tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7590652913030829742024-03-13T13:25:42.014-07:00Our Burd NestHomeschool mom to five boys. Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.comBlogger213125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-90695622984116184532017-03-14T12:36:00.003-07:002017-03-16T11:58:59.790-07:00 Homeschool Co-op Day & Weekly Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We had SO much fun with our first vlog. The boys really got into it. I wish we could have taken the camera into our co-op classes but I didn't want to be disruptive or have other children on our video. We did take a couple pictures!<br />
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Last week's homeschool review:<br />
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Can I just say how much I love the Charlotte Mason method? Every day that we get closer and closer to a full CM schedule, I love homeschooling even more. I love our schedule right now. It isn't perfect...or even near but it is fun and SO educational. My boys have commented on how much they love school now. They love all the extra book reading, especially the read-alouds. They are thriving with the shorter work times. Our days are pleasant and organized and lovely.<br />
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Monday-Thursday: Like I said, our schedule is still a work in progress. As I get an aspect of the CM method down, I add it to our schedule. <br />
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Right now, we begin with Bible devo and study. Then we break into some individual work. We added a new spelling program, and while I don't know how CM it is, it is working so well with my boys. My oldest two at home do that while Drake starts his math. Then we switch...older boys do math and Drake sits with me for his reading/phonics. He has some reading disabilities but he is working hard and doing a great job!<br />
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Next is the bulk of our group work. Our schedule rotates some within this group work. By summer, I will have the loop schedule figured out and we'll be flying! After a bit more individual work, we take a break for lunch. I love that most of our school day is finished by lunch! <br />
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After lunch, we do some chores and then enjoy some free time....boys outside, Mom in her craft area. We come back together for snack and literature time. Then our day is done. Boys usually back outside until Dad comes home. Or some time on the xbox if the weather is bad. <br />
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I still have several things to add. I'm exploring options for handicrafts, drawing, and music lessons. <br />
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Friday: Right now, we have two hours of co-op in the middle of our morning. We end at lunch and then do all of our grocery shopping. Once co-op ends in April, we will add subjects from home again. I'm not sure how it will look yet though.<br />
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I can't wait to share a more permanent schedule later on. <br />
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I hope you enjoy our first Day in the Life video. We are definitely excited to do more in the future.<br />
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See you soon!<br />
Chrsitie đź’™<br />
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Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-24359439327325972312017-03-13T14:57:00.002-07:002017-03-13T18:39:37.618-07:00Meal Plan & Grocery HaulHello! I hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was busy and SO fun. We had co-op classes Friday morning and then the afternoon was spent grocery shopping. Then a lot of catch-up/cleaning on Saturday along with an evening of games with my oldest stepson and his family. Then we lost an hour on Sunday! Ha! Church and an afternoon with my mom. We were just worn out from the activities and time change. I really didn't want to do much today but rest and recover.<br />
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I did have to finalize my meal plan and thought I would share with you. I have the grocery haul video at the bottom of this post. I plan from Friday to Thursday since I always grocery shop on Fridays. So let's get right to it....<br />
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Friday: We had pizza. The boys had one from Aldi and I made a low-carb pizza for Bo and me<br />
Saturday: We had a lot of yummy appetizer-type foods for our game night.<br />
Sunday: We really didn't have dinner. We kind of just snacked around and everyone fended for themselves.<br />
Monday: Bruschetta Chicken on the grill with a side and veggie side.<br />
Tuesday: Taco Tuesday!!<br />
Wednesday: Fish and salad<br />
Thursday: Grilled chicken/veggie kabobs<br />
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That's it! Nothing inspiring. I didn't plan well last week before grocery shopping so our meal plan isn't exciting at all. Ha! I hope you all have a fabulous week! I hope your Monday hasn't been terribly difficult with the time change. I'll see you later!<br />
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Below is my YouTube video of the grocery haul. I've just started on YouTube so be kind. Ha! It's harder than it looks!!!<br />
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Christie đź’™<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YkS_RXlmNiw" width="480"></iframe>Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-30081200114423752012017-03-05T15:12:00.000-08:002017-03-05T15:12:38.276-08:00February RecapOh man. February was a tough month. I feel like we were sick the whole month. Were we?! I can't remember exactly. What I do remember is that we didn't get a lot accomplished.<br />
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On the home front: I caught a cold or some kind of virus and got very sick. So. Sick. For three weeks. Then, in the middle of that, Joshua became ill. When his fever wouldn't break, I took the two of us to the doctor. Thankfully, he tested negative for strep and flu. The doctor didn't test me because he said I had bronchitis and pneumonia and would need the same meds anyway. He put me on a Z-pack which was awesome. I felt better in about a week, but that cough hung on for a couple more weeks.<br />
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The hubs and boys did manage to surprised me with fun Valentine's gifts.<br />
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Then, as I was finally feeling well, Kaleb got sick. He just felt weak and tired, and had a fever. Same as me. After a few days of that, he came to me one afternoon and said he was having trouble breathing so we headed to the walk-in clinic. The one Joshua and I went to was closed so we went to a different one. Kaleb had two chest x-rays done. The doctor told me that he had a partially collapsed lung and that we needed to head to the ER! He kept talking about chest tubes and maybe a transfer to Children's Hospital!! The ER doctor, however, disagreed and said it was simply a bad case of pneumonia. So a Z-pack for him too!<br />
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Needless to say, none of the projects I had planned actually got done in February. Really nothing got done. The hubs, poor man...came home from 10-12 hour work days to cook dinner and clean house while I was sick. I literally spent a month, just laying on the couch. Occasionally, I would get up and do things but I'd just wind up back on the couch. Then the same with Kaleb for two weeks.<br />
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However, everyone was well enough to attend the much anticipated Newsboys concert at the end of the month! Kaleb's 2nd concert and a first for Gabriel and Drake. Joshua spent the evening with his grandpa. They had a great time and so did we. It was an awesome concert. All that my boys were hoping it would be and, as a bonus, we received three meet-and-great tickets. Plus a gift card for two free t-shirts. Drake decided he would be too shy to meet the band so he stayed back with Dad while I took Kaleb and Gabriel to get autographs.<br />
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Homeschool: While I was sick, we did nothing. I couldn't read aloud without coughing and couldn't sit at the kitchen table. The boys did an occasional math lesson....if they understood it on their own, but that is about it. We watched some educational stuff of TV but mostly the boys just played and had a fun home-bound school break.<br />
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I did spend a lot of my sick time reading on my own. I want to switch our homeschool approach to Charlotte Mason. I've been reading everything I can get my hands on about her. I started listening to The Delectable Education podcast which I love. Between the podcast and books, I am SOLD! We tried it a little bit before I got sick and our school day did go a lot smoother. I also realized a lot of our group work aligns well with Charlotte Mason's philosophies so we're not too far off base anyway. I'm excited to dive in deeper this month.<br />
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So that's about it. Hoping and praying that March is much nicer to us. We have baseball sign-ups, Drake's birthday, and some fun field trips coming up. Also our local homeschool co-op has started. Should be a fun and busy month!<br />
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Christie đź’™Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-15697974033141657182017-03-04T19:11:00.001-08:002017-03-04T19:33:06.364-08:00Have Faith & Remember His LoveMy grandpa passed away this week. He had been sick for many years with Alzheimer's. I hadn't seen him in a very long time. He was the best grandpa. I have enjoyed spending time reliving old memories. <br />
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I was thinking of him when I came across a <a href="http://www.documentedfaith.com/" target="_blank">Documented Faith</a> devotion on 2 Corinthians 4:18. <br />
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<span style="background-color: #fdfeff; color: #001320; font-family: "arimo" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.</span></blockquote>
As soon as I saw the little prayer printable, I knew I wanted to add it to my bible. And the idea for the page just flowed from there. As I sat at the table, staring at the little prayer printable, I thought about Grandpa and how unfair it was that such a terrible disease overtook him. What would the last years of his life had been like if he hadn't been sick? How many more years would he have had to enjoy his grandchildren and great-grandchildren? And I thought about the toll this disease has taken on my grandma. She went to the nursing home every day to feed him lunch. All of the heartache she must have felt over these years, watching her husband fade away.<br />
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As I sat there, I realized that we may never know why Grandpa had Alzheimer's and it may never make sense to us on this side of Heaven. BUT! That's ok. We don't have to understand. We just have to believe that God is a good, good God. He loves us so very much and he can use even this for His good. I also know that Grandpa is rejoicing in Heaven right now. He is with Jesus and his baby girl. He is in no pain. He has fully recovered his mind. He is at peace. </div>
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Last night as I painted and stamped and prayed, the words to journal just would not come to me. I left the bottom blank because I just couldn't find the words that I wanted to write. </div>
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Then, at Grandpa's funeral this morning, one of the pastors mentioned this very verse and said that when we have faith, we live differently. We live eternally. We know that God (and His plan) is right and good. Our lives reflect that faith when we care for others. Grandpa was a giver and a doer. He was most happy when he was helping someone else. He lived out his faith. He did it because he remembered God's love and shared it with others. Those are the words. </div>
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I grabbed an extra program from the funeral home today. I want to add it to the back of the prayer in my bible as a reminder that faith is living differently, giving and doing, sharing God's love. I'll always have Grandpa's life as a reminder of what living a faithful life looks like. </div>
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I'm so thankful for the years that I had with Grandpa. I'm reminded this week that life is fleeting. We have a limited number of days to love others. One day, I hope people say the same about me, that I lived out my faith, remembered God's love, and shared it with others. </div>
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Christie đź’™</div>
Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-85409703808095284452017-02-28T17:24:00.000-08:002017-03-04T17:26:16.156-08:00Oh, Charlotte Mason...I think I love you.<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
First, a little back story:</div>
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We have been homeschooling since 2008 when we pulled my oldest son, Nathan, out of public school. Now, I have to admit that I love public school. I loved my own school days and, up until this point in 2008, I had planned on being a public school teacher. I had no plans of homeschooling. Unfortunately, the school system didn’t want to work with us, concerning my son’s ADHD. His teacher actually told me that she would just rather I give him medication and not worry about the rest. The rest…being a 30 lb weight loss in a few month’s time, depression, anger, and many other troubling side effects. I decided that maybe I could just teach him myself and see how it goes. After all, I had planned on teaching a room full of students….how hard could one be?</div>
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I quickly realized that I knew nothing about homeschooling and turned to the experts….my local homeschool mama friends. We stumbled around with curriculum and schedule and life, really, for the first year. However, I did my research and our second year was much better. Since Nathan was so used to public school, a mostly school-at-home approach worked best for him. By the second year, we added in Kaleb and just had fun. A lot of books. A lot of worksheets. A lot of crafts. A LOT of library time!</div>
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Soon after, I discovered The Well-Trained Mind forum board and was hooked! This approach worked well and was similar enough to our school-at-home that the boys never missed a beat. We had a few GREAT years!</div>
