)
Tuesday is our composer study.(we continue to listen to the musical piece all week)
Wednesday is our artist study.
Thursday is our poet study.
Friday is our Nature Study.

I do have a scope & sequence I have created to sort the extensive list of books that RC has on a list. The original RC way is to just simply start reading at the beginning of the book list, and work your way through. They do have different "levels" as you go through, but they are not to be considered grade levels as the easier books can be challenging in content at level 1 for a typical 1st grader, and level 12 is more of a college level reading. Non-the-less, I wanted an guideline to go by. So I sorted books by not only levels, but topics (subjects), and tried to find common ideas amongst the topics & grade level put together.

I will share the scope & sequence on a following post, along with how we implement the McGuffey Readers that are provided in the Robinson Curriculum.

What about the cost of printing & binding books?
I like printing out the books. Admittedly, many books can be found in the local city library. Many folks opt for e-readers and download all the books from the RC list for free.

Our printer was worth the investment; binding for me is pennies (duct tape & staples);
ink & paper are a cost, but compared to the money I was using for this curriculum or that, or this workbook or that, or this cool new method or that, the $$$ we will save in the long run for this quality education is far worth it! For me, I will be getting 41 years worth of education out of this curriculum (counting each students years left in home education)...discs, printer, ink, paper, staples, duct tape, & few late fees at a library might eventually add up to a $1000 over the years, but that is one inexpensive route in the long run.

And if I am really blessed, I will be able to pass it along to my own grandchildren some day...

education is a legacy worth leaving, eh?

2011-05-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

End of the Year Wrap Up...

sort of...

While L.I.F.E. Academy is wrapped up for the 2010-2011 school year...

Learning w/ the Littles will continue...

Mainly because we aren't finished yet..as in..

we've only gotten to letter Mm so far this year. The alphabet needs to be finished, right?

Admittedly, the littles were a bit overlooked while we wrapped up Nick's final year of highschool.

Ofcourse, don't feel too sorry for those lil brothers as they've had their fair share of fun. *smile* I figure summer is a great time to finish up our ABC activities. I will take advantage of the nicer weather (when it gets here) to do outside lessons.
They won't be as formal as our usual planned year, as we are preparing to move in a few weeks,

but we will have lots of fun
all in the name of learning.

2011-05-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

NATURE
in the
NEIGHBORHOOD

I decided to take the littles for a walk around the block. It is only about 1/3 mile, but there is plenty to observe in this simple neighborhood in the city.

Katie liked the fushia azalea's;
the boys liked the gray and white rocks.
Seashells were a treasure found.

We thought this was a pretty fabulous Japanese Maple.

And we learned all about detours...

Interesting enough, we covered many topics in our 30 min walk...

Bryson liked a variety of rocks; pebbles, stone walls, red rocks, gravel...

Andrew noticed the clear blue sky, felt the breeze, noticed the warmth of the sun when we would walk out of a shady spot, and heard birds chirping & planes traveling by; can you tell he is my sensory boy?

Katie tried to name the few birds we saw; crows, grosbeaks, & a hawk.

Halfway through our walk she spotted the hawk. By the time we got in front of our house, there was quite the "sky war" going on between the crows (a lot of them) and the lone hawk. Our hypothesis was that the hawk was too close to home for some baby crows.

Not so sure I'm excited about more crows around here. Last year were enjoyed many birds in our backyard; starlings, robins, grosbeaks, & hummingbirds were common. Well, over the winter, we made those peanut butter pinecone bird feeders AND those stinkin' crows not only ate at the feeders, but took the whole pinecone at one time! It took a dozen or so attempts, but off they flew with their new feast!

We also enjoyed a moment in someones rock garden =)

This was a fabulous after-lunch stroll, and we are thrilled with a little bit of beautiful weather!

So, what's in your neighborhood?

2011-05-19T00:23:00.000-07:00

THE ROBINSON CURRICULUM
review...

About us:
We began our home-
school journey 9 yrs ago, and we love it! To get a quick recap of those previous years, go HERE

This year we homeschooled:
Nick- a senior
TJ- an 8th grader
Katie- 3rd grade
Andrew- kindergarten
Bryson- TOT school

First, I want to share a post I placed on the Robinson Curriculum group recently~

"Does anyone else read TOS (The Old Schoolhouse) Magazine? I use to read it a lot. Great folks. Helpful ideas. I have gleaned fabulous information from them for 10 years now...
but guess what? Today's topic from the Homeschool Minute?
~Choosing Curriculum For Your Kids~
and what could interest me about that?
NOT having to read it!
Instead...

I am doin' the Happy Dance...

and singing

"I'm free, I'm free, I'm free,
Thank God we've found RC!"

And that is exactly how I feel. *smile*

Here is a letter I shared with someone who wanted a sincere opinion of the Robinson Curriculum.

"Dear Friend,

May I be completely honest with you? Indeed, I found much more than I expected through RC. I am stunned at the quality content of the books. I, personally, have learned more from reading a few of the History Autobiographies (on the booklist), than from my full 12 yrs in the public school. All those years glossing over the facts every holiday *sigh*...

Here have been the effects of RC in our home in the past year...

ds 17- struggled for years with reading comprehension and became a reluctant reader. He has read more books (willingly) this year than all his previous years put together. The lack of pressure to do fact checks, quizes, tests, worksheets, etc, left him to actual just read; to get lost in the story w/o the fuss of the other stuff.

ds 14 is our reluctant writer. I couldn't pull a sentence out of this child; I tried multiple writing programs, all w/ rave reviews, and he continually looked like a frightened deer staring into the headlights...currently we have slowly progressed from copywork to random writing on his own. I never realized the importance of copywork (I though it was about penmanship, oy!). Most importantly, his attitude has been positive w/ this approach.

dd 9 is a voracious learner =) The girl is devouring books as quick as she can. The intelligence of the books are displayed in her vocabulary. These books are of quality content from the very beginning; do not underestimate the earlier part of the list if you have older students.

ds 6 (kindergarten) has Asperger's thus this direct and simple approach has been best for him. Ofcourse he is just beginning this journey so his *time* requirements are much lower thus far.

After gaining some real structure and calmness to our days (I am of the over-planning kind of mom) by RC's simple, yet effective format, I can truly say we have gained much more from our education this year! A few hundred dollars investment for a lifetime of education is astounding. I now view (from my own perspective; not judging others) conferences, and curriculum fairs, and homeschool catalogs, and other curriculums as mass money makers. Oh sure, they provide and offer what they say they do; I am not particularly against any one of them; yet so much fluff, and complication, and rules, and continued purchases are in my past now, and I am thankful not only to the quality of my children's education, but that I can also be a good steward of my husbands hard earned paychecks. "

So there's my perspective ;^)

I will follow up with a post of how we implemented The Robinson Curriculum to our daily life, along with a few other details...

HOME SWEET HOME

2011-05-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

The move~ the final chapter?

What a journey the last 2 years have been!

I was very comfortable in our small hometown...
maybe too much so?

God led us to new adventures...
and we followed.

Nothing glamorous or fancy,
just simple lessons and new opportunities to learn from.

For my newer readers,
we went from tiny town to big city.
We had a comfortably large home w/ hot tub & swimming pool, and plenty of space,
to invading loved ones homes with all-of-us while our belongings stayed in storage.
The move came due to a job expansion.
The reasons for our chosen housing came for different reasons...
one was to help financially til a home sold,
followed by the request of my parents to stay with them in their home for a season.

Life Lessons continue:

* Big City Life certainly throws a learning curve at you on a daily basis.
(& no, I am not naive, trust me,
my childhood was full of 'reality checks' of worldly situations).

* Our "family" continues to stay bonded through the changes.

* I had the opportunity to really focus on what I wanted our children to get from homeschooling.

* Katie-girl received 2 years of Ballet in a wonderful home setting.

* I have gotten the chance to really get to know my (step)dad. He's a great guy.

* Thanks to my dear sister-in-law, we were taught 2 years of French; something we will continue to practice.

* Nick experienced soccer at a highly competitive level, and thrived.

* Material stuff is optional, family is not. =)

* My husband is my best friend. I have really good friends, some are quite priceless. Yet I am grateful that God has given me my perfect life-mate.

* I have learned that circumstances change, but life always continues. We make it what it is with our attitude....

* Grandparents are precious, and Aunties are very giving with their time and talents.

* Church is what you make it.

With all these lessons under our belt, changes continue...

We are moving back to our small hometown. My husbands job continues, and we are grateful. The house we are to make our home is modestly large and eloquent. Not having the 7 of us living out of 2 rooms shall be interesting *smile*, the littles think this is normal. =)

I am still pondering the use of a "family closet". Ofcourse it would be on a bigger scale than our wee survival mode one we've adapted to. Got any links or ideas for this, please do share!

We are in full swing of *social* planning;
co-ops, sports, & volunteering at VBS are all knocking at my door already.
I love these things, but am very well aware that I will need to prayerfully think out our days, and plan according to our individual needs as well as nurturing our bond as a whole.

All in all, I am excited to be a part of community again, all the while remembering to slow down, exhale, and appreciate the small, simple moments that seem to whisper by....

2011-05-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

Homeschool Year End State Testing Day!

My kids (on left) are always happy on test day. It means it is the last day of school before summer break*.

Our dear friends (on right) have been testing alongside us for many years. I have to admit there is something relaxing about seeing friendly, familar faces, which makes the "drive" worth it. When we moved to Washington (state) 2 yrs ago, the laws & requirements for us changed quite a bit, but the required 'test' was still the same, thus I choose to go to our familar testing center (a church in our small hometown).

All was not as usual this year though. We have been doing the CAT (California Achievement Test) for the past 9 years. This year, however, they threw us a curve ball and banned the CAT for the Terra Nova Test. In general, that is fine, but for a student that already struggles with testing, this is not so fine.

For my readers whom also homeschool, do you do testing? If so, what is your families attitude towards it? We do testing because it is required. I find it rather vague in exposing knowledge, but rather to know how to take the (a) test. The test does not reflect intelligence. After all, many of us parents have graduated from highschool, a few of us have a few years of college underhand also.... so, years later, does it really matter what a predicate nominative or reflexive pronoun is? Better yet, diagramming sentences? Really, is that even necessary?

My kids are graded on:
obedience~ to do their work that is required, and in a timely manner.
quality~ Neatness and effort matter.
attitude~ the kids don't necessarily have to like what we are learning, but respect for education is a must.

We are on summer break*. Technically anyways. ;^)

Our "school" year begins the first monday of August. We follow a 9 weeks on, 2 weeks off outline. With 4 quarters in our official year we usually wrap up our year by mid May. Thus our summer lasts about 8- 10 weeks. Interestingly enough, in the summer we still read, practice math, and do an abundance of science & nature projects, all in the name of *fun*

What do your summers look like?

2011-05-16T23:50:00.000-07:00

Bryson is "3"
Grandpa is "60"

Grandma made the cake;
Katie-girl helped decorate it.
I was in charge of finding candles
...again. *hee*

The guys had fun opening their presents.

I think Grandpa had more fun "buying" Bryson's present.

I had suggested to my parents that Bryson would probably enjoys nuts & bolts. Yes, real ones. He is fascinated with stuff like that. I figure it would be great for hand dexterity too, eh?
Bryson got a "real" toolbox, with real tools; a mallet, nuts & bolts, tape measure, 2 stubby screwdrivers, and a crescent wrench. Grandma guided the reins a bit when he started looking at magnetic tool sets *grin*. Today the tape measure was the biggest hit...our own version of 'Bob the Builder' pictures are sure to come....

As for Grandpa, I took the boys with me to go shopping for Grandpa's present. He wanted slippers; he got slippers. Not very exciting, but the shopping trip was priceless. Bryson proudly carried the slippers to the cashier's counter, and Andrew beamed at having the money to pay.

I really do love our simple life!

2011-05-11T00:22:00.000-07:00

FINALS WEEK

This is our last week of school...

and much of the final studying has been with math. Our reading & writing skills have greatly improved this year due to the effectiveness of the curriculum we began this year. (I'll share my rave reviews at a later date)

So, what do the littles do while we are going over all things MATH...

Why...
enjoying some good treats....

Enjoying leggos...

Practicing being on 'target'....

and building messes, er,
lincoln logs. *smile*

We have a busy week of activities amongst our studying...

Katie has a few Camp Fire meetings & ballet rehearsals, then we are headed to our hometown for the kids to take their State Testing. Oregon & Washington provide the same test requirements, thus I take the kids where they are familiar. The upside to this is that we are hoping to put a deposit on a home while we are there! Yay! At this point we do not have a Plan B, so please pray that all goes smoothly.

