Sunday, June 29, 2014

My FAVORITE planner!

I attended the Teach Them Diligently convention last week....and it was AHHH-mazing!!  I'm working on that post but I had to share my excitement.

The fam and I went to Mardel last summer. I was looking for Explode the Code workbooks and a couple other things. Mardel is my all time FAVE store. I can easily browse for a couple hours in there. 

So while browsing, I found the 2013-2014 A Simple Plan planner. Fell in LOVE. And I was in need of a new planner. Also....it was on sale.  BONUS!

Grabbed it. Took it home. And started planning my year. LOVED my planner all year long and waited patiently for the new 2014-2015 planner to come out.

Then I missed the sale at Mardel.

I had determined I would just have to pay full price for it, even though I can't stand to pay full price for anything! (It's only $19.99...which is a GREAT deal anyway!)

I found out Mardel was going to be at the TTD convention so I impatiently waited...hoping maybe it would be on sale again.

IT WAS!! YAY!! Isn't it pretty?!






While I'm sharing my excitement over my new planner, I thought I'd also share something I do a little differently with it.  Last year I started out by writing all the subjects down the side like the suggestion. I quickly realized that with four school-age kids and so many different subjects, it wouldn't all fit. 

I experimented a little and came up with this solution.  I list their names down the side as well as a *Together* spot (things the middles do together like history and science). Each child then has six spots for their subjects. I still have to combine a couple of things like Language Arts for Nathan but I have plenty of room to fill in all of their subjects.

I love that there is just enough room for all five boys and a *Together*!! 
 

Here is an example of how I list the subjects. Now I can just put the lesson or page numbers on each day across the week. 
 





I LOVE these pockets on the inside front and back covers! Sturdy enough to hold my comp notebook with all my notes for the year!




If you want to check out the planner and see inside pages, go HERE!!

Can't wait to share my TTD experience!!  Have an AWESOME week!!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Hi y'all!

It's been a loooong while since I've posted! Over a half year.  YIKES!!

Things didn't go so well for us this past school year. We're still working on things that should have been finished late April/early May! To say I've been overwhelmed is an understatement.

I burned plum out somewhere around Christmas and never recovered. It wasn't one big thing in particular but a collection of many small things...that ran over me like a colony of ants attacking an unfinished apple on a picnic blanket.

I  never recovered but I kept plugging away, not trying to play catch up...just trying to not fall farther and farther behind. Fun stuff was neglected. The kindergartener's schoolwork was neglected. The laundry and housework were neglected. *sigh*

Around January or February, I jokingly told the ladies in our women's bible study group that I would be happy if we just finished this school year the day before next school year. *sigh* Oh how close that joke is to becoming truth...

On top of that, I've stayed on the injured list in one form or another pretty much since the week after I finished my first half marathon. Very little running (which is my stress release).

We did have some fun moments! I promise! It wasn't all dark and dreary. We had plenty of bright and shiny moments.  Co-op classes, games, sports, play dates, field trips.





Christmas parties!!

Prom!!



His first year!
Kindergarten Graduation!!!

New Driver!!!
a LOT of baseball! Three teams this year!!!

And a lot of other fun stuff. The school year wasn't a total bummer.

However.....

I'm looking forward to a much more productive and fun 2014-15 school year.....if we can ever get out of this one! Ha!

I am super excited about the encouragement and support I will surely get this week as I join a few of my homeschool mama friends on a trip to the Dallas Teach Them Diligently convention.  YAY!!!! 
Can't wait to sit and listen to speakers like Hal and Melanie Young from Raising Real Men, Brooke from MOB Society, Amy Robers from Raising Arrows, and so many more!

Three days of just soaking up some love and encouragement and inspiration....with some of my fave mamas. My heart needs this SO much!! Even my boys are excited for me. :)


I hope to come back fired up, ready to knock out the remainder of this school year, and start planning next school year.


And I hope to keep up a little more with this blog!  I like the accountability it brings....who knows who all reads this. Eeek! I need to bring my A game and actually accomplish something, lest all two of you think I'm a major slacker. I like having weekly notes of what we've done. It's encouraging to look back and see how far we've come in our school year...and nice to revisit fun memories.  And I feel more creative. When I blog, I tend to read others' blogs and find inspiration.

We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I can get back into the blogging habit.

.....I'm kind of a major slacker though. ;)

Happy Summer!!!