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However, I began to notice a discontentment in myself over time. I would drop this curriculum, add that one. Changed our schedule around. Nothing seemed to get us back to the joy that we had experience those first few years. I just became frustrated with all of it. My oldest spent his 9th grade year in public school and I was kind of relieved. Homeschool wasn’t fun anymore. Or even enjoyable. Or tolerable. It was actually pretty terrible. My youngers and I kept at it though. I had a 3rd grader, 1st grader, and preschooler so I kept it pretty light that year. I combined all of the subjects that I could. We sat on the couch and read as much as we could. And I didn’t stress about the rest. We found a little bit of our joy. Nathan came back home in the 10th grade and we tried again. The joy didn’t last and we found ourselves once again miserable. I decided that maybe I just couldn’t teach upper grades, and my boys should probably go into public school once they reached a certain grade.</div>
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Fast forward to January of last year:</div>
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My oldest graduated with his GED. He just began to refuse to do schoolwork so I told him he needed to work on getting his GED before he turned 18. On his 18th birthday, he passed the last test. It took that smartypants only two weeks to take all of the required tests to receive his GED!! That made me feel so much better about our homeschool. Even in the midst of struggle, he was still learning.</div>
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With a new school year beginning in the fall and the pressure of high school temporarily out of the picture, I declared Fall 2016-Spring 2017 the year of Fun School. If it was fun and even remotely educational, we were going to do it. And really we have. Three different sports in the fall. So many field trips. Fun days. Play dates. Parties. All the fun things.</div>
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I also declared this the year that I would figure out how to joyfully teach upper grades because my youngers were begging to stay home through high school. If they really want to stay home, I decided to find a way to make it happen for them.</div>
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Quite by accident, I found The Delectable Education podcast in December. A new homeschool mom had posted a question about Charlotte Mason. She mentioned that she had been listening to this podcast. I didn’t even consider it at first. Honestly, I believed that it wouldn’t be a good fit for us. I had looked at it before and discarded the idea….for some reason I can’t remember now. It wasn’t until last week (Jan 19th) that I finally remembered that podcast and decided to check it out.</div>
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After that first episode, I was hooked. I quickly realized that the parts of our homeschool that I loved and cherished actually followed the CM method. Our morning time. All those books. And simple narration. I didn’t know that this was an actual method. I was just trying to simplify our homeschool. The parts that I didn’t like, well, every one of them went against Charlotte Mason’s philosophy. During the second episode, I listened while I pulled every living book on American history that I could find from our bookcases and stacked them in our living room.</div>
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We are only in our first week, but oh the joy. I’ve added a little to our morning time. I’ve lessened the time we spent on individual work. No more dawdling at the table for hours over math. We’ve spent less time on schoolwork but already covered more than we did in previous weeks. Isn’t that crazy? No tears. No fussing. No homework.</div>
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I’m working on a more permanent schedule for us and would love to share it with you as soon as I have it finished. If you love the Charlotte Mason method, please comment with advice or maybe a book suggestion. I do plan on ordering The Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola, and of course I will continue with The Delectable Education podcast.</div>
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I am so excited to share the next few weeks in our homeschool. Thank you for *listening* to my ramblings.</div>
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Christie <img alt="❤" class="emoji" draggable="false" src="https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/wpcom-smileys/twemoji/2/svg/2764.svg" style="background: none !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; box-sizing: inherit; display: inline !important; height: 1em !important; margin: 0px 0.07em !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px !important; vertical-align: -0.1em !important; width: 1em !important;" /></div>
Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-61222087408497094972017-02-09T17:27:00.000-08:002017-03-04T17:37:05.426-08:00Blogging...again.It's been a long while, hasn't it? So many things have happened since I last blogged. Ha!<br />
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I've graduated one child, Nathan. He is working on his CNA license currently with plans to start college in the fall or spring to get his RN license. He is loving his new job at a local nursing home.<br />
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Kaleb will be 13 this year. He's excited for spring baseball and co-op.<br />
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Gabriel will be 11. He is somewhat excited about baseball and very much excited about co-op. He rediscovered a love of football!<br />
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Drake will be 9 this month! He has discovered a love of soccer. We have to sit out this spring soccer season because of baseball, but he'll be back at it in the fall.<br />
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These three have recently started YouTube channels. They are having fun, making their gaming and outdoors videos.<br />
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Joshua will be 5 this year. He is enjoying his status as the baby of the family and soaking up all the fun stuff with his older brothers. He tried baseball last spring and loved it so he will continue this year as well.<br />
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I am working on completely changing out our homeschool. A friend reminded me of the Charlotte Mason method and introduced me to A Delectable Education podcast. I've been listening to as many as I can and reading all that I can get my hands on. More about that later. <br />
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I'm ready to get back to the blogging world. I have missed it so much. It's good to be back!<br />
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Christie đź’™Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-58848659773864289592015-02-18T12:47:00.000-08:002015-02-18T12:50:15.187-08:00Valentines for Dudes <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I have to apologize up front for the lousy phone pics. I was in a hurry, trying to get out of the house, to my truck where the boys were waiting, and on to our homeschool group's Valentine skate party.</div>
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I was in such a hurry that I forgot my keys and purse as I slammed the locked front door shut behind me. Climbing through a window was not on my to-do list for that day but I did it (so the boys wouldn't see their after-party surprise) and we still managed to make it to the party on time! Yay us!</div>
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So my awesome husband surprised me with a dozen peach roses (a tradition for us), some sugar-free chocolates, and a tear-jerking card on Friday morning. </div>
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That prompted my 10 year old to ask me what I planned on giving the hubs in return. At first, I tried to explain that I generally don't get the hubs a gift (unless you count the mega-large bag of peanut M&m's as a thoughtful, loving gift). </div>
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Then he asked if I had bought them (the boys) anything. I dodged the question because I hadn't really planned on it but the wheels were turning. </div>
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What do you get a bunch of guys for Valentine's Day?! </div>
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As I browsed the isles of Walmart later that morning, it hit me. What speaks love and adoration to a guy better than a movie night with popcorn, pop rocks, and root beer in glass bottles?!?!?!</div>
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I found the CUTE microwave popcorn tubs and added other fun yummies. I put a family movie in Daddy's bucket and BOOM! </div>
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Happy Valentine's Day to my guys!! </div>
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They loved them! Armed with their own bucket of popcorn, snacks, and drinks....movie night was a HIT!</div>
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Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-15759242512099662282015-02-10T10:01:00.000-08:002015-02-10T10:01:44.850-08:00Science Fair <div style="text-align: center;">
Two of my boys participated in our homeschool group's science fair this year. We kept it simple by picking what we were currently studying as a topic. We were learning all about the three states of matter, and so the boys picked this super cool snowman experiment.
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Shortly after deciding on the experiment, Kaleb started singing "do you want to melt a snowman?" and suddenly realized he had the name for his presentation. :) I asked if he would sing his version to the judges....he declined. Ha!</div>
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I found all of the ideas and printables on Pinterest. <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/mama24monkeys/2015-science-fair/" target="_blank">Here is a link to my Pinterest board</a>. </div>
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Supplies used for experiment: </div>
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balloons</div>
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water</div>
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large jar or bowl</div>
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heat source </div>
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(We chose the fireplace because it's winter time here so the great outdoors or sunny window didn't help much.)</div>
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We filled balloons with water and froze them overnight. Cut the balloons off of the frozen ice and assembled ice into a snowman. I shaved off the tops and bottoms to create a flat surface. Then we placed our snowman in a large jar, and placed in front of the fire.</div>
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The boys observed the snowman throughout the day. Kaleb, being older, followed the scientific method and made a timeline to add to his board. Drake filled in a <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/144185625546110626/" target="_blank">First, Next, Last paper</a> which acted as the scientific method (we did discuss this as a group) and added a cut and paste page (found on Pinterest but I don't have the link) to show pictures of different states of matter. After observing the snowman melt all day, we then poured him into a pot and watched him become a gas. </div>
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We also did a <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/144185625546110621/" target="_blank">fun craft</a> to show atoms in the three states of matter, and discussed the freezing/melting and boiling/condensation points of water. </div>
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Both boys rocked their science fair presentations!! Parents were asked to leave during judging...I was a little anxious about leaving Drake. This was his first time so he was a little (a lot!) nervous. The judges said he did fabulous after just a little prompting and received a great score. Kaleb also did a fabulous job and won 1st place in his age division!!</div>
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We celebrated with lunch and came home for one <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/144185625546110631/" target="_blank">final matter experiment</a>. What happens when you pour root beer (a liquid) over ice cream (a solid)? It forms a yummy bubbly gas!!! (And everyone wins!!!)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drake and Kaleb with their snowman</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying the warm fire</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drake's participation ribbon!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1st place in his age group</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Root Beer Float Science!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsP1c6SwuPNwW82ICl2DHAtE2O3wYiho1-_AT8bu2Ux6iuXHPPC9lxfIgpTqd_B6Yt7cRkuhjpew2UlmnCCfEYWl9LZGXf0ijRZ6vH7eTgHNZHtMyMUnleKe6pcrLDCzr7CCeNeJya0o/s1600/dreamer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIsP1c6SwuPNwW82ICl2DHAtE2O3wYiho1-_AT8bu2Ux6iuXHPPC9lxfIgpTqd_B6Yt7cRkuhjpew2UlmnCCfEYWl9LZGXf0ijRZ6vH7eTgHNZHtMyMUnleKe6pcrLDCzr7CCeNeJya0o/s1600/dreamer.jpg" height="284" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I had a moment this weekend.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I realized something about myself that was pretty revealing. Some of you will read this and think "that mama is full of crazy!" And then others will simply smile and nod....maybe even cry a little (or a lot!) if you can relate. The amazing part? Both responses are appropriate and honest.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this world, there are doers and dreamers. With various shades and combinations of each, of course, but still some distinct differences.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am a dreamer. And I've always wanted to be a doer. I love organized people with all their systems and plans. I admire that....try to be like that. Even d</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ream about being a doer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My reality, however, is that I am not.