On top of all that, Grandpa's birthday is friday, and Bryson will be 3 on Saturday, in which we will be at brother #2's soccer game, followed by a day of purging through our storage unit. (We have rummaged through much to *find* things, so I need to pack neatly again)... so we will be having our birthday parties on Monday!

I have many post ideas swirling in my head, just not the time to get to it quite yet... expect me to be a bit more chatty in days to come...

...and to ramble off on a fun note...

I was able to get connected with a new pen pal via a good friend.
This is from a blog that has followers all over the world, and my sweet pen pal was hooting and howling and giggling when I sent her my name & address, in which I responded with the same hooting and howling and giggling.... as we live about 15 minutes from each other! *hee*

2011-05-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTH-
DAY
THOMAS JACOB!

T.J. is a fabulous 14! ...and as usual, we have a shortage of birthday candles, so once again we are creative...

Hey, give us a break... he didn't seem to mind. =)

We are always proud of our creative wrapping paper. Like his puzzled face? Hmmm, what lurks behind the plain white tissue paper?

hehe, everything works better with duct tape *grin*

...really.... this is no easy task....

yet in the end, TJ is very happy to receive a new controller for his video games. Littles brother plays with the old one, so now they don't have to *always* share.

TJ is a joy to have around. He takes responsibility seriously. He is adaptable to situations. He willingly interacts with the littlest brothers when they seem to get bored; they love playing with him. He is my walking partner, and we have great every-day-type talks about life, current events, education, the future, sports, etc... He loves to fish, cook, & play video games. I am looking forward to his highschool years, we are gonna have fun!

2011-05-02T01:18:00.000-07:00

A Random Update:

* I will continue my Happiness 101 journey.
Here is (# 40)

I may have fun with all my boys, but my dear daughter knows how to melt my heart.

* Our house hunting continues... this is a very exhausting process as I spend all week gleaning homes, then the week-end we take the day trip down to look at those homes...and...nothing has been productive. There is hope though, as I am in contact w/ a lady from our hometown area who is looking for renters...yay... the size, area, and cost are perfect... so do pray that she likes us. =)

* I won't be posting a l.i.f.e. Academy outline for this month. Basically we are just wrapping up the details of last month, and reviewing for our year end State Testing.

* ditto for Learning w/ the Littles. Although, Andrew has shown much more interest in reading AND writing... yay! We are just playing random phonic-type games for now, along with some reading time. We are slowly packing up our school books to get ready for our move, thus life will be our lessons for awhile.

* Our Monday trips for Campfire & French lessons are wrapping up in a few weeks. We have loved our 2 years of French study; it has been a fun family study.

* I am looking forward to Mother's Day. With 5 boys and a non-romantic husband (no worries, I knew what I was getting myself into, lol), I don't expect much in the flower, card, & chocolate category. But what I do get is a full day of yard work out of everyone! This is priceless to me, as I love the jumpstart to face our summers. This year we will be blessing my mom by doing her yard. =)

*Guess what? While we were down hunting for homes, our Nick had a soccer game, AND it was sunny! AND I got burnt... on my nose, forehead, forearms, a bit on my neck, and my ankles (yes, ankles, I was sitting in the grass and my pants must of been scrunched up??) AND I am not complaining... nope... not at all... real sunshine is much more cheery than that liquid sunshine we have been enduring for months now!

*and speaking of weather... truly we are praying for all the victims of the recent tornado disasters some of the States have endured. It is indeed a crisis, and many people are still missing... May God's grace comfort them all.

Blessings,
Sheri

2011-04-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

JUST WONDERING...

Does anyone else's home look like this? Every time I turn around I seem to see more messes. I take the credit for the 'desk' mess, but the littles are certainly doing their fair share too.

We are wrapping up our last few weeks of school, getting ready for the end-of-year State Testing...

...and quite frankly, we are going a bit stir crazy waiting for our spring weather to begin to shine. Yes, April showers bring May flowers... but gray and dreary is...well..... blah....

Atleast my kitchen is still *smiling* at me
(aka it is clean).

2011-04-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Life continues on...

Katie-girl suggested s'mores...
Dad liked her idea...

...so he bought a fire pit that she put together. =)

Yummy....

Well, it was quite a bummer to put our dog down; now it is just the normal every day habits that we have to adjust to...
like...
never leaving the front door open so she can't get out...
or glancing at the bedroom window to see if she is "giving me away" to the littles as I sneak off to a store...
or coming home after being gone all day---and no longer having Asia greet us at the door. *sigh*

but our lives continue on...and we are entering a very busy month for us.

May 3 TJ's birthday (14)
May 13 Grandpa's birthday, and end-of-the-year State Testing.
May 14 Bryson's birthday (3)
May 22 Nick's graduation

and

hopefully by the end of May we will actually be moving into our own house?
Well, not our "own" house, but a house (rental) where we can unpack our things and call it home.

Dear mother-in-law Michele is moving along with us. I am praying to find a house that will fulfill all our humble needs...

like...

*more than 2 bedrooms ;^)
*a main floor bedroom for Grandma M. Understandably, she is not a fan of stairs, yet houses w/ 5 bedrooms usually have stairs.
*more than 1 bathroom (oh super please!)
*enough space to have a "school area"
*a fenced yard, preferrably. =)

God's provision of our homes have been vastly different in past years...

2001: Back when we had 4 children we lived in a wee tiny quaint house (800 sq ft) with a BIG yard...
2002: then we bought a large home (1800 sq feet) on a decent lot...
2003: (followed by a very l-o-n-g lay off, in which we lost the house)
2004: where we then moved into a small 4 bedroom townhouse (1100 sq ft) w/ 5 kids...
2007: followed by an offer from a friend to move into their house (2000 sq ft) w/ a pool and a hot tub w/ our 6 children (woo hoo)
2009: job expansion led us out of our home town to big city... where we first lived with dear m.i.l. & s.i.l. in a modest 3 bedroom house (yes, all 9 of us) until their house sold...
2010: then we were welcomed into my parents' home until we knew our next step, which is also a 3 bedroom home (yes, with all 10 of us).

Thus, the journey continues...

wish us luck, and throw a prayer our way, would ya?

2011-04-20T00:59:00.000-07:00

My Happiness.... is being interrupted...

Our lovely 'pit' is not doing so well...

*sigh*

We will need to put her down soon...

very

very

soon.

Asia has been the very best nanny-dog ever;

she has served her family very faithfully, with love & protection...

Most of our children don't ever remember not having her with us...

Asia is 12, and she has walked Nick through all his school years...

and it will be incredibly hard to say "good-bye". :(

2011-04-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

How do you do "to do" lists?

Chrissy at
Enriched Living
had
asked this awhile back,
and
I could not figure out how to send her a document via e-mail...
so here it is via "a picture". Hope this helps Chrissy! *smile*

My day consists of :

a "Rise & Shine" routine, a time for just me in the mornings. My spiritual triathlon is 10 min reading, 10 praying, 10 listening (usually w/ worship music, but sometimes in silence)
Loving movements? yeah, that is just my kind way to tell myself to exercise ;^)

a "Morning" routine. Things I should have done before our schooling for the day begins.

a "Afternoon" routine, in which the kids do most of this. =)

a "Light's Out" routine; this is where we wrap up for the night, and the house is tidied up so that it is "smiling at me" in the morning. ;^)

I have had this schedule for many years. I laminate the 2 papers back to back and hang it on the wall for reminders. The only thing that really ever changes is "Our Day" when our school subjects can be rearranged or sports change the schedule.

I have not been doing my routines lately...and yes, it shows...not only by how the house looks, but in my attitude also....

Anyone else have routines to share?
How do your days look?

2011-04-12T23:14:00.000-07:00

...and the Happiness 101 continues...

(#35) A husband that loves all things- "manly"- but still treats his only daughter like a princess.

(#36) finding a new friend (via blogging), where ideas can be pondered; where similarities and differences are shared. Personally, I don't know a large, homeschooling family. I know a (as in 1) large family, and I know several folks whom homeschool, but not both. =) So I am pleased to "meet" some lovely ladies who write about their days, knowing how very much I can relate to what they are sharing.

(#37) I *love* unconditional friendship... ya know... where you haven't seen someone in ages, and you can just pick up where you left off... I find it rare, but I am blessed by a few of them.

(#38) fresh-smelling little children after a much needed bath... anyone else sniff their children's hair after bathtime?

(#39) to blush simply because my husband is flirting with me... yeah, that makes me smile. ;^)

2011-04-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

Happiness 101... (#29) Spring! ok..so really, it is very much still very wet here in the Pacific Northwest... but just for today it was dry. The tulip farm we went to was pretty, but definitely was not in "full" bloom! Katie-girl ended up being a tourist attractions for some folks from India. Katie almost blended in with a few rows of tulips.

(#30) A Sunday visit with my dear mother-in-law and sister-in-law. They brought our camera back to us... yay! (#31) We have a plan in the works for us moving at the end of summer... I am very much a planner... this makes me happy.

(#32) I woke up to the smell of bacon & eggs frying... Yumm!!! My wonderful husband made us breakfast *smile*

(#33) I find it humorous when my husband (or the older kids) finish doggy-doo duty only to have a dog "go" again... and the 2 yr old is very adamant to let them know.

(#34) I love it when I pretend to cook a meal, and it actually turns out well. =)
Roast Beef, Southern Fried Potatoes, & fresh baked bread
(I forgot to set out the salad-oops)

As we head into this fresh new week, may we all find things around us that make us SMILE...

2011-04-07T22:13:00.000-07:00

continuing... my happiness....

(#25) Daffodils are blooming... yay! Ok, so if we had our camera back, Nick could actually take pictures of ours, but this lovely lil bunch looks much like our own. ;^)

(#26) Reading time with Andrew is (finally) becoming consistent. He actually asks now... and admittedly, it is a bit of an unconventional style. The "signal" is when Andrew asks me if I want to lay down with him. This is usually after lunch, and has landed in our quiet time... but it is priceless, quality time with him. He "practices" his word ladders (ba, be, bi, bo, bu, etc), then we lay down as I read out of an old-fashioned stories & rhymes book. Then he reads to me some Abeka phonic beginner books. This is all spread out amongst our king-sized bed, complete with the comfort of many surrounding pillows!

(#27) I went for a walk...all.by.my.self. =)

(#28) During these long never ending rainy days I decided to make some playdough for the kids- and added glitter to it. It added some fun to our afternoons this week! I layed out spring like cutters (flowers, egg, bunny, etc) for a theme, but mostly they made a lot of snowmen, pepperoni pizza, and worms! That's boys for ya, don'tcha think?

2011-04-06T21:51:00.001-07:00

Happiness 101 What makes me smile...

This is our oldest son Joe and his girlfriend Amber. They make me smile.... We were out of town this week end; in our hometown to be exact.
(#15) Joe & Amber went out of their way to find out where we were, as to hang out with family & friends on a Saturday night. (#16) These two also showed up out-of-town on Sunday (after church) to join us for Nick's 2nd game of the day. The photo is of them waiting for us to get back from lunch.
(#17) Nick was asked to play soccer with his old hometown team since he was already in town. =) Great kids to hang out with, and I adore the parents too!
(#18) I was able to spend some down time with a good friend (Thanks Anna).
(#19) Our toddlers had a blast playing together. Her Dustin and my Bryson are about a week apart in age. Dustin REALLY likes us... that makes me smile! Enough so, that he broke out of his child-safety-locked house to join us in their RV (our hotel for the night). I guess he also ran after us when we left...like up the secluded driveway and down a country road...before his poor mama could finally catch him (Did I mention how fast he is? ;^)
(#20) Anna & her husband have a modestly LARGE home. Come to find out that they are renovating the lower level into a separate living quarters. Convenient enough, it will be finished around the time we should be moving back down in the area *cheesy grin* A win-win situation for us all.

Home Again...another school week...and some more rain....

(#21) Katie likes math again, and had a blast with learning the simple way to multiply double digits by 11. =)
(#22) Andrew is now my backseat driver... "Mom! That light turned red" (really it wasn't til I was through the intersection)...the very next light turns on me, and I bustle through another yellow light... "Mom! Yellow mean s-l-o-w down" ok Andrew, ok.
(#23) TJ always does the tedious chores around here. You know, the ones that everyone should be doing...like feeding the dog, taking out the trash, starting lunch... yesterday, when I said "whose gonna water the dog?" and everyone sat around like they didn't hear me... then TJ pops up off the couch extra-energetic like, and says "oo-oo- I'll do it!" (insert sarcasm) I found it funny.
(#24) Bryson has been sleeping in his own bed all night! woo hoo! (need I say more?)

2011-04-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

l.i.f.e. Academy~

Yes, it is that time of year again.

Our year-end-testing.

ok, so it is not for 6 more weeks... yet this is when I start prepping the kids. No more 'real' education, now is the time to practice 'how to take a test'. I call it surface learning. You know, glance at the info provided, and deduct the correct answer. Which is usually a candy-coated answer. A few of my students are logical thinkers (much like their dad), and base answers off of what seems most logical. This is not always beneficial for testing time, but I would not have it any other way. These kids know how to think for themselves, and like to dig into the meat and potatoes of information.

We have been using the Robinson Curriculum this year, and it has been a perfect fit for our family!

*sigh* ok, so I'll toss the test prep stress out this year, and continue with our 'real' education...

April Goals~

SCIENCE: We had fun with rockets. We still have a few more experiments to carry out. Then we will focus more on the mechanics of science ie Newtons Laws.

BIBLE: We are still reading through Luke until Easter time.

HISTORY: The Constitution... Article IV, V, VI, VII... slow-n-steady wins the race, eh?

LITERATURE: We are reading for fun this month so it is a free pick. Katie- PollyAnna; TJ- Tom Swift and His Aircraft; Nick- Netforce

FINE ARTS: we will skip our regular studies and will focus on some Easter activities this month.

FRENCH: Money review, table discussions, & room etiquette

MATH: Katie is plugging away nicely at her Math. She very much seems to dislike it, which is odd because she is good at it. Nick finished his math book so he is reviewing many things to keep things fresh in his brain. =) TJ is finally catching on to all the fraction, decimal, percentage blur and is now moving onto some geometry concepts.

FITNESS & NUTRITION: We are on the move... walking, that is. Ok, some of us *ahem, not me* are running. We are going to focus on our nutritional choices, and get our bodies moving more. This long, dreary, wet winter is very draining to any sort of motivation. I am hoping that getting our bodies fueled correctly (and moving effectively) will improve our attitudes, clear our thoughts, and refresh our momentum for the fun things in life. Rain or shine!

2011-03-31T23:16:00.000-07:00

Happiness 101... continued....

What makes me SMILE...

(#12) Fixing a middle child a personalized breakfast while the older siblings are gone. Now that was a hug worth earning. =)

(#13) STOMP A unique musical of sorts... we must have watched 2 hours of it. We, the parents, added to the fun by jammin' to our own beats w/ the Littles... that previous mentioned 'middle' child just looked at us strange. hehe. and yes, now I am clickin' a beat on anything in site, and I am going to drive that 13 year old son of mine crazy.

(#14) We are headed down to our little hometown in No Where, OR tomorrow. We get to visit friends, see family, go to our favorite lil pizza joint, and shop tax free. =) Nick gets to play soccer with his buddies in not one, but 2 games for their season opener on Sunday, which is a great way to end our week end.

Hope you all have a beautiful week end... I will be back Monday to continue to share my happiness...

2011-03-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

THIS made me SMILE...

at least the last statement of the article did, hehe, as I have pondered that idea before

. *Note: Learning "how to test" , in my opinion, does not offer a quality education.

One of my kids/student bounces all over the place at testing time. One year he will be above grade level 3 years in a subject, the next 2 years behind; One year he excels at Math, bombs at Reading comprehension, the next year it switches...VERY inconsistent...

brilliant child in facts, common sense, & researching things that matter,
which has nothing to do with state mandated test results.

(#11) The FamilymanTodd Wilson, Familyman Ministries So the question at hand is whether to test or not to test.
DON'T DO IT!*
Tests don't measure actual learning and will either leave you and your child feeling like failures or give you a false sense of achievement. You homeschool, and your child is progressing just as he should. If your son is 10 and just now starting to read . . . great! If your daughter can't solve an algebra problem to save her life . . . that's fine. Some kids can, and some kids can't.
Standardized tests do nothing but identify those who do well taking standardized tests and those who don't. Besides, "they" came up with the standard, just a group of people who needed a standard because they were teaching millions of children. It is arbitrary and based on what "they" think children need to know (or what paid teachers need to teach in order to get paid).
Their standard shouldn't be your standard. It certainly isn't God's standard. Mom and Dad, God made you smart enough to get your child ready for adulthood. Don't use anyone else's educational standards, because every child's educational standard is different.
Be diligent, keep plugging, and teach your children while you enjoy them, and everything will turn out hunky dory.
I'm not kidding on this one . . . don't test.
Be real, Todd
P.S. Don't write me mean letters telling me I don't have a clue. Instead, write Nancy Carter and rebuke her for letting a shmoe like me on staff.
P.P.S. I'll be in Cincinnati at the Great Mid-West Homeschool Convention. First mom to my booth who likes my stance on testing (or doesn't) gets a free book of her choice.
*(unless the law requires it . . . and then move to a different state.)

hehe, keep keeping it real Todd! =)

*article from Old School House Magazine via Homeschool Minute

2011-03-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

HAPPINESS 101

continued.... Things that make me smile....

(#8) I finished up Nick's high school transcript. YAY! I am so relieved to get that finished up... I just know graduation is gonna be here before we know it!

(#9) I took a nap with Bryson this afternoon. Warm, snuggly, relaxing... gotta love it!

(#10) Dear husband cooked up steak for dinner, and ofcourse all the boys were happy! Bryson eats a whole steak himself! A house full of well fed men makes me happy!

KEEPING IT REAL...

OK, so I stayed up waaayyyy to late with the teenage boys last night. They had plugged in a movie (at 1 am- my normal bedtime, lol), and I got sucked into watching it. It was a suspenseful movie, so at the end I kept asking a million questions, pulling my blanket up to my eyeballs, etc...when I realize that they are all asleep! I am the only crazy person up watching this thing... so I went to bed around 3. Needless to say, I was a bit off, and not feeling very organized today, thus the nap was fabulous!

2011-03-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

HAPPINESS 101 ok..first of all, we had a fabulous day out. We went to SKY HIGH (an awesome trampoline place), went to Campfire, & had dinner and french lessons w/ Aunt Chanelle. Dear m.i.l. Michele made us blackberry cobbler for dessert... so technically, this whole day made me smile...cept we left "the camera" when we went home. So now you get blurry cell phone pictures for a week! Things that make me SMILE... (#5) Playtime hour with Grandpa before he leaves for work every day. The littles LOVE this! (#6) The way my kids work together and help each other out when we go to new places (ie SKY HIGH) (#7) When friends' of my children come to visit. We are 2.5 hours away from most of our friends. Lately we've seen a few. Bryson (2) was able to see Dustin (2) and his big brother Ryan. Katie & Andrew were able to see their bestest friends Monique & Aria. Today we have Corbin, who drove up to see Nick, but we all love to visit with him. =) Nick & Corbin were in the same class at school *K thru 3rd grade, and it has been fun to see them grow up, especially cuz they are both graduating this year! (*Nick began to homeschool in 4th grade) ...to be continued.... and why is my postings all clumped together??? I do not type it this way...good grief =)

2011-03-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

HAPPINESS 101 GOAL: To post (everyday) the simple things in life that make me smile. I am taking this journey til Good Friday. This is my LENT, of sorts.

(#1) A dear cousin gave our family TOYS. Many keep-your-kids-busy toys! Yay! So today, Dad & Katie brought out one of the K'nex sets. Those are alot of pieces!

~ Dad is reading through the architect plans. =) Katie always has plenty of question to follow up with.

~ The final results! An amazing carnival ride, complete w/ people, motion, and sound! The Littles love it!

(#2) TJ is in the kitchen! Yay for me!

Fresh homemade chicken nuggets....yumm....

The family will LOVE this!

(#3) My adult son who checks in on me on a regular basis. He makes me smile!

(#4) My new laminator! This thing is awesome. It has a hot/cold adjustment. AND it was a great price at costco. purple cows is the brand. We do tons of laminating at our house: flashcards & worksheets are the most common. They are great for dry erase pens too! ~So, there you have it... on my way to 101 THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE!~

2011-03-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

FATHER & FUN

Our oldest son, Joe, has been up here working again. It's kinda nice, cuz he works for the company my husband helps run, thus when he needs extra hands on his job site, we get Joe!

They have been working pretty hard, so it was fun to see them with their feet up when we got home from French lessons this past Monday. =)

Part of home
schooling is your children get to help with home improve-
ment projects, and it counts towards schooling. Home Maintenance 101. Nick actually did most the work replacing Grandma's (my mom) garbage disposal.

Personally, I think they had too much fun throwing 1/2 apples down the drain to make sure the super powered disposal was gonna do its job!

Not bad for a first try.

and while we are at it...
notice the white tubes on the right.

That would be the water purifier...

that...

Katie helped with! =)

ahhh,

the benefits of having many kids.

I also enjoy when the grocery man comes to our door!
Every Friday!
and the kids help bring in the groceries AND put things away.

Soon I will be training them to do the menu planning,

followed by how to order what we need each week.

*cheesy grin*

2011-03-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

ABC...about me.

age- 44
bedsize: king
chore you hate: toilets
dogs: Staffordshire Terrier aka pit bull
essential start to the day: vitamins & prayer
favorite color: red
gold or silver: silver
height: 5'3"
instruments I play: none, zip, nil
job title: MOM
kids: 6 and love it.
live: Pacific NorthWest
mom's name: Dee
nickname: Sheri, Sherita, Shay (Sheryl is my real name)
overnite hospital stay: 6 times, babies; need I say more.
pet peeve: lying
quote from a movie: Baby steps; I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful. =)
(What about Bob?)
right or left handed: both
sibling: 1 much younger sister (by 11 yrs anyways)
time I wake up: haha, uh, 7 a.m. unless I go to bed at 3 or 4, then it's more like 8 or 9.
underwear: yes ;^)
vegetables you dislike: mushrooms & lima beans- GAG ME
what makes me run late: I am never late...j/k... kids.
x-rays: no, unless ultrasounds count.
yummy food I make: fudge, and some more fudge.
zoo animal I like best: polar bears

I saw this from Chrissy's blog, and thought it would be fun.
Your turn....

2011-03-23T00:15:00.000-07:00

To Be....

Live in harmony with one another;

~
be sympathetic, love as brothers,
be compassionate and humble.
1 Peter 3:8

To share is to care,
to reach out is to help out...
that is my motto.

I share my thoughts about mama-hood.
I care about other mums, and want to encourage them. Being a mom is not always easy, but it is always worth it.

I share about my battle with bulimia.
I care enough to reach out to others who struggle with this slow.silent.suicide. I put aside my own shame (as in, letting people know my past & my dark secret) as to give others hope in choosing to LIVE.

I share about homeschooling, cuz well,
I care about other families whom are called to this fascinating journey. My heart wants to express the beauty, the simplicity, the honor, the relational growth, the grace of it all.

I share myself with kids, they are precious, and I care.

I share openly with teens. I care.

I reach out to
single moms,
young moms,
moms of many,
moms w/ losses,
& moms w/ challenges.
I care.

I reach out to
moms in chaos,
and moms who have it all together.
I care.

I reach out to
older moms,
moms of littles,
moms of middlers,
and moms of teens.
I care.

I reach out to
my mom,
my dear mother-in-law,
& grand-mums of others.
I care.

...and how do I do this best,
but to share the love of Jesus Christ,
to build good relationships,
to commit to care....

I care, and you matter!

2011-03-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

Learning with the Littles

I *heart* this simple book.

~Our Home Kindergarten
(no profits for me)

Yes, we are still doing Andrew's reading lessons from his Primary McGuffey Reader. His reading lessons only take but a few minutes per day at this point.

Andrew learns best from a simple hands on approach; talking & sharing in a casual conversation. If a lesson seems like instructions, he will not pay attention.

The lessons in Our Home Kindergarten are easy hands-on interaction.
Somewhat advanced (in my opinion) in what is taught from the very beginning. Is it not usual to learn shapes, colors, letters, & numbers first?

~Here is what we have learned in the first 3 lessons:

A sphere, red (specific stones are called rubies).
A cube, yellow (jewels & gems are called topazes)
A cylinder, blue (sapphires)
A basic geometrical concept that a sphere can roll, cubes stack, & cylinders can do both. (in the next few lessons, the square will be introduced from the cube, as will lines of horizontal & vertical usage to make a square).