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the middle of making shopping plans with the hubs...after a busy week filled with illness, co-op enrollment, basketball, tasks, to-do lists, a new job for the hubs that takes more time away from the house, stress of recovering from a layoff, bills piling up, money dwindling down, that to do list growing and growing and growing, schoolwork and life that, of course, goes on and on whether we're following along well or not...I broke down. Flipped out. Lost it. And had no idea why.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I just stopped moving. And started crying. Some people thrive on the fast lane. I don't. Some people are happy when they are constantly doing something. I'm not. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hubs (being a doer by the way) whisked me away to Wal-Mart and bought me chocolate and a cherry coke. And let me vent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And vent. And vent. To his credit, he let me go on for quite a while. He's a good man and knows when his girl needs to let it ALL out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we came home and I went to the bathroom. For some quiet time. Breathed in. Breathed out. Closed my eyes. Relaxed. And pondered lazy thoughts:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am surrounded by doers. My husband is my very own doer. We work well together for the most part. I dream it up and he makes it happen. Sometimes though he'll be ready to make things happen but I'm not done dreaming yet. I force myself to follow along...trying to keep up but I just can't focus. I'm not ready to DO. I want to finish the DREAM.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My oldest son is a doer. He and I helped with some tornado relief last year. One of the most moving experiences of my life. I stepped out of the truck into a completely destroyed town and just turned circles to take it all in...the devastation, the heartache, the peace, the still, the determination, the hard work of others, the outstretched hands, the hugs, the smiles, the gratitude. Just taking it all in. Feeling. I turned to find my teenager. He was already working. He immediately jumped off the truck and went right to the person in charge. "What can I do?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of the people I am around on a daily basis are doers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...Not all though.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I was once again sharing this with my husband in the kitchen, my 2nd to youngest looked up at me with his eyes half closed and said quietly, "Mom, I'm a dreamer." Yes, you are, sweet child....yes, you are. :) So far, my only dreamer out of the top four. Not quite sure where the toddler falls yet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not saying dreamers can't do and doers can't dream. They can and do. All the time. And there are some who can amazingly balance both doing and dreaming at the same time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But dreamers need time to dream. To ponder. To sit back and think of silly things. Crazy things. Little things. Grand things. Good things. Not-so-good things. Happy things. Sad things.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which brings me back to my week. Doers do and dreamers dream.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes...Dreamers get caught up in the busy-ness of the doers. They get pushed along, forced forward when they aren't quite ready. They aren't given time to dream. Anxiety builds. And the dam breaks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I didn't get time to dream this week. Just a few moments to relax and refocus. Didn't happen. So I had my little fit and then sat in the bathroom to figure it out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that's when I realized that I am a dreamer. Not a doer. I can admire my friend's super crazy organizational skills all day long but that's not me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My house isn't show model clean...ever. My to-do lists have more doodles and color than items to check off. I do NOT thrive on planning every.single.detail.of.every.single.minute.of.every.single.day. As hard as I try, not everything has a place in my home. I'm more worried about fitting in crafts and fun reading and scrapbooking and fairy gardening into my day than I am about washing the dishes and folding the laundry pile and planning my week.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I adore those who have that kind of skill and desire. I just don't have it in me. It's not me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that's ok.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because the amazing thing is that we need both dreamers AND doers. We all have a place and purpose. I can be me and you can be you and it can be good. We can each use our talents to bless others in our own way. And nobody has to feel less than anyone else.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe you guys all knew that. Maybe I'm late to the game. I don't know. Thankfully, though, I now have a plan. The hubs knows. I know. And we can work together even better than before with greater knowledge of how the other feels. I can now also work better with all those other doers around me, and maybe help them see my side of things. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More than anything, though, I can stop comparing myself to the doers in my life. I'm ok just how I am. And you are ok just how you are. :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way...while I was going on and on about all of this to the hubs, he stopped me at one point and started singing to me:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's true love, right? He gets me. Ha! He is the coolest doer....ever!! :) </span>Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-91808157949493024762014-07-08T10:09:00.001-07:002014-07-08T10:31:29.094-07:00Teach Them Diligently Convention<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been almost two weeks since the convention....and I'm still reeling from some of the information.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll admit. I was desperate. Stressed out. Burned out. Without a clue as to how I'd manage this next school year. This past year was awful. Horrible. No good. And very bad. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We never got into a groove. So many distractions (mostly from the toddler). It was hard and uncomfortable and miserable. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And we didn't get near enough accomplished (which is why we're STILL working on a few things...).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I needed some refreshment, encouragement, and mostly...ideas for making this thing work! My goal was to hopefully gain some wisdom in schooling with a toddler. That's really all I wanted. The rest would just be one big ole bonus. I attended all of the *boy* related sessions that I could. Then all of large family and preschooler sessions. And in the midst of all the excitement, I allowed God to lead me to a few sessions that I never even considered....and was blessed immensely. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few of my favorite speakers who I had planned to hear.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the Youngs from Raising Real Men. Those two work so well together and are so engaging. I have two sisters. No brothers. Mostly female cousins. I'll admit....boys sometimes scare and stupefy me. I'm always asking the hubs, "is that normal for a boy?" To which he always replies, "yes." I saw a lot of my boys in the Young's conversations about their own boys. Whew....maybe they are normal. ;) </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy Roberts from Raising Arrows. She gave some awesome advice on how to handle large family homeschooling. Her session was practical (which was exactly what I needed) and encouraging. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kendra Fletcher from Preschoolers and Peace. This is the session that gave me some confidence and rekindled the excitement of homeschooling for me. I may or may not have shed some tears in her session! So funny though....the ideas she gave were not foreign to me. Back when Drake was the toddler, we used several. And it worked! And it was fun! I had forgotten so much of what it was like having a toddler and just felt so overwhelmed with it all. This session was the greatest blessing and I can't wait to share how her ideas work in our home. Kendra really motivated me to get back on the right track.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carol Barnier from Sizzle Bop. Oh my gosh. Well, if anything, you can't sit in one of her sessions without laughing. She was amazing as well. Some awesome tools for mom of an ADHD child.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then the surprises. I didn't plan on attending these sessions but SO glad I did!</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Megan Scheibner from Character Health. Sitting in her session was like resting on a hammock in the breeze. So gentle and soft. I didn't realize I needed someone to speak to me in that way. I'm a boy mama...we're generally loud and crazy in our home. Megan's tone and demeanor was like a soothing balm to my soul. Her words, ideas, and encouragement were bonus...and well worth the time spent. I learned so much from her and left the session wanting to hear more....so I bought her books. All of them. Ha! </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dennis Gundersen from Grace and Truth Books. I'll admit...it didn't start off well and I was wondering if I should just take a *bathroom break* to get out of there. Then I really started listening and found some gems. Awesome stuff, really. </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jon Dunagan from Harvest Ministry. I didn't take any notes in his session. I was too busy just sitting back, relaxing, and listening to him talk. He's funny and engaging. Just really boosted my confidence.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Zan Tyler from Apologia. Another soft-spoken lady who eased my soul....about high school. In the middle of my what-do-I-do-with-the-toddler panic, I didn't have one thought about what high school session would be available. I just happened to finish my shopping right before this session and thought "oh, a session on high school? Eh, why not?" Oh my stars. Awesome. Encouraging. Helpful. And now I'm excited about high school!!</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And...oh the conversations on the car ride to and from Dallas, in the hotel room, over meals. So thankful for my friends. From silly to serious, all of it touched my heart. That girl time was even more encouraging and uplifting than the whole convention. Special time spent walking the isles of curriculum displays and sharing our hearts. These are my people. And I love them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So much good stuff! And I needed all of it!! Three days totally changed the outlook I had all year long about homeschooling. So thankful! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most of the speakers are authors, and I highly recommend their books. I picked up many of them at the convention. Also worth mentioning here is Debra Bell's Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling book. Fabulous! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Convention also helped me change a lot of our curriculum. I have a couple things left on my list to purchase, and, hopefully later this week, I'll be able to start planning the year. I can't wait to share what we are doing differently in the coming school year! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hope everyone is having a great summer!!</span><br />
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Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-90107999596781457392014-06-29T20:18:00.000-07:002014-06-29T20:20:11.582-07:00My FAVORITE planner!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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. </div>
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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. </div>
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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!</div>
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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. </div>
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Then I missed the sale at Mardel. </div>
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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!)</div>
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I found out Mardel was going to be at the TTD convention so I impatiently waited...hoping maybe it would be on sale again. </div>
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IT WAS!! YAY!! Isn't it pretty?! </div>
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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. </div>
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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. </div>
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I love that there is just enough room for all five boys and a *Together*!! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47Si8g1B9I3cgzV5ZlXZEkT2sbpCTL3rIOSiTfUxRgU2EpDaf4kWli3jrqlnzFYbFegJMkXhG9fUrrDQ1kj0VCF2t3WaL2vEg1rNDYT8c6ecwmb6PNMr3eI0qia3vWcmdTDw8fagdb4A/s1600/20140629_214603-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47Si8g1B9I3cgzV5ZlXZEkT2sbpCTL3rIOSiTfUxRgU2EpDaf4kWli3jrqlnzFYbFegJMkXhG9fUrrDQ1kj0VCF2t3WaL2vEg1rNDYT8c6ecwmb6PNMr3eI0qia3vWcmdTDw8fagdb4A/s640/20140629_214603-1.jpg" height="400" width="350" /> </a></div>
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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. </div>
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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!</div>
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If you want to check out the planner and see inside pages, go <a href="http://www.mardel.com/A-Simple-Plan-Family-Planner-2014-15-3050986.aspx" target="_blank">HERE</a>!!</div>
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Can't wait to share my TTD experience!! Have an AWESOME week!!</div>
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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. <br />
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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. <br />
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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* <br />
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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...<br />
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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).<br />