Andrew is thriving at the knowledge to explore these concepts, all without instructional directions. Even Katie is enjoying these straight forward lessons.

So, beyond a reading lesson, and a kindergarten lesson, I am laying out Learning Trays (montessori style). I only lay out one per day, cept on Fridays, in which many are displayed. We have a lot of people living in a itty bitty living space (sounds like the Genie, lol), so available space is limited. I cannot just leave out the learning areas like I would prefer to, thus I rotate our activities. We adjust as we can, and this seems to be working...

Andrew copied patterns here, and Katie made her own creations. Bryson first stacked the pieces, then thought it would be fun to start throwing them (ninja star style- I do believe). Not exactly what I had envisioned, hehe.

Got SPRING?

not quite yet....
but since our time changed from Daylights Savings,
we can play outside now when Dad gets home.

Follow-the-leader has been popular.

Jump-roping!

...and cold, wet sand...

What more do kids need?

2011-03-17T23:29:00.000-07:00

St. Patty's Day

the simple way...

A leprechaun trap...
courtesy of Katie.
(mind you that she actually built this 2 months ago)

The good news, the leprechaun came;
The bad news, the leprechaun escaped;
The best news is that he left a treasure...
Hugs & Kisses (of the tasty variety)

We ended our day by having Mint-Chocolate-Chip ice cream.... MMmmm......

2011-03-12T22:53:00.000-08:00

Learning with the Littles

OUR SEASONAL TREE

~Winter~

Jj- blue Jay
Kk- kites
Ll- Ladybugs
Mm- mosquito
Nn- nest

2011-03-04T15:50:00.000-08:00

Homeschool Reflections~

question #3

traditional?
relaxed?
mixed?

Charlotte Mason?
classical?
unschooling?

What is your style?

I started out traditional. I copied the classroom setting. Abeka was given to us, and for boxed curriculum, I thought it was great.

I am a classic extrovert. Outgoing, talkative, friendly, love people!

I especially enjoy sports for the kids. Getting to know my children's friends, and chatting with other parents has always been a highlight of many soccer seasons.

Our 4th year of home-
school, many things were going on. We had 4 children, one on the way, 2 being homeschooled, ran a full time daycare of 6 additional kids. Routines, activities, and outings were constant.... I had quite the busy days! At soccer that years (Nick's midschool years) a new homeschool kid joined the team. Yay! Another homeschooler (these things are rare ya know). He was a quiet kid, but friendly, enjoyed soccer... and Nick had fun playing soccer with him. For a while, a long while, I never noticed this kid's parents.....

I think the following year I finally "met" the dad. He had introduced himself to me with a thought of getting the boys together more often (than just soccer season) to hang out. Hmmm....great idea. It didn't happen for awhile.

One day at a the end of another soccer season, I was chatting and visiting and cheering and laughing and enjoying the game...

and a sweet mama was sitting up on the bleachers, quietly tucked away in a corner with her young son. She was engaged in conversation about animals, pausing to let her son share his own thoughts. Her countenance was lovely, her words intelligent, her demeanor pleasant. ...and I paused long enough to be in awe...

In the midst of my friendly, outgoing self...

I had never met this mom.
How long had I overlooked her?
Who was she?

She was clearly a quiet person;
quite opposite me! ;^)

My life was full of go, go, go....
and she oozed calmness, peace, a gentle spirit.

Her son was Nick, the other Nick, the other homeschooler on the team. By now (a couple of years into this) Nick and my Nick were becoming good friends.

Finally, another summer into this story, us parents finally got together to get to know each other. They are a lovely family...

Nick and Nick are still good friends...

even though we moved away 2 yrs ago.

and I still adore his mom...

So... what is the point of this story?

This ordinary mom taught me a life lesson...
simply by her actions. Just by "being her"...

It does not matter what we teach our kids, how we teach them... there is no wrong way to homeschool (other than just not doing it)... but what does really make a difference is who we are....

Who we are when nobody is looking.

How we behave towards our children... now that matters.

To slow down...
to exhale...
to listen...
to share...
to pray...
to display gentleness....
to let them know they matter...
to embrace their personhood
to notice the small simple moments that seem to whisper by...

Thank you Tonia! I think you are beautifully authentic!

*pictures above*
Today we had multiple meltdowns in our home, so I gathered my little clan together, and we explored the outdoors.

We paused long enough
to hear the many birds in our area;
observe ducks, geese, and squirrels;
explore a nature path;
and appreciate fresh air.

What is our homeschool style?

to educate by whatever means are neccessary,
all the while nurturing, guiding, and mentoring our children into adulthood.

2011-02-27T21:31:00.000-08:00

l.i.f.e. ACADEMY

Weather Study in One Hour?

We made bird feeders by smearing peanut butter on a pinecone, then rolled it in bird seed. Katie was hanging Andrews' pinecone when it began to snow...

15 minutes later, Nick fills the birdhouse with bird seed... usually the friendly backyard squirrel eats most of the seeds. =)
An additional 15 min. later, the ground is lightly dusted with snow...

Yes, add 15 more minutes and the sun was brightly shining...

We have been waiting patiently on weather predicaments for our meteorology study... let's just say we have not had many hand-on lab work. clouds, wind, rain, snow... time to move on...

MARCH GOALS~

Science- Rocketry... this month shall be full of explosive fun! woot! woot!
We needed some pep to our motivation; this shall be the right antedote. =)

Bible- The book of Luke... we are reading, praying, and preparing for Lent.

History- The Constitution... ok, we got sidetracked with some American Revolution, specifically some of the many battles of the day... so we have not got past the Preamble of the Constitution. *sigh* My schedule may be off course a bit, but we are always learning. Onward to Article I, II, III, IV.

Economics- (Nick)- He has read his required reading assignments, so current events is a weekly assignment. I must say, with all the hub-bub in Wisconsin, it gave us a great discussion on economics. (I can be opinionated on policitical rhetoric, so we just won't go there, eh?)

Literature- same as last month, because we are *still* waiting for availability at the library!
Nick- Johnny Tremain
TJ- Valley Forge
Katie- Winter of the Red Snow (Dear America series).

English- punctuation study - end marks, quotations, colons, semi-colons, apostrophe, commas, hyphen, & underlining.

Fine Arts-
composer- Antonin Dvorak
w/ Slovonic Dance no. 7
artist- Claude Monet
w/ Tulips Fields with Rijnsburg Windmill
poet- Sylvia Plath
w/ Tulips- interesting enough, although about tulips, is more about her hospital stay after having her appendix out- a fun fact for us since our 2 oldest boys have had theirs out. =) (gotta keep those boys interested ya know? ;^)

French- we are incorporating daily usage into our days, even the littles are catching on.
Our formal studies will include things we have, things we do, and a fluent discussion on money.

Kindergarten- Andrews basic 3 R's lesson plan is working out well. I have discovered that since this approach is direct and to the point, he is more willing to add some fun. I am laying out learning trays (Montessori style) on fridays. Andrew does them, Bryson loves it too!

TOT school- letter study of the week for Nn, Oo, Pp, & Qq. Will post last month activities in a later post...

On a side note... is anyone else ready for spring?

color, sun, fresh air = a bright new outlook don't ya think??

2011-02-24T22:47:00.000-08:00

What is true beauty?

I had an interesting conversation with a wonderful friend. She is one of my bestest friends, and I think she is beautiful. The more I know about her, and how she handles the tough stuff in her life, the more beauty I see. This friend has two daughters whom I adore. Remember that I only have one daughter? This daughter of mine is so much different to raise than all.our.boys! Our conversation led us to a "tween" topic. A parenting book on tween girls recommended (advised?) that tween girls need to go shopping. Mom's like me, whom don't care for shopping, should learn to like it. Shopping makes tween girls feel pretty.

Now this is where it gets touchy.

If you like to shop, so be it. If you like to shop... a lot... that is your business, your thing, your money. If you like the hip cool newest fads, for yourself, or your daughters... there is nothing wrong with that. My friend is very wise and clever with her money, and they dress very stylish, and carry it with class.

It just isn't MY thing.

I like nice. I like practical. I really enjoy an outfit w/ fun accessories that match. I even think dresses would be fun if I wasn't so round. =)

My hard question is...
Does our apparel make our beauty?
Does our size define our beauty?
Does our hairstyle/make-up/nails create our beauty?

What makes you feel beautiful?

I spent many years with an eating disorder. The more perfect I strived to be, the uglier I felt. My younger years were full of fun hip clothes, fabulous hair, a small size, and a big flirty smile... yep, them were the days...
The days of shallowness, emptiness, being at a loss.

The more I played around with my image, the less I knew who I really was. I was searching for an outer validation to an inner void.

I still don't feel pretty, but a few things (despite my appearances) makes me feel beautiful...

like....
*when my littles love snuggling up to me & find comfort in my extra padding.
*prayer walking~ a good brisk walk while praying, ahhh, fresh air & mental clarity.
*when I am just being me on an average day and dh stops abruptly to glance at me and says "do you know how beautiful you are?"
*reaching out & listening~ when the Holy Spirit leads you to talk to someone, and you do, and you find out they really needed someone to know they mattered.

So I tell my 9 yr old dear daughter that regardless of the clothes she wears, and the fashion she likes, and the girly things we will do together... she is and always will be beautiful. There are always things about us that are not good enough in the world's opinion, and I share the importance of letting God's love define who we are...

BEAUTY IS
AS
BEAUTY DOES...

inner beauty reflects
what we do
and who we are,
right where we are!

Friends, you are beautiful!

Family Ramblings...

2011-02-20T13:50:00.000-08:00

Bryson is a big boy now. No more diapers! This would be the first time in 22 yrs without diapers being in our daily routine... seems as if we would get one young child out of diapers, another child would be on its way... well, not any more.
*sigh* Yes, we are done. I love those baby days! but I also love those preschool years, middle years, teen years, and yes, those adult years... all the different seasons of parenting are a gift in themselves... I love being a mom!

"The Move" saga continues....
for my newer readers, our family was from small town nowhere, and due to a company expansion, moved into big city somewhere. This journey began almost 2 years ago. Our "house belongings" are still in storage. We have lived alongside my dear m.i.l. & s.i.l (*wave* to Michele & Chanelle) for a season, and are currently living at my parents. They love us here, we love reconnecting a closer relationship with our kids & grandparents.

Fred will be wrapping up the BIG job up here, and it looks as if sometime this summer we will be moving back down towards Oregon. I want to move back to small town nowhere (in Oregon), but Fred wants to stay in Washington. He is not fond of the State income tax of Oregon, can't say I blame him.

I am not fond of the labels/requirements of homeschooling laws in Washington, and I want to be left to my own accountability in Oregon. (*note: we already over exceed what Washington tells us we "have to do", I just don't like being told to do it. petty? yes! but I also don't like to be told to tip a waitress; I am already a great tipper... add the $ amount to our bill, and that is all they get, rather than my usual appreciation. - it's just me, I am a brat that way).

Anyways, back on topic... the MOVE... so it looks like in the summer future we will be finaling having our own house again. We are hoping Fred's mom will come join us when we move, but we also don't know the details of that commitment.

The move...
Don't know when, exactly;
don't know where, exactly;
just know changes are coming...
Ha, how's that for an update?

Joe, our oldest son, has been stayin up here with us for the past month. He works for/with his dad at the Company. Joe has his own place down in the vancouver area, so it is nice to see him for a bit.

Nick just finished up his soccer season. He had fun playing at a higher level. Now we are focusing towards his graduation this May. Oh my, the years do fly! He is still pondering the "what to do after highschool" options...

TJ has been pretty laid back through this transition journey. I think once we move he has some interests he would like to check into... more fishing, a gun/archery club, soccer possibly... he will be entering his highschool years this fall, which I feel is a perfect time to look into a variety of interests. I really enjoy homeschooling those last years!

Katie-girl is preparing for a dance recital for this June. She was advanced up 2 classes this year, and will have 2 parts in the recital. She is pretty excited- Sleeping Beauty is the theme. Katie has been not.so.thrilled about math lately, as in quite reluctant to get it done; I find it humorous cuz she is good at arithmetic, just.does.not.like.it.

Andrew is finally falling into a good school routine. I will probably continue his schooling through the summer. It will be more hands-on, montessori led activities as I want his curiosity to be stimulated... I will share more of my ideas on that later....