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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.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">His first year!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kindergarten Graduation!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New Driver!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a LOT of baseball! Three teams this year!!!</td></tr>
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And a lot of other fun stuff. The school year wasn't a total bummer.<br />
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However.....<br />
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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!<br />
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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!!!! </div>
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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!<br />
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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. :)<br />
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I hope to come back fired up, ready to knock out the remainder of this school year, and start planning next school year.<br />
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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. <br />
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We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I can get back into the blogging habit.<br />
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.....I'm kind of a major slacker though. ;)<br />
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Happy Summer!!!</div>
Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-78943553465869160932013-09-16T13:19:00.001-07:002013-09-16T13:26:47.769-07:00I ran 10 miles yesterday.That is the craziest thing for me to say/type. It's still a little surreal for me, I think...even though my legs are quick to remind me today that it, in fact, did happen. <br />
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When I started this 1/2 marathon training program back in July, ten miles seemed super far away and an impossible task. <br />
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I remember running our usual route one Saturday. It was my 1st day of 1/2 training. I was suppose to run five miles that day. I just remember thinking how impossible that five miles felt and wondering how in the world I was ever going to accomplish 13.1 if five was so hard.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMQjCKPUfBENhAvh7oEIm0yxJ78SBYxcX9TsTkQhXCBjW3Oft_-pI1yVJgh3AeWqH_9EVbVkeJZBYC5poLtEiSzyOR_RLxbepjnq315YMQ8vIcZrSx57E-vvf74zfFeaR-uBrNd94hw54/s640/20130915_065001.jpg" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before my 1st 10 miler.</td></tr>
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I know I've mentioned this before in previous running posts...my running time is my Jesus time. It's the time when I can have alone time with Jesus. My day is filled {exactly as I wished} with my kids' needs and wants. My night is interrupted by a baby who doesn't sleep through the night yet. Trying to find alone time is nearly impossible. Thankfully running covers my physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs....it is my alone time and as my training continues, my alone time with Jesus grows.<br />
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So this particular day, I decided to just let God take control of my training. I determined that anything over my usual 5K would not be my own doing. I could easily run a 5K, but I had tried so many times before to run more than that and train for a 1/2...only to injure myself or just give up. I've never been able to do it on my own. <br />
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I told God that if he would just help me get through this training and this race that I've committed to doing, I would give all the glory of my success to Him. I need Him to run with me and push me to accomplish my goal. Otherwise...I'll just give up.<br />
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That first five miles was amazing....and all the conviction I needed to know that I needed to invite Jesus to run with me every time I hit the pavement.<br />
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Yesterday, two months after that 5 mile run, I did something I never thought I would ever do. I ran 10 miles. That's double digits, y'all. That's just over two hours {for slowpoke me}. <br />
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What?! Two hours! Ten miles! I went from one small town, through another, to the city limits of yet another town, and back again in one big TEN MILE loop! I ran in three different towns yesterday! I *went to town* on my feet!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TURN AROUND!!</td></tr>
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Running is such an emotional experience for me. I cry about it all the time...before, during, after. Just thinking about how *far* emotionally running has brought me. I cried at mile 7 when I realized I only had a 5K left to finish. I cried at 9.75 miles when I realized that I was actually going to make it...and when I finished, I was only just 5K away from running a 1/2. I cried on the way home, thinking about how far I've made it so far.<br />
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This time, last fall, I was a hot mess. I've shared this story before...Joshua was just a few months old, I was getting very little sleep, the hubs was working out of town, I had lost a couple of things that were super important to me, I was depressed, angry, bitter...and I couldn't run to save my life. I lost everything I had built up before my pregnancy. I could barely go a half mile down the road before I gave up and cried my way home. <br />
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I wanted to bad to run but I just couldn't. I had all these anger issues welling up inside of me. And I started to hate running. <br />
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Thankfully, the Run for God program was put in front of me. And thankfully I was put in charge of leading the group...because I can tell you, had I not been one of the group leaders, responsible for showing up and leading these other people on their own running journey, I would have quit within the first couple of weeks. <br />
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As it was, I withdrew and basically turned the group over to the hubs who was the other leader. I wanted nothing to do with it. I fought it for weeks. I wanted to stay angry and wallow in my self-pity and depression, but this program just wouldn't allow it. <br />
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Having to stick with this program drug me out of myself....my anger, bitterness, depression. All of it. I had to face it and deal with it so I could continue running.<br />
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As the weight of this junk I was holding on to began to fall off, my love of running started to come back. I was able to go those short distances without physical and emotional pain. <br />
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Yesterday was exactly one year and one week since that first day of Run for God. Bo and I are leading two Run for God groups this fall, and I'm all in this time. I believe in this program so much now. <br />
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....and yesterday. I ran 10 miles. I went from hating life and running and everything in general to running and believing again. <br />
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Jesus runs with me every time I go out. He is my running partner. He never disappoints...always shows up and always encourages. This is all HIM. He has gotten me this far and I know He will continue to push me toward my 1st 1/2 marathon in less than two months. <br />
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This half marathon training has reminded me that we only need to be willing to do the possible, and leave the impossible to God. For me, running a half is an impossible task. Turning my training over to Him makes it possible. <br />
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I'm so thankful. I just can't even begin to express how thankful I am to my Jesus who cares so much about me that He would make my small dream of running a reality. <br />
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It's a wonderful lesson that ALL things...big or small, important or not-so-important...are possible through Jesus Christ. If it's a big deal to us, it's a big deal to Him. <br />
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And if He is so interested in making our little dreams come true, how much more interested is he in the BIG dreams of our world? If all it took to make big changes in our world was to step out in faith and say "God, I'm going to do what I can and I know you'll show up to use that in a HUGE way." <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After my 10 mile run.</td></tr>
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Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-88973112440512678082013-09-10T09:32:00.000-07:002013-09-10T09:44:15.488-07:00Easy peasy painted jars {Pinned It, Made It} <div style="text-align: left;">
We LOVE mason jars at our house! We drink from them, stored things in them, and {hopefully soon} will be canning with them. We also have a super cool light fixture idea planned for my dining room...thanks to the hubs, my very own super amazing electrician.</div>
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Also....we just have a lot of mason jars! Our fave salsa comes in a mason jar. My mother-in-law picked up several boxes for us at a yard sale a few years ago {when we first started making noises about canning...we'll get there eventually!}</div>
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I have seen several pins on Pinterest involving painted mason jars....and always wanted to give it a try. My sister-in-law posted the CUTEST painted jars on my Facebook page one day. </div>
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And that was all it took....I just sat down and started painting! </div>
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I decided to paint on the inside so the outside stayed shiny. The words on the jars really stand out this way too! </div>
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I found <a href="http://www.celebrations.com/content/diy-painted-mason-jar-centerpiece" target="_blank">this website tutorial</a>, and dug out my paints. My FAVORITE color in the whole wide world is turquoise...any shade. So pretty. And I have a lot of it around my house...especially in my office and kitchen. </div>
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It was super easy. I just kind of read through the directions on the website and then did my own thing. I dumped a small amount of acrylic paint into a jar with just a little bit of water so it would coat faster. {I'm a tad impatient}</div>
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Swirled it around and around. Added more paint as needed. {You'll get the hang of it as you keep working. By the 3rd one...I had the amount figured out for my jars}</div>
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Swirled and swirled. Swirled and Swirled. You get the idea.....</div>
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Then I turned the jars upside down on a paper plate to dry. I left the first two for a couple of hours and then picked them up. They weren't dry and so the paint ran back down into the jar which kind of streaked the jar in places.</div>
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Don't do that!! You don't want streaky jars!!</div>
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Leave them overnight....or some kind of a long, long time. Let them completely dry. Have more patience than I managed. You'll thank yourself for it later when you look at your amazing streak-free painted jars. </div>
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So that's it then! I did have to clean around the edges with a baby wipe. Probably wouldn't have it I had just left them alone for a long, long time. {Learn from my impatient mistakes and you probably won't have to do that}</div>
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I added some burlap ribbon and a flower to one...so cute! Another holds my dried flowers from our vow renewal ceremony...love! The twine around the jar was wrapped around the flowers. For now the small white jar {oh yeah...I did a white one too...obviously} just holds the extra flowers. The little {non-mason} jar used to be a pumpkin jar. One of my kiddos broke the lid so it became my penny jar. Now I use it for pens or pencils...or just a pretty on my desk. The two with yellow flowers sit on a shelf in my kitchen and the other two are on my desk in my office. <br />
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And since we're talking Pinterest, here are a couple other Pinterest-inspired posts!<br />
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Some <a href="http://monkeyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2013/09/some-seriously-cutie-kindie-printables.html" target="_blank">cutie printables</a> I found for my kindie boy.<br />
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And my <a href="http://monkeyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-new-super-awesome-desk-chair.html" target="_blank">pretty pink desk chair</a>.</div>
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Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-52533112399203212362013-09-09T23:30:00.001-07:002013-09-09T23:32:02.315-07:00Some seriously cutie kindie printables My little cutie kindergartener fully believes he should be working as long and hard as his brothers at his own schoolwork. He totally doesn't get why he should be finished so early. <br />
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I added a few games. <br />
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I added more work. <br />
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I made the work harder. <br />
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Still....he finishes before his brothers. {As he should since they are in 2nd, 4th, and 10th grades.}<br />
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So in an effort to appease him AND give myself the time needed with the older boys, I went on a search for cutie kindie printable games and activities that he can do himself....all day long...until he's completely worn out...and ready for a break. </div>
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Of course I took my search to Pinterest....because that's where all the super cool games and activities hang out.</div>