Bryson is, well, Bryson... rambuntious, active, fly-off-the-seat-of-his-pants excitement! No dull moments with this child around. Spring will be a very good thing for this wild-child. =)

Our School week:

We have fabulous friends coming to visit with us Tues-Thurs, so schooling this week will be low key. I think I will officially call it a mid-winter break. Nick injured his *right* hand during the soccer tournament this week-end, thus minimal 'writing' is probably necessary. I will assign a fun read for each one of them, continue our nightly read aloud on George Washington, and make our week full of some "rocketing" experience! lol, just got a book on Rockets; who knew so much fun could be found in science, technology, engineering and mathmatics? too much fun to call it school, right? ;^) We will just label it "something to do"!

2011-02-14T19:18:00.000-08:00

The Simple Life
of
8~

VALENTINES DAY style....

A handmade Valentine from Katie-girl...

A hand-knitted garland & paper hearts....

Dinner of steak, mashed potatoes, corn, & these biscuits...

I attempted a Velvet Cake... decorated by the kids!

We are blessed with a houseful, and oh-so-thankful...

All the kids took turns making heart-shaped cookies,

Yes, even Joe is joining the fun!

The grandparents enjoyed steak dinner w/ us, but now are tucked away in their room for a movie night...

while the rest of us play some good ole family board games. =)

I *HEART* FAMILY!

2011-02-12T14:57:00.000-08:00

Winter Blues?

The Ho-Hum-Dol-Drums?

Facing the mid school-year hump?

Lacking energy while the kids seem to be over-energetic with all things disorderly?

Yeah, our last few weeks have felt like this. =)
We took Friday off (call it an inservice day).
The older kids like these days:
popcorn & movies, board games,
a day free from routines.

Montessori Moments~

For the Littles I layed out some
"learning
trays"
in random places.

The kitchen table had a Ladybug craft (This is our Ll week), & a phonics tray. These were a hit once they finally saw them (discovery was part of the fun).

On the coffee table I layed out math manipulative blocks.
1 thru 10.

Bryson loved them, and TJ joined the fun. They made a stair tower.

Sissy created animals with them.

Dad & biggest brother Joe came home a little early;
the littles were thrilled!

Dad added a spinning skill to our learning trays.

~

Katie-girl
ended
the event
with
a
...
VALENTINE!

not a bad day with such random ideas =)

I *heart* homeschooling!

2011-02-08T01:06:00.000-08:00

I *heart* my husband!

I had one of "those" days...

ya know...

the...

didn't get enough sleep...

house is oh.so.messy.where.do.i.start...

a back-slidden-potty-trainee...

a not our usual smooth school room adventure...

can't seem to find a way to sneak into the shower...

kinda day!!!

Then the husband come home from a hards day of work...
and his wife has no interest to figure out something for dinner, AND wants to sit on her bum to watch not one, but two episodes of her favorite show. :^/

(nice, huh?... yeah, not so much)

He cleans the kitchen spotless, then fixes dinner, (yes, this is pitiful, I do know this), and strongly directs the older children into pitching in with the rest of the house disaster...

and as I feel like the loser wife of the century, I add to my not.so.lovely.charm.of.the.day by saying "hmmm, couldn't handle my day off eh?" (like why start a war? sheesh, what was i thinking?)

and dear Husband says in his matter-of-fact, plain, simply-stating-a- truth, calm-sorta-way...

"There is too much to do around here for any one (1) person"

ugh!

If he only knew that I LOVE...

doing his laundry so he always has the clothes he needs ready to wear...

keeping the house tidy so that he feels invited in after work...

pulling off a descent dinner to feed his stomach & warm his heart...

to keep finances in order as to be good stewards of his hard efforts of daily work...

schedules that keep our kids eager to learn, especially when dad is home to share with...

friday.night.candle.light.shave.my.legs.bubbly.baths
that helps me feel like a person (aka wife) again.

One of "those" days are rare, and it isn't pretty, but my man loves me anyways...

Thank you God for such a man as this! =)

2011-02-05T23:27:00.000-08:00

Learning w/ the Littles~

Andrew style

I discovered something about Andrew.

He thrives on the 3 R's concept.

I base Reading & wRiting on this simple format.

We study a page,
one page,
for an whole entire week.

Mon: use words/letter sounds to create flashcards. I read the entire page to him.
Tues: I re-read the story. He sounds out the flashcards. He wRites the words on no-lined paper.
Wed: He reads flashcards, then sounds out the story (w/ guidance); he then uses the flashcards to create (imitate) sentences.
Thurs: review flashcards, reads story, writes out one sentence. (I emphasize the need for a capital beginning and an end mark).
Fri: reads flashcards and story, has an oral spelling test for the words, and writes one sentence from dictation.

We do also work on word families in free time at his will:
this week is the ~at family.
And I just introduced word ladders to him, and because he knows sounds so well (since age 2) this has been very successful!

aRithmetic studies is currently addition facts. These particular flashcards we use have been excellent for visual comprehension! I have subtraction facts lined up and ready to use next!
And since I am sharing links from this wonderful lady, I mine as well add the plug that we use (& I love) her Letter-of-the-Week preschool program. no.strings.attached.just.appreciate.her.work.to.make.my.life.so.much.easier. =)

~Here
is
Andrew's
check list~

Read,

wRite,

aRithmetic,

& story time.

I find it best to do storytime in the evening, then in the morning he can narrate back to me. This seems to help him with retention/comprehension.

What I discovered about Andrew is that *fluffy* curriculum overwhelms him. I have homeschooled for 9 years, and have ran daycares/preschool programs much longer than that. I love the fluff! The songs, crafts, fingerplays, etc... I love the eager eyes of a young child having fun learning & playing all at once!

But our Andrew is special. He already has an overactive imagination, so additional imaginative stimulation only agitates him. The more he thinks it is suppose to be fun, or my delight in his learning is expressed, he quits. period.

Most kids thrive off of positive reinforcement; Andrew will do school work because that is what is done at our house.

He sees our other kids "do" school, they have a list to check off, it gets done; so he does his. I don't clap & "woot woot" at my senior student who finishes a difficult economics book, or do the happy dance when Katie gets 100% on a math test, so Andrew (being who he is & how he functions) does not want that fluff either.

The other kindergarten victory for Andrew is his ability to hold his pencil correctly...finally! Let the writing begin...

2011-02-01T01:37:00.000-08:00

Got love?

Valentines' Day is a holiday with such mixed messages.

I love the decorative-ness of it. Red is simply my favorite color. Hearts, lace, roses... This is when I am grateful for having a daughter, one whom squeals with glee at decorating for any holiday, but this one definitely has a feminine flair to it, don't ya think?

I do not care for Valentine's Day in itself. The commercialism, the pressure it puts on men, the expectation of 'want' that is pushed for us women. The idea of a holiday telling my husband that this is the day he HAS to tell me he loves me, that he should be getting me a mushy card, that he is suppose to buy me flowers, balloons, and a fabulous child-free romantic dinner out... this whole idea makes me nauseous...

this is when I hear all the wonderful stories of woo-ing that other husbands do. This is also when I hear of hurt feelings of a wife that didn't quite get what she was hoping for. This is when I cringe at the store that seems to scream at my husband to not forget his wife on this oh-so-important-holiday...

this is when I smile...
as I reflect at all the ways my husband tells me he loves me on a daily basis.

~He works hard everyday, both physically & mentally- always without complaint.
~He is incredibly patient, even on the days when he is exhausted.
~He is the one that originally initiated me to stay home to be full time mommy! WOW, that in itself was probably the one most important gift he has ever gave me.
~He knows how to make me smile with the simplest of a whisper & a glimmer in his eye.
~I love when he takes all the kids out to play- all.of.them.- great bonding time with the teens, and the littles run off a lot of extra energy, and I am finally able to get things done in the house. =)
~It is wonderful when he participates in our family reading time in the evenings.
~I appreciate that he never balks at my lack of skills in the kitchen (really, I am quite pitiful at cooking).
~I love that he is fully supportive of our children having a home-based education!

He loves me as-is~ the frumpy days, the energetic days, the pull-my-hair out days, the have-it-all-together days, my roundness days, my fitter fitness days, my house-is-a-disaster days, my compulsive-clean-every-nook-and-cranny days... through it all, Fred always loves me.

So as Valentine approaches, and the sweet nothings of romance begin all around us...

I'll quietly whisper thanks to the good Lord for this amazing man who completes me...

For ever, for always, and no matter what.....

2011-01-30T21:43:00.000-08:00

Got snow?

Why no, no we don't. We were to study snow for our month of January. We did get a snowman. Yet all our other snow experiments have gone by the way side *sigh*

So, we combined sugar, milk, & vanilla in a small baggie. We then placed the small baggie inside a larger baggie full of ice and salt.

shake, shake, SHAKE....

MMmmm

"Hey, it's actually ice cream!"

January Goals~

Science: Meteorology

Dec - cloud study
Jan- minimal snow study

Feb- a rain study... we can't go wrong with this in the Pacific northwest, right? =)

Bible:
The book of James
We are continuing Pilgrims Progress still...
it is quite the complex novel; a great lesson in metaphors too.

History:
The Life of Lafayette
U.S. Constitution/Federalist Papers...
we have barely cracked open this massive study yet,
thus we continue on...

Economics: (for Nick)
Not Yours to Give~ Davy Crockett
On That Day Began Lies~ Leonard Read
Weekly Current Events summaries

Literature:
Nick~ Johnny Tremain
TJ~ Valley Forge
Katie~ The Winter Snow of Red (Dear America study)

We are enjoying the Liberty Kids series while our studies are focusing on the Revolutionary War era.

English:
adverbs, quotations

Math:
Nick- irrational numbers, square root formulas, & review military time.
TJ- study of prisms & other 3 dimensional shapes, review percents/decimal/fractions.
Katie- simple division, review multiplication table, time, & money.

Fine Arts:
composer- Johannes Brahms
w/ Hungarian Dance No. 5
artist- Pablo Picasso
w/ Mother and Child
poetry/verse-1st Corinthians 13: 4-8
w/ Love is...

French:
We will be working on fluency & comprehension. Our study habits need to be improved and consistant this month. =)

Nature Study:
This study has been mostly limited to our "weather" study. We are due for an explorative outing, and rumor says it is suppose to be a dry week... a dry week? Did you notice our science agenda above? of course that would make sense... after all, this months experiments for our 'rain' study will include the need for RAIN! I am convinced that God has a sense of humor...really!

2011-01-26T09:59:00.000-08:00

Godly Living...

To Be...Submissive.

Wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives...
as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior...
your adornment must not be merely external-braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses- but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gently and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 1 Peter 3: 1-4

Ah, I know this Scripture all to well. I was not good at it, but it was my lifeline in our marriage for many a years. Can I tell you dear friends & family, that God is faithful in all things? Indeed, may I forever cry it on a mountain top!

I was not of a quiet & gentle spirit, and my husband was not obedient to the Word; this is how our marriage began. We loved each other very much, atleast what we knew as love; Christ was not at the center... and God had bigger plans for us. I don't want to throw my husband under the bus here, but I do want to be a bit candid & truthful of our challenges. Fred loved me, he was a fabulous dad, he was a hard worker, he had an inner calling of righteous things. He ignored that still small voice of reasoning (the Holy Spirit) for most of his life. His childhood was difficult, he lacked a positive male role model growing up, and frankly was an angry soul for many years. In the beginning years of our marriage I was outspoken & insecure. I desired stability, I felt shakened. I discerned what my husband chose to ignore; I knew the amazing person he was to be, he fought it. I saw hope, but felt lost. I trusted beyond our circumstances, beyond my own compacity to understand... and God, in His timing, was faithful to answer the cries of my heart.

The verse quoted at the top of this post is what I leaned on; I grasped onto its promises; I believed... and it became. Fred has now been walking with Christ for quite some time; 11 years to be exact. It is always a process of transformation, our walk w/ Jesus Christ, but the beautiful part is that we are doing it together.

For the wives:

This is not about what our husbands should be doing.

Yes, there is scripture that follows this verse that guides the men on their responsibilities towards us. We are not to judge, point, or reflect back to what our husbands "should" be doing... nope, that is not our place.

Our message is loud and clear at the beginning of the chapter....to be submissive.
(This does not mean to be abused, just to make that clear.)
Submissive~meekly obedient~to be gentle & quiet.

It is about our own heart issues,
it is not about our husbands qualifications.
It does not say only if your husband deserves this.
It is a calling to do what's right,
and in my case,
to do what is right without fear.
ie 1 Peter 3: 6

2011-01-23T23:13:00.000-08:00

Homeschool Reflections

Question #2

How to homeschool w/ littles in the home?

or, in my circumstance,

How to homeschool multiple age groups effectively?

There are several approaches (that I am aware of).