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Here are a few that I found:</div>
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The <a href="http://amommytalks.com/2013/07/monsters-university-kindergarten-extension-pack.html" target="_blank">CUTEST and FREE Monsters Pack</a> from A Mommy Talks.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaSO8rJ0xC3kOWrl8iv4q07sy6BmzLEwJtcnpglSAB0dtJP8Wote8mO0vxPgJ_qMqmlQxya6a6gQwQFHKkVcgJZdxkKA7-Qpa6SBbcFr3K2LHMPma-PO1pPeddhn06fsDj1yOpb7lC3RA/s1600/Monster-K-Extension1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaSO8rJ0xC3kOWrl8iv4q07sy6BmzLEwJtcnpglSAB0dtJP8Wote8mO0vxPgJ_qMqmlQxya6a6gQwQFHKkVcgJZdxkKA7-Qpa6SBbcFr3K2LHMPma-PO1pPeddhn06fsDj1yOpb7lC3RA/s1600/Monster-K-Extension1.jpg" height="85" width="320" /></a></div>
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This <a href="http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/2012/11/more-even-odd-fun-and-great-turkey-race.html" target="_blank">ADORABLE and FREE Fall Odd and Even</a> sorting game from The First Grade Parade.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz-PuVRwnv4H5rE-9RBMzVwqVokH8asiSOLwjChOui4lTrlUVXCCtV6WpV3q-tti5L6ks9ATkBYnt4N9-i2rQQ8M6b1xrySRtHNbbHebnnquERr0Jyaz58ETs8Mz-KBXa430b6e1RxS4c/s1600/Slide1%5B10%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz-PuVRwnv4H5rE-9RBMzVwqVokH8asiSOLwjChOui4lTrlUVXCCtV6WpV3q-tti5L6ks9ATkBYnt4N9-i2rQQ8M6b1xrySRtHNbbHebnnquERr0Jyaz58ETs8Mz-KBXa430b6e1RxS4c/s1600/Slide1%5B10%5D.jpg" height="245" width="320" /></a></div>
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And this {$} <a href="http://littlezizzers.blogspot.com/2013/08/number-formation-poems.html" target="_blank">SWEET Fall math and literacy printable set</a> from Mrs. McGinnis' Little Sizzlers. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6k4MSc26IIsShv0898OjqfrE3voyjh0oyd_ETczGadyKaEqa_5C6mnhRn9v9tTgsjsEbTrskcm84uCaCyTnzC54iJYVTFNYQ-xt6JJBHUieHBcff3AfL_xxMmeA05EjiFp5KlUYcA0uE/s1600/fall+pack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6k4MSc26IIsShv0898OjqfrE3voyjh0oyd_ETczGadyKaEqa_5C6mnhRn9v9tTgsjsEbTrskcm84uCaCyTnzC54iJYVTFNYQ-xt6JJBHUieHBcff3AfL_xxMmeA05EjiFp5KlUYcA0uE/s1600/fall+pack.jpg" /></a></div>
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I'm looking for a few more so if you have {or know where to find} a fun free or almost free printable activity set, let me know! </div>
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Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-15352788599974113332013-09-06T18:44:00.001-07:002013-09-06T18:58:50.080-07:00Week 2 and 3<div dir="ltr">
See? Not even a month in and I'm already failing on the weekly updates. Ha!<br />
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We had some awesome moments and some not-so-awesome moments. You relate?<br />
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And I have to admit the MOST awesome happened today....the start of co-op.<br />
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New (huge) host church. A lot of new faces. New classes. New teachers. New challenges. New excitement. <br />
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It was exhausting and incredible at the same time....and of course I have no pics because I literally ran circles around the (much bigger) campus all three hours. So you'll just have to imagine the smiling, happy faces this week. :)<br />
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And no pictures of the teenager who hides out in his room most of the day doing his schoolwork. </div>
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A super busy fall is ahead with two playing football on different teams, one playing basketball, and our co-op activities. Looking forward to it and dreading it all at the same time. :)<br />
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Happy weekend!!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PJs and couch school.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzcrdQVBZB8u3KOits4eMU9IXqcf7VqdXYkaiJx47M1eZvDW5uQ2t361Hkv1TE5yzeBo8xSjleUkn9N9aJeyFBW04xLlMo4h7aQvtCpK8MxY0tqWGY2ZzimWxZyKCaX6mr4Xb9cKGlDk/s1600/20130904_094407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chemistry!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2HqtlPeH27PVs9-l00v9eN8FJLOIEOvGiBIFMyK531qULEMP0MZguRGxM3m_e2_WipXvv7Fp3ekwbw_VsK7IkS0vG95abv1FBTd1nMwp5cThjv30XVN07kz-NYfBONavg6MqNGXxRaY/s1600/20130903_135831.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ2HqtlPeH27PVs9-l00v9eN8FJLOIEOvGiBIFMyK531qULEMP0MZguRGxM3m_e2_WipXvv7Fp3ekwbw_VsK7IkS0vG95abv1FBTd1nMwp5cThjv30XVN07kz-NYfBONavg6MqNGXxRaY/s640/20130903_135831.jpg" height="320" width="240" /> </a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joshua school</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXy2bpdKYLSN7Yf4AvG1w2YwYuKutsOQT_3OcDJvE8VfFwT1304JgqXab2ysv5KyROgMsM6SzYqnI78Fze5L7STjm73vwxFsLGnuCjIwsenrC14MNMh4RIHq37R4-L9p2vDiqLcSs-vI/s1600/20130903_091719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teacher of the day</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWtyyvXr3A_LrB1Ye8M0eX0n-lj2Azti7mCxdpRTpJUkyzvqb4_6OiTiFfPn5ns-8rGXVAiRYQA8DKsG8E8vzidwn2Kerq1lIJ95hLyPrbYbCjTdQSIJoT0AmaZn6Pk5oRyMe22sStVK4/s1600/20130903_091205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look Mom...I'm cleaning the shelves!!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEMY_q0FOloxKql8ovykEA11wkN91cF7du1m6SXoX_T1jBqY2FmtmIZs7g9YqZ8fyBUSmMY7t10FrV2SI2A1pTPIJ81HPWs8_3Rmr3rDi-nTvHGuVIQ8zuTRiBgeld8DfrU5C2yyOgQs/s1600/20130827_132042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a> </div>
<a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up/" target="new"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/kbmomto3/weeklywrapup125.png" alt="" size="125"></a>Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-48704990746297581792013-08-24T21:57:00.002-07:002013-08-24T22:08:55.503-07:00Our learning area and my new desk space.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Welcome to our learning area aka part of the kitchen. :) Ignore the ugly red...as soon as I have a spare minute, that color will be gone. </div>
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So this is where we do all of our groupwork and the littles do their *sit down* work {math, spelling, handwriting etc}. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7DiH4-ARAUlStXMiX0QMkNSoHORW3hFYCN8h9cQNl_pjZjFDaNvOfmioDw-UymEyn_zcUI3WnXcVC6FAtEdrY6MvNAQsMdKVVd9XfHQDIVR4oVb8-gpJykw9ck5C4M61eBJI2JAVr2E/s1600/20130824_225107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7DiH4-ARAUlStXMiX0QMkNSoHORW3hFYCN8h9cQNl_pjZjFDaNvOfmioDw-UymEyn_zcUI3WnXcVC6FAtEdrY6MvNAQsMdKVVd9XfHQDIVR4oVb8-gpJykw9ck5C4M61eBJI2JAVr2E/s640/20130824_225107.jpg" /> </a> </div>
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A close up of part of our school storage. The brown storage bins contain craft supplies, puzzles, calendar pieces, small education games, etc. Notebooks, journals, empty {YAY!} storage space on the 2nd row, and the 3rd row holds all of our school supplies {pencils, crayons, glue, scissors, etc} in labeled storage tubs.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7iiYi1ewPEEjT_cLy6Wl5yPSK0kfxCn0JqNUiD2ngENFyIav5A1FQvLxChAMu1ypw-MqlhxBL0oJJDObIDCvKEz-4PNlf7epTdsS8fkXWufXvy0M7tYXfIagR4XbXKpDlq5xaBqT52vg/s640/20130824_225123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7iiYi1ewPEEjT_cLy6Wl5yPSK0kfxCn0JqNUiD2ngENFyIav5A1FQvLxChAMu1ypw-MqlhxBL0oJJDObIDCvKEz-4PNlf7epTdsS8fkXWufXvy0M7tYXfIagR4XbXKpDlq5xaBqT52vg/s640/20130824_225123.jpg" /></a></div>
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All group work printables and Drake's work for the year are stored here. <em> </em>I love having all of those papers just waiting for me to pull them out for the kiddos. Saves a LOT of time!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUw0HotqhTpPGAZfs9URuSTtXcdlm4aoBbO5V0yzrLKD1ta5-4BdZBYABSU8ea81iRjyiLjiUGSbFrBUgQETkcO-rHqz6VelaoPfbWaaRqSR8bx5CNF2tO3pSmufXuYUsa4Va5BHF_aM/s1600/20130824_225133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUw0HotqhTpPGAZfs9URuSTtXcdlm4aoBbO5V0yzrLKD1ta5-4BdZBYABSU8ea81iRjyiLjiUGSbFrBUgQETkcO-rHqz6VelaoPfbWaaRqSR8bx5CNF2tO3pSmufXuYUsa4Va5BHF_aM/s640/20130824_225133.jpg" /> </a> </div>
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Right through the white doors</div>
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in top picture is old pantry turned library/school storage/office entryway. One side contains most of our home library, some math and language arts workbooks and file folder games {blue and green magazine holders}. Then a corner of things that still a home. :) This is definitely a work in progress. Someday soon I'd like to take everything out of this area and repaint the shelves, finish off the sheet rock where we tore down the back wall {entrance into my desk area}, and then paint the walls to match the future color of the kitchen.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCcB-TphcQNOjwgAF_GHLVZcHs-JFoYK2wpAzBfJydjdVksgEicGLqJxatFDfDkQGHhLB3xlI7_xBnsPzCPduUz9QcRQYIwj5VfpZqFzTx-YA925wi4gw7DDRr6fhM-FjsHnRcN6ccxuM/s640/20130824_225158-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCcB-TphcQNOjwgAF_GHLVZcHs-JFoYK2wpAzBfJydjdVksgEicGLqJxatFDfDkQGHhLB3xlI7_xBnsPzCPduUz9QcRQYIwj5VfpZqFzTx-YA925wi4gw7DDRr6fhM-FjsHnRcN6ccxuM/s640/20130824_225158-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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This is the other side of the old pantry. From top to bottom: paints, flashcards, and items I don't want in the hands of my littlest littles {gorilla glue!! armor etch glue!! etc}. Some of my teacher manuals, some small storage tubs {more things I don't want the littlest littles to have....glitter, stamps, bingo markers, magnets}, and all of our math manipulatives. Blue storage tub full of various math games, binders of curriculum, and some of our group work books. Our Ikea paper roll that I LOVE and a couple of storage tubs with office supplies. Below that are some of our workboxes. We don't really use the workbox system like it's intended. I like the idea of the workbox system but I think a couple of the boys are just too young yet. Really they don't have much *independent* work anyway. I pretty much have to work one-on-one with them on the majority of their work. I'm not sure how we're going to use these in the future but for now we just have individual work and some group work books stored in them. </div>
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These last two pictures show my new desk area. I was standing in the middle of the old pantry {with the library on one side and school storage on the other}, looking at what used to be the back wall of the pantry. We knocked it out to expose a small storage area that previously was only accessible from the garage and back yard {yes, there are TWO doors in my desk area...lol}. I love this space SO much and try to only allow pretty girly things in it.....you know, since I'm the boy mama of FIVE, there isn't a whole lot of room in the house for pink and sparkles. The desk is actually a 10 ft countertop. I have space to plan for school, run our business, AND do some paper scrapbooking! It's still a work in progress too. I need to find some kind of flooring. The cabinets need to be painted. I need to find a home for a few more things. And to the far right of the bottom picture is a hidden space around the corner that needs a lot of work. There is a set of shelves that hide all of the things I don't want out in the open yet, a couple rolling storage carts that I haven't put to use yet....and one of our water heaters. :) That's why I didn't take a picture of that space...it's ugly still. BUT nobody can see it unless they walk around there so for now it stays hidden. Ha!</div>
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So that's it! Our learning area and my desk space!! For now anyway.... We have plans of turning our garage into a family room so that ugly red wall with our calendar stuff on it may end up being a huge pass-thru/bar soon. </div>
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Until then, it's where we do school!!</div>
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Oh the joys of remodeling an older house!! :)</div>
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Thanks for taking a tour of our learning area! Hope you enjoyed it!</div>
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As usual, the first week back was CrAzY!!! We had a lot of fun though and it felt great to get back to at least a bit of our routine. <br />
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Of course, Monday was our Not-Back-to-School party day. We started the morning with some <a href="http://monkeyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2013/08/not-back-to-school-pictures-2013.html" target="_blank">fun school photos.</a> <br />
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And the boys opened their gift bags. Since we don't have the expense of public school needs, I like to get them a few fun things to kick off the year. Helps make the day feel special. <br />
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Then we went to McDs for our annual Not-Back-to-School breakfast. <br />
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Monday means women's bible study meeting....which is held in the party room of a fun building packed full of those blow up bouncy slides and mazes. The littles LOVE going there! BONUS Not-Back-to-School fun!!!!<br />
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After bible study, we ran home for a quick lunch before heading out to a local bowling alley for our homeschool group's Not-Back-to-School party!!! <br />
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Nathan, my 10th grader who came back home this year after a year in public school, met up with all of his old homeschool friends and had a blast catching up, talking basketball, making new friends, and {of course} bowling. However, he avoided my camera like the plague.<br />
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Came home exhausted but managed to get everyone seated for a little math. <br />
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Our 1st official day was Tuesday. Reminded myself {over and over} that it's going to take more than one day {Week. Month?} to get back into a good solid routine. We were big ole lazies this summer....and the boys would like to continue that trend. <br />
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It's just going to take some time and patience and chocolate and Jesus....but we'll get there. </div>
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After a morning of trying <i>really </i>hard, we took a break to meet Daddy for lunch. :) <br />