Do group activities...like nature walks, field trips, exercising science experi-
ments, etc.

Keep the littles busy w/ a snack & activity!

Send the overly active little one outside to play! of course, w/ safety in mind... we have a fenced yard, own a overprotective pitbull, and I have full view of him through a big window & a sliding glass door AND he usually has a buddy (aka sibling) that will always join him.

Lots can get done in a school day if one waits til the littles quiet time...shh (whoever wakes the baby, takes care of the baby, er toddler)

Another technique is to assign one sibling to play with a little during one-on-one time with another sibling. Rotate as necessary. =)

What works for us:

I chose self-learning a couple of years ago. That is, the older students are fully responsible to get their required work done without being told and with their best resource at hand (their own brain). Isn't that what we do to "teach" a subject? They are perfectly capable of doing the same research to get an answer as I am... the age of this responsiblity is a matter of maturity & parental discretion.

Our classroom schedule can be found here.

My older students get their core work done in the morning. Writing, English, Science, & Literature. This is done in the a.m. THIS is when I spend quality time w/ my littles. Where lessons, story time, & crafts are done. We follow this with lunch. Then I find that because I have had focused time with the littles, they usually are ready for some type of quiet time (usually a movie); this is when I have group studies w/ my older children. These are the 'extras' of education, but things I feel are important, and this is the time of day that keeps us connected as a family (and a school). FREE time follows. Activities are a bit chaotic at this time, but they have fun! The older boys often pick videos games, but it is not uncommon for them to kick a soccer ball around w/ the toddler, play scrabble w/ sissy, or wrestle w/ Andrew amongst a list of many other things. History & Bible are currently done in the evening when Dad can join us..but that's not school is it? that's just fabulous family time!

What does NOT work for us:

To expect, try, or attempt to give individual instruction for every subject to each student.
Don't get me wrong, they all need guidance & help from time to time; but spoon-fed instruction is not neccessary nor beneficial. One of the best approaches I apply is to ask a question of their questions. huh?

Katie "Mom, why does Tuttle (our turtle) sleep in its shell at night?"
Mom "Why don't you read about turtles in the encyclopedia, and tell me what you can find"
Usually, this is where she chooses to write about it, but will also have a great conversation with her dad & I about what she found out.

TJ "I don't understand Integer multiples?"
(in my day this was called "multiplication of fractions)
Mom "Can you write out the problem for me? What step would be next?"

I love the "how do you spell _ _ _ _ _ _"....
how would you spell _ _ _ _ _ _?
95% of the time they will spell it correct. =)

So, how 'bout you? If you homeschool and have little folks, how do you homeschool with littles around? What works for you?

2011-01-22T00:15:00.000-08:00

Home Business

vs

Nutritional Products

The business:

My dear husband is an entrepreneur at heart. It has been a calling; a God-gifted desire.

Fred knows the importance of families needing extra income. His aspiration is to guide others to help themselves. The thing that impresses on him most about being successful is the impact he can have helping others to do the same. It is a great thing when not only ourselves, but especially others, can gain financial freedom ... to do what they want to do ... when they want to do it.

Fred has gone through many trial-n-errors, researched endlessly, educated himself thoroughly, and kept his priorities in check (God, me, & the children). He was introduce to One24Online
about 5 months ago. He quickly realized that this was an unique opportunity at a business which allows anyone who wants to make a very good income from home to be able to do that.

The product:

NUTRITION MATTERS! My heart about this topic came quite by startled discovery.
My story:(in very short version) is that I was a sickly child. Yearly bronchitis, strep throat, & pneumonia episodes. Incessant coughing, runny noses, skin rashes were common. By the time I was 12 we finally discovered the culprit...Asthma & hayfever, & a few tidbits of other things. And there it began...testings (a very thorough, needle pricking ordeal), followed by weekly shots (for 5 years), nose sprays, inhalers, over-the-counter & prescribed meds, humidifiers, plastic on my sheets & pillow, no stuffed animals, & the infamous nightly box of tissues I went through...ugh. I literally never remember breathing out of both nostrils at the same time; at night I would swap sides to sleep on,just to try to get any free airway through a nostril. I had the also had the infamous "allergy sallute" aka wiping your drippy nose on your sleeve in a desparate attempt not to drip any where else- not proud of that visual, lol.
Fast forward to age 26- My sister-in-law & myself came across an herbal company. I was leary of all the hype (it was a new concept to us). Was it safe? Did it work? The first product I bought was Bee Pollen. I was told it was a perfect food. What caught my attention was it was said to help w/ ADHD which I clearly thought my oldest had (age 5 at the time). So we tried it, "we" means I took it also. I guess to see that it was safe? Anyways, about 6 weeks later, out of the blue, my heart pounded at a startling fact... I was mowing the lawn w/ baby on my back AND I could breathe. Mouth closed, both nostrils, breathing! Fresh oxygen entering my body... I was stunned... and never looked back. I still get occasional season triggers, but they are oh so mild compared to my past life. This is when I realized that holistic measures were valid. Admittedly, I am a bit 'anti-doctor/pharmaceutical'. I realize it has its purpose, but by all means I will try something natural first.

This product~ Natraburst

So the one product being introduced by the company my husband gained interest in was Natraburst. "Fine, order it, I'll try it out and let you know what I think" My words were there, but my attention was distracted, thus it took about a month before I actually opened the container to check it out. Hmmm, this stuff actually tastes good. A month later, hmmm, think I will let the kids try this out.

Now for all you folks that don't know us personally, we eat terribly, yes, I admit it. My husband is a sugar fiend, one child eats meat & junk, another child won't eat meat for the most part, and yet another child eats pretty much "beige" only (bland, boring, starch based things), and I myself, am a carb & diet soda nut. It's not pretty; I am not proud. So now you can see the importance of my interest to let the kids start taking this. By the 3rd month I requested us to put in a double order. By the 4th month I noticed subtle changes. My oldest homeschooler stayed more focused, the 13 yr old (a season of changes) moods were softened, dear daughter is not quite so whiny, and I am noticing some positive changes in our 6 yr old whom has some Aspergers tendancies. (I will soon be posting an update about Andrew) As for myself, diet soda is becoming less appealing *gasp* If my dear husband would be more consistant with his consumption of Natraburst, we could determine if it is helping with his lifetime battle with migraines... I will keep you posted on that one.

We are now in our 5th month with this business and its product (One24 and Natraburst).
Profits from this opportunity began s.l.o.w.l.y, but we have earned enough in a few months to pay for our double order and still have a bit to pocket! He is amazed at the simplicity of the program, and I adore the nutritional value it offers. For us, this is a win-win situation! Enough so, that we were compelled to share...thus our reason for the link on the sidebar of our humble lil blog.

Live well, laugh often, love always~

2011-01-16T18:25:00.000-08:00

Dissection

of a

snowman
and other tidbits of l.i.f.e. Academy.

So, in my previous post, we made a snowman. It began to snow at 6 p.m. & finished snowing at 10 p.m. ~thus we made a snowman at night. By mid-morning this is what was left of our Jack Frost...note: we felt the need to add our own paper snowflakes to get the full winter effect here. =)

We decided to observe the dissection of our snowman.
Do you see the tiny spot of that snow left? This was only a few hours later (in the afternoon). Some of Jack Frost remains were leaves, rocks, twigs, & a dog toy. That has to be the quickest life of a snowman ever!

l.i.f.e. Academy~

Nick enjoying a video game to himself because he is the only one whom gets up early to get his school work done & out of the way. Note: he does not enjoy getting his picture taken; like the "mom, what are you doing?" look he is giving me?

In here (mom & dad's room), I am sure TJ had the best intentions to get his work done. After all, I do see his math, grammar, & literature books out, along with a pencil even! Only he fell back to sleep...No worries though, Bryson was soon in being "Tigger" on the bed. =)

Bryson is always helpful in his own way....

Why, just moments before waking TJ, he decided to help himself get a snack. That would be a just-fresh-opened-bag-O-chips that he has spilled in his attempt at filling his own plate. And just because I know you are wondering; why yes, yes we do eat off the floor when this type of thing happens, because it happens a lot around here... haven't you heard of the 3 second, er 3 minute rule?

Meanwhile, Katie has continued her writing from the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWrMo from November). She is quite the budding little author, complete with illustrations too!

School is going great! Love the Robinson Curriculum we chose at the beginning of the year (in Aug). So much consistancy & simplicity, yet gaining knowledge by the books full... yay!

Andrew (6) is finally starting to get momentum in his willingness to learn. I am approaching his schooling in the same way as with the older kids. Reading, wRiting, & aRithmetic, the 3 R's are a must every day. Ofcourse, he does not know how to read, but he has reading time w/ me, and we are beginning our first McGuffey Primer lesson this week. I love those old-fashioned styled books! I'll let you know how it goes...

2011-01-12T00:30:00.000-08:00

How to build a snowman...

flatten the top of the first ball

~
have the little ones roll another ball to Dad

~
then add a head and accessories.

Be sure to become buddies w/ Jack Frost

We decided snowmen are kind like clowns, a bit creepy in stature, especially when they slowly deteriorate...is it just us?

We completed our winterland adventure w/ warm oatmeal cookies...

and plenty of hot cocoa to warm cold hands...
'cept our Andrew,
who requested soda instead. =)

2011-01-09T13:50:00.000-08:00

Homeschool Reflections

Chrissy has some fantastic homeschooling questions she has pondered since she began her journey back in summer of '09. I decided to begin a series here to help her (& others).

note: I do not have all the answers. In fact, most answers will be a matter of approach. It will depend on your individual interests as to what the right answer is for you & your family.

I will share my tidbits of thoughts here. If you have similar thoughts, completely different ideas, and/or your own post about the specific topic at hand, please do share in the comments section. Thank-you!

Reflection # 1

Do you name your "home" school?

We did not for many years. Infact, until we moved to a state that had stricter rules about "home-based education", I never even pondered the idea. Then the thought of pulling together Nick's high school transcripts for his diploma (aroung the end of his sophomore year) also guided the idea of naming our school.

My main approach to homeschooling is that it is a lifestyle, rather than a building. So I pulled together LIFE academy, but I wanted to apply an acronym to LIFE to bring it more meaning. I simply interrupted my 2 oldest sons playing a video game and asked what LIFE could stand for; without even a blink of an eye, and as matter-of-fact-as-can-be, my oldest son said "Living In Faith Everyday" and they continued to play their game. Hmmm, wow, that actually works for us... so there you have it....

l.i.f.e. Academy

So, what do you think? Did you create a name for your school?
Why or why not?

2011-01-06T17:59:00.000-08:00

My word of the year....

"BE"

I find this to be very suitable for me. For years the Lord has been teaching me to "be still"; many lessons have endured during this time;

Now it is time to embrace "to be", and I will share my journey & thoughts along the way...

2011-01-03T23:28:00.000-08:00

Takin' Care of Mama

My 30 day Challenge:

100 miles in 30 days. =)

Hop, skip, jump, walk, run...

I don't care how
I get it done,
but done it will get!

this is my motivation to ...

just...

get...

moving!

Jan. 02- Feb. 01

2011-01-02T19:43:00.000-08:00

l.i.f.e Academy

It is refreshing to realize we are halfway through the school year. This is usually a time, where the new calendar year begins, to start questioning myself on how we are doing; to second-guess my agenda & goals for my children; to juggle my ideas around. This is the first time I am just moving forward, no changes, confident that what we are doing is right for us. (Actually, I suppose that is not completely accurate, as I did switch up the literature reading for most of the kids, but that had already been done before now).

~3rd quarter~

December Goals...

Science:
Meteorology-
study of rain, wind, snow, & storms

Bible:
The 12 Apostles.
(family study w/ Mom)
Pilgrims Progress
(read aloud w/ Dad)

History:
Life of George Washington
(family read aloud w/ Mom)
Constitution & the Federalist Paper
(family study w/ Dad)

Economics:
What Has Government Done to Our Money
(a study for Nick, to get an economic credit for his high school transcripts)

Literature:
TJ- Rover Boys on the Ocean
Katie- Charlotte's Web
On the Banks of Plum Creek w/ Mom...
(from Nov. goals, just now getting to it ;^)

English:
Interjections! amazing adjectives, and conjuctions.

Math:
Katie- intro division, multiply by 8's & 9's
TJ- decimals, fractions, & percentages.
Nick- volumes of cylinders, cones, & pyramids.

Fine Arts:
composer- Sergei Prokofiev
w/ Peter & the Wolf
artist- Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze w/
George Washington Crossing the Delaware.
"quotes" from George Washingtons Rules of Civility

French:
We will be in the throws of lots of review this week. =) The following weeks will include Things we have, and Things that we do. This is our 2nd year, so conversation is beginning to get easier.

TOT School:
I am going to use a more multi-sensory teaching approach with Andrew (Bryson can just follow along w/ the fun). We use a lot of audio/visual activities. Some are embraced, others are strongly opposed...'sense of control' seems to be a determining factor. I am planning on introducing much more tactile means for teaching a concept. We do playdough, shaving-cream writing, & finger paints already. I intend to add sand paper, rice, velvet, & cold-cooked spaghetti noodles to the mix. This ought to be interesting.... =)

2010-12-28T21:24:00.000-08:00

Fresh beginnings in a New Year...

New goals,

New hopes,

New ideas,

New plans,

a renewed attitude...

In His strength, I will overcome,

In His grace, I will trust,

In His peace, I will desire,

In His silence, I will obey.

In His love, I will serve,

In His presence, I will praise

...humbly seeking His will, not mine...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and do not lean on your own understanding.
~Bring my decisions to God in prayer,
use my Bible as a guide,
& follow God's leading~

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your paths straight.
~to receive God's guidance, I must submit to His will~

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and and turn away from evil.

It will be healing to your body,
and refreshment to your bones.
~to be in awe, to fall at His feet w/ humble respect

Honor the Lord from your wealth,
and from the first of all your produce;
so your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will overflow with new wine.
~to give to God first will conquer greed,
help to manage God's resources,
& opens us up to receive God's special blessings.~

Proverbs 3; 5-10

2010-12-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS

from our home to yours....

My parents with their special
'Sugar'.
Oldest brother, Joe, conquers bop-it in one try!

My lil sis, Joe, & me.

My sister Janelle, & her husband Chris.
He was the chef of the day!
Prime rib & potato soup... Yummy!

Katie-girl made me a necklace, finger-knitted a lil scarf, and gave me a self-made coupon book FULL of helpful things!!

My sister-in-law Chanelle, & her friend Jeff.
He is reading about finger-knitting, along with all the many other ideas in "How to be the Best at Everything" book.

...and what do we do with a house full of children... send them outside to play!

Christmas evening,
when everyone went home,
my older boys had a blast outside...

with all the many gifts between all the children,
the one simple thing that entertained them most was...
mini-nerf guns & venturing out in the dark backyard. =)

May your New Year be full of Grace, Health, & Joy;
and may Jesus Christ's gift of eternal life give you much hope throughout the year!

Blessings to you & yours,

THE HOLLINGERS

2010-12-22T08:42:00.000-08:00

A Season of Grace

Shopping done,

Christmas dates done,

Internet down.

hmmm... what to do...

be home-bound & happy, of course!

We started our Monday with sugar-cookie cut-outs. Just ignore the messy floor & hutch, along with my no make-up face; hey, at least we were out of our jammies! ;^)

Monday afternoon we watched
"Elf",
then proceeded to finish up our Jesse Tree ornaments. We use our own devotional style, but I have had these ornaments to create with for the last several years. Katie loves for me to read the details for each of the ornaments, then let her "remember" what ornament goes with the story; and the older brothers love to pipe in the answer before she can. I love to see my children grasp the ancestry tree of Christ, following God's promises along the way.

Our week is full of simplicity, leaving chaos at the door. No more perfection-wanna-be out of me. No more hustle & bustle, rush to do everything, as the peace of my attitude speaks more clearly to those dear to me. Our daily agenda: baking, craft, movie, and a detailed jurisdiction.
(after all, I want our house smiling at us come Christmas morning!)

Tues- Snowball cookies, Christmas chains, Mickey Mouse's Christmas Carol, & bathroom detail.

Wed- Fudge, paper snowflakes, The Christmas Story, & living room detail.

Thurs- Peanut Butter Blossoms, Angel ornament crafts, Charlie Brown's Christmas, & kitchen detail.

Friday- It's Christmas Eve! Our oldest son, along with my sister, her husband, & their 3 boys should be here by evening! We will visit, laugh, enjoy popcorn and watch The Nativity Story.

May your Christmas be blessed with peace, laughter, & His love!

2010-12-17T00:30:00.000-08:00

Confessions of an unscheduled week...

because I like keeping things real,
and after all,
no one reads on friday, right?

9:30 up & checking e-mails
The senior student has been up, showered, and working on geometry already this morning. My 3rd grader is working on her dad's Christmas present; she is also stalling to do her school work. I ponder about a healthy breakfast, then fix School Day Biscuits (aka biscuits w/ cinamon sugar & frosting). The aroma gets my 8th grader to crawl out of bed; he begins his math while waiting for breakfast. =)

10:00 the littles are up...
The kinder is helping Mr. Tot build a marble tower...they soon part ways as the kinder wanders off to play with Mr. Potato Head while Mr. Tot proceeds to dump out all the toy cars to play with on the Candyland game board. Yes, this does mean that all the Candyland playing cards are scattered amongst the floor... and where is mom? Out in the living room encouraging her daughter to begin her math lesson.

11:00 simplest of chores...
toilets swiped, laundry swapped about, breakfast dishes being done... the older boys are watching "Monk" while Katie is practicing a card trick, and the littlest boys are now fighting over a controller to a game system (we have 3 controllers by the way).

12:00 lunch time
consists of salami, cheese, & crackers followed by apple slices w/ peanut butter.

1:00 Katie is now whining about not getting up more Christmas decorations (we have only done the tree), and I am bargaining for a clean house... the front door entry way gets cleaned. (?)
Grandma is baking cupcakes for a week end event. The older boys are now playing a video game, and the littlest boys are watching a movie. "The Best Christmas Present of All" with Donutman. Me? I am going through our budget and planning to pay bills amonst Christmas shopping.

2:30 Katie gets distracted by learning to Hand Knit (which seems kinda cool). TJ (13) is wrestling on the bed with the littlest boys.

3:00 Grandpa is up (he worked til 4:30 a.m) and now has the littlest boys running wild outside with him. Katie & TJ are fighting. TJ is pestering, Katie is screaming, I do not like neither choice... they now are "reading" quietly.

3:30 Katie is now playing outside w/ the littlest boys...and...they find a long lost Easter egg...and yes, she did eat the candy that was inside it! I am now tidying up the house with the intentions of being ready to decorate the house tonight. The older boys are playing Chess. The dear husband calls to let me know he is at the hospital(?). Did I mention he has a dry sense of humor? Yeah, well, he was checking out a job site which is at a hospital building. Funny, eh?

4:30 I am now going through paper clutter on our computer/school desk...bills, assignments, crafts, teacher notes, coupons, etc... The older boys are unloading the dishwasher, Katie is hand-knitting again, and the littlest boys are running through the house chasing each other (pretending to be Ninjas I do believe) with their tinker-toy swords.

5:00 All is quiet! All the kids are watching "Elf", cept Bryson, whom has nodded off for a nap. I am still pushing through paperwork. Daddy is now home, yay for me!

6:00 I am going with Katie to her ballet class for a special parent night, while Dad (& Andrew) took Nick to soccer practice. TJ had the challenging job of babysitting his sleeping littlest brother...he played a game while we were gone.

8:00 We are all back home now. Bryson is now up. Dinner? hmmm... fried eggs & left over French Toast for most of us, pizza for the rest of 'em. Did I mention I don't cook much?

9:00 The littlest boys play randomly about the house with stuffed animals and plastic fruit. Somewhere along the line the magnetic ABC letters came out too, as the rest of us sat together to watch two, yes 2, episodes of 24.

11:00 Dad heads to bed, as does Katie. I check my e-mails (again) and drop a note on facebook. I get sidetracked by reading a few blogs (hey, atleast I'm honest, lol).

12:00 Bryson (whom has new found energy) starts bullying Andrew in which TJ tries to rescue him; mom (me) intervenes by channeling my wild childs energy to play with a ball in the kitchen. Nick escapes to the bedroom during all the chaos.

12:30 The oldest boys head to bed, the littlest boys lay down to watch a movie. Do I dare admit it is a "Care Bear" movie? I spend this quiet time creating our Christmas Letter, planning some Christmas day activities, and then decide to type up this post; aimless, eh?

2:00 Everyone is finally asleep.... We never did get to the Christmas decorations, and as I look about the house I see a sink full of dishes; hats, shoes, coats strung about; cars, fruit, Mr Potato Head, & stuffed animals covering our floors. The trash needs to be taken out (as in over-flowing), and the tree needs water... I will head to bed in about an hour (after the house is smiling at me), and now you will know why I wasn't up until 9:30 a.m. in the first place.

So...How are YOUR days looking lately?

2010-12-09T23:42:00.000-08:00

Tis the Season ...

for thought pondering questions.

Like...

Why does everyone else seem to pull off fabulous family pictures during the holidays?
seriously, we pile everyone together and hope for the best...hmmm, maybe there is a better technique to it?

Why does there always seem to be an underlying thought that I am forgetting to do something during the holidays?
making a list, checking it twice... should I just let Santa worry about such things?

Simple or elaborate? decorations, that is.
I love the twinking lights, nativity scenes, & trinkets of glimmer... yet, does simplicity seem to bring Christ more into focus?

Presents! We keep it simple, sibling buying/making gifts for each other does bring meaning...
but what are other ways for us to display "we care" to the other people in our lives that we love?

The Christmas Letter!
I actually enjoy creating our Christmas letter. It is fun to ponder about blessings amongst trials in our year... although I am thrilled to read other folks message, who really actually likes to read ours?? (I can just picture someone rolling their eyes while reading my musings ;^)

Christmas Day! My hope is for joyful celebrations; a day filled with family, fun, fellowship, & food... yet how best can my actions display the most precious gift of this day,
the love of Jesus Christ?

2010-12-05T17:50:00.000-08:00

l.i.f.e. Academy

Our latest field trip was to a local children's museum. Andrew received a "family" membership for his birthday! yay! Grandma Michele & Aunt Chanelle came with us to explore our new found fun!

~December goals~

French:
We missed most of our formal lessons last month due to illness, snow, & holidays. We will be practicing what we do know as a review this month.

English:
nothing formal this month, just practice & review.

Fine Arts:
Composer Piotr Ilyich Chaikovsky "The Nutcracker"
Artist Musee D' Orsay "The Dance Class"
Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"

History:
Last month we studied the Pilgrim heritage, and are continuing on to Jamestown this month.

Math:
reviews, practice fast facts, and a pop quiz this month.

Literature:
free reading choice

Science:

The water cycle, cloud study, weather analysis, & experiments on salt water.

Note: We intentionally have a light load for our studies in December as to focus our attention more on Christ through this can-be chaotic season. We will focus on peaceful purpose & loving attitudes. We will enjoy some hands-on activities such as crafts, baking, games, and add to our Jesse tree each day. Lesson on finances are a must during this season by earning money & spending wisely towards sibling gifts to each other. This will also include researching different charity causes, and donating to one of them.

Our Classroom Schedule:

Morning:
1/2 hr writing
1/2 hr English (grammar, punctuation, & vocabulary)
1/2 hr Science
1/2 hr Literature
1 hour Math

Afternoon:
1/2 hr French
1/2 hr Fine arts
1 hr history
(reading, map work, & sometimes history related activities)

Fine arts is broken into days:
Monday is our official Bible lesson,
(w/ scripture review the rest of the days)
Tuesday is our composer study.
(we continue to listen to the musical piece all week)
Wednesday is our artist study.
Thursday is our poet study.
Friday is our Nature Study.

Notice that I did not list a time on our schedule =)
Ideally we would do 9 a.m. - noon, and 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.,
but I am into keeping it real, right? so....

We have been staying up late (is 1 a.m. late? ok, ok, it's more like 3 a.m. for me),
and I am getting up around 9 (laughing at myself, because I am a morning person, the day is half over by then!) while the others get up around 10. This would mean our "morning studies" is done closer to afternoon, and our afternoon studies are done more towards evening. I don't really care when it gets done as long as it does.

Anyone else have odd hours? just wondering...

2010-12-04T00:58:00.000-08:00

Andrew is 6
Why yes, there is only 2 candles on the cake, but Andrew just thought he was sharing a turn with his little brother. Hey, give us a break, it was all we had in the drawer, and Andrew was not about to wait for us to run to the store...so... simple is as simple does =)

Grandma made the cake; she is practicing her new cake decorating skills! All the kids cheered her on~ more decoration = more frosting.