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We did better Wednesday morning, and packed in as much as we could before taking off for the 1sts student council meeting of the school year. This is Nathan's 1st year to participate....and he was excited!!! Elections were held and Nathan is the new student council chaplain!! :) <br />
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Decided to take it easy on Thursday....and don't you know, we accomplished more than I had planned. <br />
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Drake is READY to learn to read. We're working on some letter review and sounds right now. He can't wait to read his first word!<br />
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Friday is our grocery shopping day, and Nathan has plans with friends. Not much being done in the way of school work but I consider getting anything besides the grocery shopping accomplished a bonus. Feels wonderful to have the first {crazy) week behind us. Looking forward to a more settled, less crazy week 2 {hopefully}. <br />
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Here's to an awesome and blessed 2013-2014 school year!!<br />
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-->Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-44668771819259041272013-08-21T11:44:00.003-07:002013-08-21T11:44:59.534-07:00My NEW super awesome desk chair!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So this summer Bo and I worked on creating a new desk space for me. I LOVE it and will have to share pics of it soon. First, however, I am super excited to share my yard sale find! </div>
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I needed a new bar height chair for my desk. I had been using a bar stool without a back. Not very comfy!!</div>
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I found this beauty at a yard sale for.......$1. Yep, a whole buck. I had to ask what was wrong with it, and she just said it was a little unstable. </div>
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So I tightened the screws in the legs. Ha! </div>
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Seriously that was it!! </div>
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I broke a piece of it when I got it home. :-/ But easily fixed it with some gorilla glue. </div>
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Picked up some 1/2 price HOT PINK mistinted paint at the store along with a can of glittery sealer. I already had the fabric at home.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoumx8kJYl8krIdTOZGYHqWMhuj5AUPvQ-u9bwt3Bj1xyCDQXjKIfrFautbYw9Iu3F3OBkn6biWQNr5uxxA2k5E2yXxCS0oHcSbvmI8dSF6C_s0gcTGMuZvZJWRMnizFVTL5Z5iQ18wI/s1600/chair2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGoumx8kJYl8krIdTOZGYHqWMhuj5AUPvQ-u9bwt3Bj1xyCDQXjKIfrFautbYw9Iu3F3OBkn6biWQNr5uxxA2k5E2yXxCS0oHcSbvmI8dSF6C_s0gcTGMuZvZJWRMnizFVTL5Z5iQ18wI/s320/chair2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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It took a couple of coats and forever to dry, thanks to the humidity. You can't really tell in the picture but it was pouring rain that evening. I finally had to put the chair in the garage just so it would dry. I gave it an extra coat once it dried and then two coats of glitter sealer. </div>
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The glitter is more of a fine powdery look. Not overpowering but not as glittery as I hoped. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsm5pdU8LoU2CdJFZX9hiHcVTraw4NKAMOunYuhZB7LSBF4ueehX8FRj_O-Amjxe8VZcypS8h7pPMgQzJAwGHaftpdV5k9BWTV_ymjfR0F16Gu0Sd_qGQborA0hwbLqKcQ6vdunAgzms/s1600/chair3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsm5pdU8LoU2CdJFZX9hiHcVTraw4NKAMOunYuhZB7LSBF4ueehX8FRj_O-Amjxe8VZcypS8h7pPMgQzJAwGHaftpdV5k9BWTV_ymjfR0F16Gu0Sd_qGQborA0hwbLqKcQ6vdunAgzms/s320/chair3.jpg" width="233" /></a></div>
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Please excuse my messy garage. We're in the middle of moving everything out to convert it into a family room. </div>
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My finished chair! Isn't she pretty?! I love her!! </div>
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Total cost: $15 after supplies but I still have a TON of hot pink paint left, a little bit of fabric for a couple of frames, and glitter sealer. The cheapest (and I mean cheeeeeeep) brand new bar height chair with a back I found was $38....and it was an ugly brown/black color. Makes me love her even more!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJtUiPTTYo_lqNHb9-u1VWtUB4ICMHbKdZxpdRs3mj7aYWr5JghbIttqY4ZsFXBExAVDh20V2cMjQ8TxtCkXXKDAx0-FwIi1Uq1pGvNBh6x4KEun__VTpO6wp1piIM_RZNpd6LksevBo/s1600/chair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJtUiPTTYo_lqNHb9-u1VWtUB4ICMHbKdZxpdRs3mj7aYWr5JghbIttqY4ZsFXBExAVDh20V2cMjQ8TxtCkXXKDAx0-FwIi1Uq1pGvNBh6x4KEun__VTpO6wp1piIM_RZNpd6LksevBo/s320/chair.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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In my world of BOYS, I need some girly every now and then. :) <br />
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Can't wait to show off my new girly office space!!Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-85409115034079910642013-08-21T11:02:00.000-07:002013-08-21T11:10:19.291-07:00Not-Back-to-School pictures 2013So excited for this new school year! The biggest change from last year is the {re}addition of my oldest who decided public school wasn't all he thought it would be. :) <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nathan</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfsIxqELiXLvNSHRS-HCIflL06RAuSwzgB5Ro1rnA5qRowd8r3_kdN4rfey7NpEHw5ncbr-vLIKL644nBi98bXE5VACFFAjcjwo0h0v8UDH2ZX_kc3lPUzXWj47Dx7qo98bnnIYrjH5w/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfsIxqELiXLvNSHRS-HCIflL06RAuSwzgB5Ro1rnA5qRowd8r3_kdN4rfey7NpEHw5ncbr-vLIKL644nBi98bXE5VACFFAjcjwo0h0v8UDH2ZX_kc3lPUzXWj47Dx7qo98bnnIYrjH5w/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaleb</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNR8yigPuVSFtylFoj6QFzY_zQabvh7xklrqIPxbwNRxZiX-pTNhWUWarlUd7hKt2Zh3-8YeOO9QBZwNcjSDaCIXFvHesPFoyle3Yye2wchSl0PYrmee0ILCT_hIGjDb7VW5fGMABc394/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNR8yigPuVSFtylFoj6QFzY_zQabvh7xklrqIPxbwNRxZiX-pTNhWUWarlUd7hKt2Zh3-8YeOO9QBZwNcjSDaCIXFvHesPFoyle3Yye2wchSl0PYrmee0ILCT_hIGjDb7VW5fGMABc394/s320/004.JPG" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gabriel</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drake</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFO8kdpY8voJGi1J9rDoYmAQaXErugB54Wr__UeJxKYFjGdRycIIqzQJJwcaJlRI_r3REKkCdzs3-fSnBcVZP1iBvgoo6M5A0MKYyy5TKL9eE1XhunupLLM8vpADd5ruZqhCl557xv9U/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFO8kdpY8voJGi1J9rDoYmAQaXErugB54Wr__UeJxKYFjGdRycIIqzQJJwcaJlRI_r3REKkCdzs3-fSnBcVZP1iBvgoo6M5A0MKYyy5TKL9eE1XhunupLLM8vpADd5ruZqhCl557xv9U/s320/009.JPG" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I like his shirt....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVsyg1aok_Fbtv7F_hiwA12qE4BmCpRFAgEOlLKusmTYao0Q2pMtHOsqewxc30yQsuiLkJHXTQ03ybxuXDLCL8uGlS-4DTvYIc05-d4sZhR7bRUZCXlhMQGtgkFe1ZU_zUN-2zAfX4zzE/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVsyg1aok_Fbtv7F_hiwA12qE4BmCpRFAgEOlLKusmTYao0Q2pMtHOsqewxc30yQsuiLkJHXTQ03ybxuXDLCL8uGlS-4DTvYIc05-d4sZhR7bRUZCXlhMQGtgkFe1ZU_zUN-2zAfX4zzE/s320/017.JPG" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And the shirtless BABY Joshua!!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTMpISP1hz2Ctl7YTQ3ILufGxGb8l8FC9tHRB5LVVCz2QAXj5ox042KbKIMl9TDym-VE0w6d7GQxNMEracM7zrOQN3bfBjjO1buVoLTdrqaXt53rqNqBiDPwM7tiXa0r4_HfCXX_mxeKQ/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTMpISP1hz2Ctl7YTQ3ILufGxGb8l8FC9tHRB5LVVCz2QAXj5ox042KbKIMl9TDym-VE0w6d7GQxNMEracM7zrOQN3bfBjjO1buVoLTdrqaXt53rqNqBiDPwM7tiXa0r4_HfCXX_mxeKQ/s320/013.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmuz52Vl5K6Nxh-UhPpG4svNmg1M-CJsiZgNJvpTPnYWleziRGQvFa7IQvu2D1_xiQUA043TGMziDeqcTk4-YTcjEBL_rGxfVEU-r-Bz2kHzr-LbmjleWz7q00sh9YStalHIRThGud5w/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwmuz52Vl5K6Nxh-UhPpG4svNmg1M-CJsiZgNJvpTPnYWleziRGQvFa7IQvu2D1_xiQUA043TGMziDeqcTk4-YTcjEBL_rGxfVEU-r-Bz2kHzr-LbmjleWz7q00sh9YStalHIRThGud5w/s320/015.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opening their Not-Back-to-School gifts!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmMKJEkoNRH9Jn9yXYpCqSI1boNWbpS2ZgThAxUM7MplenYdLq3EfSImfcL09fkHk9mLfhSh2PwVxAE73K0pFth6XuzxjcdBJ9Mym9i2eKoIEVtnZ8silytTogK05Sc-iorPieyyFFkA0/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmMKJEkoNRH9Jn9yXYpCqSI1boNWbpS2ZgThAxUM7MplenYdLq3EfSImfcL09fkHk9mLfhSh2PwVxAE73K0pFth6XuzxjcdBJ9Mym9i2eKoIEVtnZ8silytTogK05Sc-iorPieyyFFkA0/s320/012.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If the overgrown 4th grader and super young sophomore's sense of<br />
humor is any indication....I think we're going to have a <br />
fun year!</td></tr>
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Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-632300150985131932013-07-22T07:52:00.000-07:002013-07-22T07:58:49.303-07:00God pushes...The Valley of Death.<span class="st"><em>Even though I walk </em><em>through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Psalm 23:4 NIV</em></span><br />
<span class="st"><em></em></span><br />
<span class="st">The darkest valley. Called the valley of the shadow of death in the KJV version.</span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">Reminds me of our own "valley of death" where Bo and I run. There is no breeze. It's always hot. And coming up out of the valley on one side is a steep hill. The other side is a gradual 1/2 mile climb. </span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">Hard work on both sides. </span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">There was a time in my life when I just couldn't do it. I'd give up and walk instead of run the climbs. Beat myself up along the way because I couldn't do it on my own.</span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">Last fall, Bo and I led a small group study called Run for God. One of my first realizations was that I could run <em>with</em> God as I ran <em>for</em> Him. Realized if I asked for help and gave my run to Him, He would push me out of that valley.</span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">So many times I have asked God to push me out. Push me up the hill. And every time He has shown up. He was with me.</span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">My legs burning. My breath laboring. Gravity slowing me down. Feels like everything is working against me to keep me from coming out of the valley of death.</span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">I want to stop. Give up. Like so many times before. </span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">I just ask God..."push me up this hill. I can't do this on my own." And every time I ask, He does. I know I can conquer those hills and come up out of that valley with His help. </span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">Just like Bo, who has gently put his hand on my back to encourage me and literally, <em>physically</em> give me a push...I can feel God's hand on my back, gently pushing and encouraging. </span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">Just like Bo who has spoken words of encouragement to me as we run together...I can hear God's words of encouragement.</span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">Only when I don't rely on Him do I fail. Stop. Walk. Give up. </span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">Of course I can eventually come out of the valley on my own but there is no celebration or feelings of accomplishment. I feel worn instead of rejuvenated. Defeated.</span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st"><strong>I need that push! I need that encouragement</strong>. </span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st">I've made a habit of asking Him to join me on my run. Mostly because I <em>know</em> I will need His push out of the valley. I know I can't run out of that valley without help. On my own, I beat myself up. I tell myself I can't do it. On my own, I fail over and over. I know I need Him in that valley.</span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">And just like I need His help to run out of that valley, we all need His help as we go through low points in our lives. Times when we feel like giving up. Times of fear. Failure. Disappointment. Trouble. Despair.</span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">If God is SO willing to help me run up this valley of death in my neighborhood, He for sure is willing to help us through our other valleys. We just have to remember to ask him to join us. </span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">I've learned that if I ask him to join me on my run before I reach that valley, I have peace and comfort, knowing He is with me....before I ever even reach the first sign of struggle. I'm ready. Prepared.</span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">If I stay with Him on the easy flats and the downhill slopes, I know He's there. I know I'm not in it on my own. And I can trust him and know He will push me out of those valleys and up the big hills.</span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">Oh the celebration of hitting the top of the valley! </span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">The air is moving...wind hits my face. My muscles that worked so hard feel lighter, stronger. And my heart swells, knowing that I conquered that valley. </span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">All because of Him.</span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">And let me tell you....we celebrate! Thankfully it's a not a populated area or I might be a pest with my whooping and hollering. </span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">He tells me every time "see? I told you. Stick with me. I'll get you out of there." </span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">Every time. He never fails me. </span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">I can't do it without Him. Whether it's on a run or in my daily life. </span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">I know that<em> in any valley</em>, He is right there with me. Encouraging me. Pushing me. Getting back up on those easy flats. Celebrating success with me. Staying with me.</span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">There will always be valleys of death. Times of need. Struggle. Pain. </span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st"></span></span><br />
<span class="st"><span class="st">With Him, those valleys aren't as scary. I don't have to fear because <em>He is with me</em>. </span></span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />
<span class="st"></span><br />Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-18087910390767439002013-07-08T12:44:00.000-07:002013-07-22T07:59:25.901-07:00Long time, no see..and some good stuff.Hi y'all! Been a while, huh? :) <br />
<br />
You know, I was just remembering how I told the hubs this past spring that I couldn't wait for summer....because things would slow down and we could relax. I could blog again about how fabulous our school year went (it really was pretty cool) and then blog about all the cool things I have in my head for the new school year (really cool too). I'd have time to research materials for the high schooler who is coming back home from this last year of public school (YAY!!). <br />
<br />
That memory flooded my mind this morning right after I thought to myself how I couldn't wait for school to start so we could get a break from the busy-ness of our summer. Ha!<br />
<br />
It's been CRAZY! Not only haven't I blogged about the past, I haven't even started to plan for the future. <br />
<br />
It's already July!!! What?! <br />
<br />
It will all come together. This I know. Not sure how....but I have faith. :)<br />
<br />
So in the middle of our already busy summer, I decided to join our church's women's group this month. I haven't really had the time for it before but I just felt nudged to MAKE time. Kind of like taking care of your body: exercising, resting properly, eating right...you have to make the time because you'll never ever find it! <br />
<br />
This past weekend I realized that I had a major conflict with the day and time of women's group. Two of my middles were already signed up and paid for (and most importantly they were aware and patiently waiting for) an art day camp this week...in the morning...at the same time as the women's group. Then I realized I had scheduled a meeting with our homeschool co-op committee on the 3rd Monday of this month...at the same time as the women's group!! I felt {more than} a little dejected at that point...especially after feeling the nudge to join. <br />
<br />
I'm like, "God, you want me to do this but you know I have these other commitments, right?....what's up?" <br />
<br />
Last night I felt nudged to quickly double checked the times, and I realized that the women's group plus travel time back and forth would fit just perfectly in the time frame of the art camp for today.<br />
<br />
So what about that 3rd Monday? Well that is a topic for future post but let me just say that God worked that out too. <br />
<br />
{I totally just giggled and rolled my eyes at myself....as I thought "see there? He has a way of working these things out." ...Just as I know we'll be prepared for the new school year. Have faith, little sheep. If He wants it to happen for you, He'll make it happen. Not like He can't see (and prevent) obstacles that stand in the way. Duh.} <br />
<br />
{The little sheep part is a joke that will make sense to you later on.}<br />
<br />
So a lot of good stuff right there and plenty of a lesson for me today. However, I was overwhelmed with much more than the "oh ye of little faith" lesson this morning. <br />
<br />
O-ver-whelmed, I tell you. <br />
<br />
We're doing a study called Knowing the Shepherd by Nancy Leigh DeMoss based on Psalm 23. Day one...I can tell you it's going to be awesome!! We're learning how we really are sheep in need of a Shepherd to take care of our every need. :)<br />
<br />
Three HUGE things this morning. <br />
1. God understands. <br />
2. God provides.<br />
3. <a href="http://monkeyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2013/07/god-pushesthe-valley-of-death.html" target="_blank">God pushes.</a> <br />
<br />
I can't blog today about all three, and I'm afraid it would just get too long and confusing anyway. I'll post 2 and 3 at a later time, and just link back. <br />
<br />
So... 1. God understands. <br />
<br />
This little bitty bit came to me while driving to get my art camp boys after just listening to other moms talk about their children stresses. It was SO straight out of a book that I'm reading right now called Unglued. Ha! So good...and funny...and true! I can relate. <br />
<br />
One of the women in our group was talking about spending morning time with God, and another mom asked how she made that happen. How do we find time to spend with God without having kids running all over us? <br />
<br />
This has been a struggle of mine for a while. I have five kids from ages 1 to 15. Until this summer, the hubs had been working out of town Monday-Friday....leaving me to fend for myself with the boys. {Thank you, Lord....he's home now!! :) Some sanity is starting to creep back into my mind.} Some days I'm completely worn out but haven't accomplished much of anything. Ok, a LOT of days I feel that way.<br />
<br />
On the way to pick up my boys, I remembered a Proverbs 31 study from Good Morning Girls that I partially did last summer. Partially because like so many other things I've started in the past couple of years....I didn't finish it. You know, life gets in the way. The baby isn't sleeping like he should {clearly missing the memo about giving this mama some sound sleep}. Kids need something or to be somewhere...all the time. Blah, blah, blah...life.<br />
<br />
Oh my gosh....but that Proverbs 31 woman has it together, doesn't she? So accomplished, calm, cool, and collected. <em>The complete opposite of me</em>.<br />
<br />
One night last summer, I was thinking how impossible it was for me to be like her. There was NO way!! I had a newborn who kept me awake at night, and four boys who kept me awake during the day. The hubs was out of town. School was about to start, and my teen was begging to go to public school. I was failing at EVERYTHING. Ok, well it felt like I was anyway. Nothing seemed to be working out for me at all. Plus....just as a reminder, there was a NEWBORN baby in the house. Hello. <br />
<br />
I kind of grew to hate that woman, and wanted to give up the study. <br />
<br />
Then I watched a video from one of the GMG ladies. Just so you know...I'm pretty sure she recorded and posted that video just for me. :) <br />
<br />
She talked about all the different seasons in our lives.....and how because of those seasons, we might not be able to live *just like* the Proverbs 31 woman. The biggest arrow straight to my heart? When a newborn sleeps longer in the morning, the worn out mom should most definitely take advantage and sleep in with her baby. This is not her season to rise early. <br />
<br />
Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou. I totally did the ugly cry as I kept watching. Relief washed over me. Brings tears to my eyes now just thinking about it.<br />
<br />
Really I needed to hear that because it was my biggest struggle. How do I make myself get up early when I'm SO exhausted that I daydream about long, undisturbed naps? How can I have alone time with God when the baby just wants to be held/cuddled/fed all day? How do I do this when I have four others vying for my attention every second that the baby is sleeping? I. Just. Want. To. Sleep.<br />
<br />
It's simple. I don't. It wasn't my season to rise early. It was my season to take care of a newborn who required so much of my time. It was my season just to be a mother. The release of guilt was amazing. The release of expectation was amazing. The release of judgment on myself was amazing. <br />
<br />
Without all that junk weighing on my shoulders, I began to think about what I COULD do. <br />
<br />
I remembered YouVersion right there on my phone. I picked one short devotional and committed to just finding 10 minutes in the morning to read it. Then I let my thoughts wander back to the devotion throughout the day as I fed the baby, changed a diaper, fixed a meal, folded laundry, or fell asleep at night. I didn't feel obligated to set aside a particular amount of time or pick a particular time of day. <br />
<br />
I had those Aha! moments and learned valuable lessons...throughout the day.<br />
<br />
I learned that praying doesn't have to happen with eyes closed, head bowed, and hands folded neatly together. <br />
<br />
I learned that singing along with Air1 while rocking the baby or driving to an activity is *REAL* worship and prayer time. <br />
<br />
I learned that if I was just honest with myself and God...and admitted that I couldn't do it myself, He would meet me right where I was...in the car, in the rocking chair, snuggled up with the baby, on my runs, in the middle of the night, sitting outside while the boys played...wherever I was. <br />
<br />
And I learned that if I didn't get to my devotion that day, it and God would be there tomorrow. Waiting on me. Patiently and understandingly and forgivingly waiting. <br />
<br />
All that time I spent in little bits throughout the day {and night} added up to a LOT of time with Him. I did what I could, and He met me where I was. Every time. <br />
<br />
During this crazy busy summer, it was just the reminder I needed. Just the reminder that there are so many different seasons in our lives that require different things from us. We need to embrace those tough seasons. Do what we can to work through them. And remember that just around the corner is a season of rest. <br />
<br />
And God doesn't want us to feel chained to a certain expectation of how time with Him should be. It should be freeing, not suffocating. <br />
<br />
And when we fail, we don't have to give up. We simply remember He's patiently waiting and understanding and forgiving....and then we start again. <br />
<br />
Thankful for a women's group that unknowingly brought this reminder to me today. <br />
<br />
Thankful for a God who loves unconditionally. Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-26564442543657875972013-03-09T12:15:00.000-08:002013-03-11T12:16:14.120-07:00Weekly Review: Mar-4-8We are WELL!! Ok, mostly. Drake still have a little something hanging on but overall we are doing much, much better. The weekend was insane. Thank God for Daddy being home to help. I pretty much just took care of the sick baby and Daddy did everything else, including taking care of two sicklies and two sort of sicklies.<br />
<br />
Great week! I spent a good amount of time Sunday night getting everything ready for the week. I <strike>think</strike> KNOW this has been key to such a productive week. :)<br />
<br />
Monday-<br />
<ul>
<li>ES-finished up week 7 and began week 8.</li>
<ul>
<li>We watched a few YouTube vids on tides <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTQ6ciHENgI" target="_blank">HERE</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPYeRJyMOAE" target="_blank">HERE</a> (super cool time laspe video!!), and this kind of silly one <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnSxOCd-BVw" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</li>
<li>We then watched some deep sea videos <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0_h3AAn7Pk" target="_blank">HERE</a> (this one is just a picture and explanation of it but I loved comparing the sizes!) and this amazing video <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtmXN_tH2iM" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</li>
</ul>
<li>Took a much needed trip to the library. :)</li>
<li>Tackled individual work. Kaleb is adding and subtracting large numbers in columns (not a favorite of his) and Gabriel is working on number charts and comparing numbers....a lot of alligator *chomp, chomping* going on. :) </li>
<li>Read about the War of the Roses in history and made rose banners. </li>
</ul>
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<br />
<ul>
<li>Spent a large amount of time watching the county road crew work on our road. They are paving the dirt road in front of our house. (YES!!) This means a lot of dump trucks, heavy equipment, and noises that boys LOVE. It's hard to stay away from the windows!</li>
</ul>
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<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
FINALLY started the famous artist study from<a href="http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/" target="_blank"> Confessions of a Homeschooler</a>. We are starting with Picasso. I found a book about his childhood at the library. We enjoyed reading it, and learned quite a bit about his early life. Kaleb was in awe of his 8 and 9 year old drawings. :) We looked at some of his work as an adult, talked about the different periods, and learned that Daddy was born just a few years before Picasso passed away! </div>
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Tuesday-Woke up super early to tackle my chores and then woke the boys a little earlier than usual. The plan was to get all of our group work done before the grandson arrived to hang out. Worked perfectly. We actually accomplished more than I thought we would. Now my husband can say "I told you so." He's a morning person....I am NOT. :)</div>
<ul>
<li>Scripture Adventures is moving into the book of Judges. This isn't a book that I have read so I'm looking forward to it. Today we just talked about heros and heroines, and defined the word prophet. </li>
<li>We're working our way through nine ways to honor God in Who Is God, tackling one example a day. I love the conversations we're having! (Although today as we talked about honoring God with our bodies with one example being fasting, my smarty pants 8 year old suggested fasting from veggies as a way to honor God. Hmmm...don't think it works that way, son!!:) </li>
<li>Read more about William III who was the king killed in the War of the Roses and his two nephews who *disappeared*. One of the boys suggested fingerprinting or DNA testing as a means of finding the murderer. :) </li>
<li>Kaleb and Gabriel are both working in WWE 1 right now. I also have WWE 3 but, because we've never done any formal writing, I want Kaleb to understand better about what is required of him before moving to his grade level. They love copywork...who knew? :) </li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPbBefQVpQhV9t8yQ319n5Cl5FT_bg28dIZZr3XTyP3OQuvh_NgzLQPlRG_1z-JZIZccKtvQ1dKtayZBlnRhioDz0Tn52gXOX0imE1XM96JzW3deiRQZak4_O-VxFkT_MgkWi5b95fko/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoPbBefQVpQhV9t8yQ319n5Cl5FT_bg28dIZZr3XTyP3OQuvh_NgzLQPlRG_1z-JZIZccKtvQ1dKtayZBlnRhioDz0Tn52gXOX0imE1XM96JzW3deiRQZak4_O-VxFkT_MgkWi5b95fko/s320/001.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 2nd is his work. He added the A+...haha!</td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>Read and journaled on deserts from ES. Checked out the quick links. They LOVE those quick links. I think most of them are kind of cheesy but I guess if they like them....</li>
<li>Ran to the windows each time we heard the dump trucks and heavy equipment rolling by. :)</li>
</ul>
Wednesday-<br />
<ul>