And just in case we don't seem simple enough, check out our home-made wrapping paper. Each sibling gets to decorate their own paper! (psst, I bought a humongous roll of this stuff for $1 at a garage sale years ago).

Birthday gifts seems to have a pattern with each child-

Something practical- snow boots & tennis shoes
Something educational- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book
Something family bonding- Hungry Hungry Hippos
(yes, even the older boys play this too)
Something personality related- new action figures.
A handful of miniature ones. Andrew loves his "peoples", always has. You know, the Fisher Price kind. Andrew is now 6, and I figure it is time to introduce "bigger boy" toys to him. I am not at all thrilled with current action figures for the most part; seems to me that cartoons are more meant for adults nowadays. So, when I pick out a handful of Incredible Hulk, Spiderman, Batman, Superman...this is with the intent of letting him see the old classic cartoons.

Andrew is proud to be 6!
His (our) 6 yr old goals are:
1) Keep our (his) clothes on~
I swear the child thinks Mogli (from Jungle Book) is his brother.
2) Be willing to communicate clearly by using his words thoughtfully.
3) Learn to read
4) To be an official participant of our chore list (yay me!)

The "little" years go by so fast,
and off he goes to his "middle" years...
Can I still say Learning w/ the Littles if now he is a middle? hmmm.....

2010-12-02T13:48:00.000-08:00

Our Seasonal Tree~

FALL

Ee - eagle
Ff - frogs
Gg - grasshoppers
Hh - harvest
Ii - inchworms

2010-11-29T23:28:00.000-08:00

MONDAYS?

Takin' Care of Mama

I
love
Mondays!

Know why?

because it is always full of new beginnings.

a new week, new ideas, new attitude, new efforts, new goals.

My November goals to drink more water, move some, & choose healthier foods was challenging. I mean seriously, this is the month of Thanksgiving right? I have drank more water, and I did go for A walk....yesterday. =)

I have gotten up early a handful of times to have some quiet time w/ the Lord.... which leads me to Decembers goals.

Fitness: Indeed I have a desire to begin walking again (note "new attitude" above).
We have a membership to a gym down the street, so I cannot have a "fair-weathered" excuse. Snow shmoe...here I go....

Nutrition: a repeat goal (note "new efforts" above) towards 6 small mini meals, and to continue to drink a healthy amount of water.

Spiritual Health: (note "new goals" ) I love my concept for a spiritual triathlon (15 min each of praying, worshipping, and reading the Bible).

My focus on new ideas is in reflection to this time of year. Chaos, stress, ...these are the things that creep into my December. I have improved my approach to Christmas over the last few years, yet... this year I seek something a bit different... more peaceful, more calm, more grace... a time to be still, listen, seek... to show my children the true Spirit of Christmas.

To approach this blessed season with a fresh newness to share God's love in our simplest of days

This series is encouraged by Mama D

2010-11-28T18:16:00.000-08:00

Thankful for....

my kids!
Nick,
TJ,
Andrew,
Katie-girl,
Joe, &
Bryson.

The in-laws family-
this would be Fred's stepmoms' family. Cindy is sitting by the beautiful Husky. They are all lovely to visit with!

The Turkey Bowl?
My dear husband & the older boys play football with the hometown folks every year...and every year "something" is dramatic. This year? Fred's face met up with someones head...knocked out, dislocated jaw...no worries, some guy on the field popped it back in place...and he was good for eating the Turkey Dinner!

Xbox 360
A few games of spongebob & teenage mutant ninja turtles kept Bryson busy while we were setting the table.

Jenna!
This is Fred's little sister. We all love spending time with her. She is the same age as our Nick; and yes, she is loved on and picked on as much as with our own kids. =)

Dad (aka Grandpa)
Fred's dad is always a hand-on Grandpa. From marbles to rough housing to croquet to playing golf at the local golf course, he always finds ways to spend time with the kids.

I am so very thankful for family, to be able to spend a relaxing time with them, and to continue to make wonderful memories...

Thank you God for each simple gift that lays within our days, and may our everyday moments continue to be filled with your Grace...Amen.

2010-11-23T23:30:00.000-08:00

~

H
O
L
I
D
A
Y

~
PERFECTION?

Oh, I had some lovely intentions...really I did.
Our school studies for Thanksgiving week were outlined w/ purpose. And oh, the grand plans I had for our "Thankful for Each Other" party... crafts, games, prayer, snacks, & a movie.

Yep, I sure did... then it snowed. Who keeps kids inside studying when there is fun to be had?
Not this mom!
Frigid temperatures insist on icy roads, so when we were going to have our party, we now are hitting the road to stay with family a day earlier than planned...

We will open our Thankful letters before we go. Each child wrote a word to each sibling. Anything from "she's ok" to "He's crazy, I like that" to "I'm glad I'm bigger" to "He's funny & outgoing". Ha, did you expect it to have more meaning? Heartfelt & thought pondering? Oh, I did... but hey, welcome to our simple world. ;^)

Does anybody struggle with the attempt at a perfect holiday?

Does this effort rob the joy out of the intent?

I am a planner, a type A personality, I want things perfect. What I have discovered over the years is that to strive towards perfection steals the desires and efforts of pleasing others.

Holidays are not about the clean house,
not about the decorations,
not even about the food,
it is about the people.
Those whom we care about, adore, love.

So during this holiday of Thanksgiving...
I will slow down to...
embrace a small child,
listen to a talkative young lady,
pay attention to a quiet guest,
hug the host,
& whisper a grateful message into each ear that is near me this day.

Give thanks to the Lord, His love endures forever.............

2010-11-22T11:56:00.000-08:00

Learning
with the
Littles...

Ff week

Dominoes gave us an example of follow-the-leader...

Forts were made, and fans were used....

...and we had plenty of fish activities for the week.

Gg week included puzzles, size sorting,

magnets, & tracer pages of Gumball machines.

Ff activities were based off Abeka curriculum.
Gg activites were found here ~love this gal for simple preschool busy activities!

2010-11-17T16:37:00.000-08:00

Soccer in the North
West.

Little brothers love to watch big brothers play. =)

Little sisters hang in there patiently as big brothers play. =)

Nick is # 5. He's back to playing in the games after 7 weeks off due to a bone injury.

Most times he wins the ball....

and sometimes

... he doesn't. ;^)

2010-11-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

Praising God for Mothers, Sisters, & Daughters.

We went to a Mother/
Daughter Tea yesterday!

I *heart* my mom! She is beautiful!
She taught me about unconditional love.
She also taught me that mistakes get made,
we learn from them, and we move on to better things.
I am blessed to be living with her for this season...

Sisters...now, I have a sister (love you sissy!!!) and I have a dear s.i.l. (*wave* to Chanelle)...but today I am sharing about sisters-in-Christ.

Our Mother/Daughter tea was at a church... a black church. A God glorifying, hope honoring, spiritual seeking, gospel gleaming, praise precious church. These beautiful ladies give fresh perspective on "sisters"-in-Christ. They sing, they praise, they worship, they pray (and pray they do), they dance, they rejoice, they relate, and they let down their guard and kept it real. AND they looked good, lol. NOT that that matters ;^) The hats, gloves, and shoes of these women were stunning; but they are the first to admit that they share, borrow, and bargain shop; but I am not talking about the outer beauty. These "sisters" know that Christ is their King, and they treat themselves (and each other) like the precious jewels they are.

Daughters~ my daughter is lovely.
She adores doing things with me. Even simple things like making donuts together, or reading together. I love taking her to mother/daughter events. She lights up.
She had a nice time at the tea, too. She had a "twin" at the tea. A young girl, 9, came up to introduce herself. Both the girls were wearing the SAME dress. Now, as women, that is something we prefer not to happen....girls, on the other hand, seem to use it as a connection.
They were simply adorable.
Black girl, black hat, black gloves, black shoes;
white girl, white pearls, white gloves, white shoes...
yearning to be ladies; learning to be sisters-in-Christ.

May I always Shine His Light in a way that my daughter can follow His path....
and may she be much more graceful through it than I am!

2010-11-10T14:52:00.000-08:00

Learning
with the
Littles.

Letter of the week: Ff

Katie-girl reads during Story Time.

Andrew helps count the Frogs, Firemen, & Fish.

Bryson loves helping his mama color!

Abstract
vs
Concrete...

Our Andrew thinks differently. He is clever; his brain just processess things differently. I, as his mom & teacher, am still learning how that works, and what school will look like for him.

Andrew has had reading lessons for a few months now. "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" I love this book....very effective & efficient. We are not getting very far. He does not want to do it. Is this rebelliousness...or lack of attention... or... too concrete?

So, I pull out an old book called "The Heart of Learning" from Oak Meadows. I researched this curriculum at the beginning of our homeschool journey. (9 years ago) Back then I was researching how to best help Nick absorb information while reading. The concept from this is interesting. It is not a Christian based curriculum; it has more of a 'Mother Earth' tone to it. None-the-less it has some fascinating concepts to guide the child while grasping how they learn... being aware of the mind, heart, & body.

I decide to approach "school" for Andrew at a different angle. Today we had Story Time & Table Time.

Table Time: A stack of paper...and crayons.
Too simple? ...not so much....

The crayons create softer lines than markers, so this was intentional. Andrew is an abstract thinker...he has a lot going on in his brain at once, but to create a concrete idea, it takes process.

His Lesson: Each of us have one blank piece of paper.

I draw grass...not a concrete line, but blades of grass...randomly across the bottom of the paper.

I talk about how grass grows from the ground.

He draws a sun...with a smiley face.

I draw a flower stem...from the grass upwards.

I talk about how flowers grow up out of the ground.

He draws the moon... with a smiley face.

I draw the flower...discussing the flower petals as I go.

He draws two people...he decides that it is him and Katie.

I let Bryson "color" my sketched picture I drew.

While I am "busy" with Bryson...

Andrew draws grass (blades of grass)

While I am talking with Katie (still at the table)...

Andrew draws the flowers (focusing on creating petals).

He begins to take pride in his project, and starts to talk about his creation.

The sun & the moon are Far away.

The two people are Friends.

Our lesson was on the letter Ff.

What I thought was lack of attention was actually very intentional...

and sometimes it takes a mama a moment to slow down, view things from a different angle, and to simply...listen.

2010-11-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

Takin' Care of Mama

A journey of getting healthy,
both spiritually and physically.

Encouraged by Mama D.

My Week...

started with lots of ponderings, prayer, & some patience.

I came up with my Healthy Plan...and then I came up with the flu for several days. Nothing like the desire to get healthy when you feel really ill. ;^)

The first topic of my Healthy Plan is Fitness.

I like fitness.
I love being active.
I just never get around to finding time "for me" to get it done
(aka I don't find time for myself.)
Walking is my favorite; It loosens my joints, strengthens my muscles, slowly slims my roundness, and clears my mental thinking.

My fitness plan for this month is to just get started. How's that for big goals?

Next is Nutrition.

I already mentioned that I can't diet. But dieting is something temporary. It is a quick fix. Something that I see as a short term goal. I have to approach my nutrition as a life style change. As a way to get healthy. To feel better from within.

I cannot make rules. That becomes a diet.
You know, like:
*no sugar, no carbs
*limit to 1500 calories
*don't eat after 8 p.m.

I can, however, make guidelines.
Like:
*Balanced nutrition. This would mean adding vegetables to my meals. =)
*Drink less caffeine; drink more water.
*plan 6 small meals to keep metabolism up & hunger down.

My nutrition plan for this month is to eat small balanced meals, and to drink more water.

Last, but not least, is my spiritual health.

This mama needs prayer time, wants Bible reading time, and craves good worship music. I will seek this time in the quiet hours of the morning.

My spiritual goal for this month is the Spiritual Triathlon.

15 min. reading, 15 min. praying, 15 min. listening.

~Next week I will share my opinions about "the scale"
AND
~why I think my health should be important to me.

So, what steps are you willing to take to be a healthier you?

2010-11-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

Our Family Fall Nature Walk

Not too bad a picture for throwing them all under a tree.

Bryson was checking out the mushroom Daddy found. He tried to lick it like an ice cream cone. Thankfully this child has tamed down a bit, and didn't once run off towards the cliffs or hillside. This makes for a much more peaceful nature walk!

This completes our "year round" study of the environment at this particular nature trail. We started our observations last winter, and continued our research of wildlife and nature through all four seasons. Kind of a fun project to do.

Today's trip was to gather seeds & leaves, search for bugs, and to take note of which animals were still around.

It was a great outing, and the weather was beautiful. Days like these make me slow down my thoughts and be grateful for the more simple moments in life.