<li>Read from another book about Picasso. We discussed some of his early paintings. I'm impressed with their attention to detail! This is going to be a fun subject for us. They are all working on coloring their own Three Musicians coloring page. Gabriel was inspired by one of Picasso's paintings and drew this weird face guy. :) </li>
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<ul>
<li>The boys worked hard to get all of their individual work done so we could have dinner at a favorite pizza place with Grandma, Grandpa, and Nana. </li>
<li>More WWE copywork. This is one of Gabriel's pages. We have a handwriting program that we use as well but he tries harder to form the letter properly with WWE. If he keeps this up, I may ditch the handwriting program and just require a little more writing across other subjects.</li>
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Thursday-
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<ul>
<li>Tried a new math journal idea. Months ago, I printed some <a href="http://ceure.buffalostate.edu/~csmp/" target="_blank">CSMP</a> and <a href="http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm" target="_blank">MEP</a> math pages for some group work. My idea was to work the problems together and then have them journal about it. I love the idea of them working together and teaching each other. Obviously Kaleb has an advantage but as we continue to work on this, I'll throw out some super challenging ones and see what happens. </li>
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<ul>
<li>The boys each made their own Tower of London as a quick history project. </li>
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Friday-A light day. We did most of our individual work and some group work before heading to town to do some errands. Don't you love when your child's bible lesson teaches you a thing or two? In Who Is God, we finished up the section about the nine ways we can glorify God. Love that What Should I Do section!<br />
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Co-op starts next Friday, and I have a fun surprise for them on Thursday. :) It's going to be a good one! Hope you all have a great weekend!!Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-78504431476629016332013-03-05T11:38:00.000-08:002013-03-05T11:38:04.675-08:00Weekly Report Feb 25-Mar 1We didn't get a lot of school work done this week. It happens! I am thankful for the past few full weeks of schoolwork. We'll get caught up next week and be back on track. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAzNXOh3kGKy75mDuv-FS08c9X92W_CbVjiOJnSJKtK9Sxa5-61ppVSgWUmBa8vZXKe1XR4bLEqzSbrDIF_1CDV88jKyVVqU-kuGlNaIQYSd5ONgIhSgLFohvGz0J0hPkOgWCxfW71r8/s1600/110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAzNXOh3kGKy75mDuv-FS08c9X92W_CbVjiOJnSJKtK9Sxa5-61ppVSgWUmBa8vZXKe1XR4bLEqzSbrDIF_1CDV88jKyVVqU-kuGlNaIQYSd5ONgIhSgLFohvGz0J0hPkOgWCxfW71r8/s320/110.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We actually did these plague doctor masks the week before but I never got around to blogging about the week. They still wanted me to share. :)</td></tr>
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Monday morning's field trip was the highlight of the week. We went to see a high school performance of Peter Pan! My boys have seen a couple plays and musicals before but none of those held their attention like Peter Pan. It was fantastic! We stayed afterward for a talk back and pictures. It was pretty hard to get the boys settled down after that so the rest of our Monday was pretty low key. We managed to do our group work but that's about it. :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQ2xyU8qNoCs_x6bB8iZ6BFjKBm-fwosiDguCanbqmFB-PHaz0-1J6kMfOdcbV0YzuAwhJaYoeRbz3brGRCrHE04MA_kqbsZ3fNtWdw3rL0BXlwUb7nrAPYGidn1S3-r7Q5NpCp8XxRY/s1600/026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRQ2xyU8qNoCs_x6bB8iZ6BFjKBm-fwosiDguCanbqmFB-PHaz0-1J6kMfOdcbV0YzuAwhJaYoeRbz3brGRCrHE04MA_kqbsZ3fNtWdw3rL0BXlwUb7nrAPYGidn1S3-r7Q5NpCp8XxRY/s320/026.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gabriel and Drake wanted a picture with Peter Pan. :)</td></tr>
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We had several errands to run on Tuesday that took a LOT longer than I had planned. The boys' favorite part of the day was our trip to the post office. I had several packages to mail, and the postman let the boys take turns stamping them. Then he gave them each a *priority* sticker. It was an unexpected experience from an incredibly sweet man. :) After our errands, we read about the Hundred Year's War and completed map work. The boys couldn't believe that a baby became king!! We finished our bible study on Joshua. Of course their favorite story was when God made the sun stand still (this is Dad's favorite story too). We moved on to math before ending our day a little early.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPsxuuZqpDT1pM8Vnl3uVhm0Kxyn2ywxo9IpJqDUC-_6-k84ZK2SWyseiwheGm-d8kxmmi3Xp8Hn3iMyjUjnkX1tiKPC75dUfPW2SmAjoWeVG0SwmujutwhlfrOmlc8N-cCsttylLjBw/s1600/101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPsxuuZqpDT1pM8Vnl3uVhm0Kxyn2ywxo9IpJqDUC-_6-k84ZK2SWyseiwheGm-d8kxmmi3Xp8Hn3iMyjUjnkX1tiKPC75dUfPW2SmAjoWeVG0SwmujutwhlfrOmlc8N-cCsttylLjBw/s320/101.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Start them early! Just kidding. Who doesn't like brightly colored movable beads?</td></tr>
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We babysat my youngest grandson on Wednesday. The boys LOVE getting to play with their nieces and nephews. They are the sweetest uncles!! So thankful for their willingness to entertain their nephew since Joshua wasn't feeling well. We still completed a good amount of work. Read about Joan of Arc in history. Talked about how one becomes a saint. Completed most of our group work and a good amount of individual work. Of course the best part of the day was hanging out with their nephew!! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQNzw2j8bW8XZ13QoZi7BdEZ8AAhy2n93iP35ueeVO86My1qGHzTG675EAzbt08kCwlk9x28NRlWo4dKUDbvV-BVxj9Mm4WrVYo-6Dn8HPpqm50-LYNmzr5XyjVMya4BQdToLu1Gv7cA/s1600/047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQNzw2j8bW8XZ13QoZi7BdEZ8AAhy2n93iP35ueeVO86My1qGHzTG675EAzbt08kCwlk9x28NRlWo4dKUDbvV-BVxj9Mm4WrVYo-6Dn8HPpqm50-LYNmzr5XyjVMya4BQdToLu1Gv7cA/s320/047.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Math on the go? I don't know but Gabriel did ALL of his work with NO complaining...so I'm not going to complain either!</td></tr>
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Babysat the grandson on Thursday too but we still managed to play catch up on our history, geography, and science projects. Daddy SURPRISED us all by coming home a day early!!! He brought some freshly picked daffodils for me. :) Also did all of our individual work AND even got a day ahead on most of it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLP_UFsNYn4mFmY2rA50m5Ys0Nk_CVAnILnhj4TPheLFKtArNJhO12Y6MD0vyUThDsMnPdla3JL7g5Dx33_xInucVE4J_a07hniS9DnPldgo8o1sl98AvO2zz1pJBvcAVqeKkiMVJ0-gM/s1600/018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLP_UFsNYn4mFmY2rA50m5Ys0Nk_CVAnILnhj4TPheLFKtArNJhO12Y6MD0vyUThDsMnPdla3JL7g5Dx33_xInucVE4J_a07hniS9DnPldgo8o1sl98AvO2zz1pJBvcAVqeKkiMVJ0-gM/s320/018.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Building a volcano. Unfortunately it was broken before we could use so we'll make another next week.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
Joshua started getting sick Thursday night so we cancelled school on Friday. I hope not having school on Friday isn't going to become a habit but we needed to devote our time to the baby. Pretty sure he has the Rotavirus. Bleh. This is something we take very seriously in our home. One of our boys was hospitalized for almost a week and another spent the night in the ER on a separate occasion for IV fluids because of this virus. We've been keeping a close eye on this baby boy. <br />
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Hoping everyone is well by the start of next week. We have several projects that we were suppose to do on Friday that we need to finish up. We only have a couple more weeks before co-op starts!! We're excited about that but I had really hoped to get more work done before then. Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-759065291303082974.post-64601236791169494342013-03-02T13:21:00.001-08:002013-03-05T11:39:05.807-08:00Week in review: Feb 10-15<br />
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Monday-We had a FUN morning!! I had the opportunity to fill in as a babysitter for a women's bible study led by our church. They meet in a bounce-around place!! :) The boys had such a fun time with some of their church friends, and I got to meet some ladies from our church that I didn't know. Made it home in time for lunch and then hit the books for a little while.<br />
<ul>
<li>Elemental Science-We watched the following YouTube videos on glaciers. The boys especially loved the exploding glacier! Warning: It's a LOUD video and I think there may be some inappropriate language at the very end. I just turned the volume all the way down. This reminds me to caution you about YouTube videos. YouTube is an awesome educational tool. I love it!! However, the language in the video AND the comments under the video can sometimes be incredibly inappropriate for children. Be sure to preview videos before letting the kiddos watch them. :) We also read from the Usborne First Encyclopedia of Our World and checked out the quick-links page. </li>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPFkxeA8KP4" target="_blank">Rolling Glacier</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvcGM6maGGk" target="_blank">Exploding Glacier</a> (Turn the sound all the way down on this one. It's LOUD!!!)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jPAcTkX5Ew" target="_blank">Glacier Time Lapse</a></li>
</ul>
<li>We read about the Forbidden City in history, colored a coloring sheet, and did some map work. Gabriel was shocked that the emporers' children had pet crickets. It did seem odd that they led them around on leashes. </li>
<li>Kaleb took a test on time and reviewed money in math. Gabriel did some work with number bonds and long addition (the 2+2+2=6 kind).</li>
<li>Drake was excited to do MANY ETC pages!! That kid will be through book C in no time! </li>
<li>We did a fun art lesson with lines.</li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>We read about Moses turning over leadership to Joshua, and reviewed all of the miracles God performed during the time of Moses. We named the baby after THIS Joshua. :) He is Bo's favorite person in the bible. So excited to share this book of the Bible with the boys. </li>
<li>Started a study on South Korea, did some lapbooking on ducks, and finished the Chinese dragons from last week. (also these are apparently the only pictures I took all week!)</li>
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Tuesday-A FULL boring day of school to make up for all the fun we had this week.<br />
<ul>
<li>Reviewed the capitals and counties so far in Asia.</li>
<li>Talked about the promises God made Joshua and how those promises relate to us today:</li>
<ul>
<li>to prosper us</li>
<li>to help us be courageous</li>
<li>to be with us always</li>
</ul>
<li>Finished another lesson in Who Is God? I wonder sometimes if the material is a little over their heads. I know it is for Drake but I'm not sure about Gabriel. Kaleb can easily narrate what we talk about every day and remembers when we review though. I know he's remembering it but I'm not sure if he's *getting* it. We did talk at length about our worldview and who/what are good/bad influences. I do know Gabriel and Kaleb understand that much. Afterward I let them take a TV break. As they surfed channels, they were discussing why the Disney and Cartoon Network channels are bad influences on their personal worldviews. They settled on a documentary about fast food which ended up being pretty eduational and interesting. Kaleb, later on that evening, asked me if I thought a particular show that I sometimes watch was a good or bad influence on my worldview. I had to agree that it probably wasn't the best choice for me. That was convincing enough for me to continue with Who is God? for now. :)</li>
<li>The rest of our school day followed nicely:</li>
<ul>
<li>Gabriel's reading is really picking up! I couldn't believe how quickly he is being to read the short stories in OPG. I remember when this happened with Kaleb. So exciting to see another child grow a love of reading!!</li>
<li>Kaleb struggled with converting days to hours. It wasn't his favorite part of the day! :)</li>
<li>Drake finished a cheap little math book I picked up for him. I'm trying to hold off starting MM until he's in kindergarten but that boy just keeps asking for more and more math! I have one more math workbook for him and hopefully it will hold him until the fall.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br />
Wednesday-Another FULL boring day of school. <br />
<ul>
<li>Read about Ivan the Great and Ivan the Terrible in SOTW, and did some map work.</li>
<li>Continuing in Daddy's favorite book in the Bible, we read how Rahad protected Joshua's two spies and the promise they made to protect her family.</li>
<li>In ES, we learned about the seashore:</li>
<ul>
<li>Read about the seashore in our encyclopedia book.</li>
<li>Defined the word tides.</li>
<li>Visited the quick-links website where we saw how the seashore changes over time, went virtual beachcoming, and read an online book about the coastline.</li>
<li>Found several seashore-related items in the Great Planet Earth Search book on pages 20-21 Scraggy Shore. They LOVE search books!</li>
</ul>
<li>Used the Internet to find information about South Korea. </li>
<li>After all the fun stuff, we tackled individual work. </li>
</ul>
<br />
Thursday-highlight of the day: Valentines Skating Party!!! Did much else matter to the boys? Not really. :) Nathan played hooky from school so he could go with us and see his homeschool friends. We cleaned the house all morning and then left for the partay!!<br />
<br />
<br />
Friday-Daddy came home Thursday night so we scrapped school for the day. LOVE that option! :) We'll do some catch up next week but SO worth being able to hang out with our favorite guy!<br />
<br />
<br />
With all of this lovey dovey Valentines stuff going on this week (that I will admit I LOVE), I woke up with Jesus Loves Me in my head and I was reminded yesterday that the GREATEST LOVE OF ALL comes from above. God gave us the best Valentine gift in the form of His Son because he loves us SO much and wants to spend an eternity with us. He continues to love and forgive us even in the midst of our many failures. Happy Valentines!! Hope you have a great weekend!!<br />
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</ul>
Christiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11827480330885809241noreply@blogger.com0