redecorating....

I have such a great child. She pays attention to details and loves to help around the house. The other day, she decided that it was time to change the picture. I had just shared a photo of the new frame we got for art work and silently I wondered if I would ever be able to change the art. Why? Well, I really liked the art work she had done and taking it out of the frame was like retiring it. Saying it wasn't good enough anymore. Ok, maybe that is not what taking it out of the frame really means, but it felt like that to me. So, enter Kid #4. Her chore was dusting and as she worked in that room she decided it was time to redecorate. I guess if she is fine with it, then I better be! ;o) Besides, I like this picture....it makes me smile.

Homeschool Memoirs #3

I checked for this week's writing assignment and found this..... "This week please post what your planned home school routine is." Anyone that knows me can just stop laughing right now!! The word, Routine, makes me sweat and then my heart rate increases and my tummy starts flipping. I want to have a routine, I think I really do. However, every fiber in my body starts to rebel when I actually try to follow one. ;o) OK, so I am not really THAT bad...but close. I think I do have routines.....sort of. All of the type A routine oriented people would totally be rolling on the floor by now. But you know what....some people think of me as "organized". So, I bet that deep down I do have a little routine going even if most can't see it. Hmmm....let me think.

I try to get up around 8. (well, that's embarrassing to admit!) We try to start school around 10ish. OK, sometime before noon. We stick with it until it's done. I make a schedule based on when we start, when we last ate and what we have to do for the day. While kid #4 works, I clean my bedroom, bathroom and do laundry. Sometimes I even clean up the kitchen if it needs it. After school we tackle any unfinished chores. (sometimes we do most of them before school)

Co-op will start soon and that is every other Monday morning. Tennis lessons start this Friday and that will be every Friday for 8 weeks. We go to the library once every few weeks.....

OK, I don't have routines. It works for us, though. hehe School gets done, projects get done, we meet with friends esp. when they need us, the bible gets read and studied, the house stays pretty clean and organized, I make dinner most every night, older kids visit regularly, I finish commitments that I make at church and with friends....it all happens, but I have no routine. I am a routine wannabee. I am now starting to think God just made me this way and it's all good. :o)

I do have goals for this year. Kid#4 has auditory issues and is delayed in all things language arts, like reading. However, she has been making huge improvements over the past few months. So, I am praying that this year I can be attentive to her needs and we can overcome any obstacles. I want to be consistent with our schooling and work hard, but at the same time allow for the fun and independent growth. So, balance is a key for this year. I also want to encourage her and build up her confidence, as well as work on some issues of shall we say...."attitude". To us, character is a huge part of homeschooling. I am praying that we have one of those school years where we can look back and just say, "Wow, that was really rewarding."

school project day...

Well, last week was family time and field trips. Daddy was home most of the week and we kept busy. So, today was back to the real world and kid #4 and I were not ready. I had several full hampers of dirty laundry to tend, dishes to wash, furniture to dust, etc. So, we made it project and chore day.

We had a few school projects to finish up and I decided today was the day. We did some chores and I had her read for a while. Then I sat down and we read some more. Then she worked on a coloring project she started the other day and watched the Food Network. She has been interested in cooking, so I let her listen to a few shows while she colored.

Then, it was time for the celery project. She removed the xylem from a stalk of celery and stuck it in colored water. Then another stalk with it's xylem intact went in a cup of colored water. Within an hour we could see some red in the leaves of the stalk with it's xylem. She thought that was cool.

Picture below is today's update on the great celery project. What a great demonstration.

Next up, we baked two layers of a cake to make maps of the Eastern and Western Hemisphere. This was a project from our History curriculum. We are using My Father's World: Exploring Countries and Cultures. We used an idea from a fellow homeschooling blogging mom and we outlined the continents with chocolate chips. It is, of course, not exact. However, she had fun making it and eating it. We are saving the Eastern Hemisphere to share with grandparents tomorrow. I think they will be impressed. :)

Here she is filling in the continents.

Next came outlining with mini chocolate chips. It was two on the cake and two in the mouth at this point. ;o)



The finished product!

The proud baker and decorator. I must say, I love our school curriculum!

longaberger deals...

Even those that don't just love Longaberger Baskets have to appreciate this deal. We had a yard sale this past summer and I noticed friends that were participating were selling some Longaberger baskets. Well, basically, they were giving them away. She was cleaning out and didn't really care for pricing, so everything was priced to sell. Let's just say....the baskets never made it to the sale! hehe I snagged them and my heart went pitter patter. I only have one other Longaberger and I paid full price for that one. I do love it and appreciate it, but I really can't afford to have a habit like that. So, that one basket has been my only Longaberger splurge. However, at $2.00 I can certainly afford it. :) Here they are...

This one I have seen many time before. I think it's cute and it does the job. I had been looking for something to hang from this hook. :)

Now, this one I don't really know anything about. It also came with plastic liner, but I removed it for the picture. Our friend said that there was more plastic things for it, but she couldn't find them in her house and they may be gone. It's about 20 inches long and 14 inches wide(roughly). Anyone know the name of this basket?

farewell to summer....

All year I look forward to spring and summer. It comes, I blink, it leaves!! It never fails to take me by surprise. Before I know it, summer ends and fall comes. Well, I actually like fall....just not the fact that it brings winter. Sure I love, love, love snow storms. However, deep down I really don't like snow. So, after a few days I want it to disappear. Fortunately for me, around here that is exactly what happens. Another thing that I do not care for is the biting cold. To me, the only good reason for cold is to bring snow. If we aren't having a snow storm, then I feel it should be at least 60 degrees outside. Just my personal opinion. (we all have them!!)

What clued me into the fact that fall is right around the corner? Looking at my front garden and seeing that it is getting tired. There is still some incredible beauty there....but little signs show me the time has come. Let me share my garden with you.

First sign....Mr Toad is getting all dull. He looks all shiny and fresh in the Spring, thanks to a good cleaning and sometimes some fresh paint.

I love the blossoms on this plant and it is holding in there rather well. However, you can see that some bugs are getting to her leaves.

I love this Hosta and all the swirls on the leaves. Poor leaves are getting tired though.

If you look near the top of this photo, you will find the spent flowers of these hostas. They are just about done, done, done.

Ok, here is the clincher that summer is ending. Lookie here...what do we have? Brown leaves on the ground!! Didn't summer just start?

Another sign....well, I've given up on weeding. Wait, I never weed. hmmm.....

I appreciate these petunias. I really do. They are just holding onto to summer for all it's worth!! Aren't they pretty?

Yep, fall is right around the corner.

This plant has seen better days, but she is hanging in there, too. We have this thing about rocks. We like them. ;)

No one gave this impatien the memo about summer coming to an end. She is making flowers left and right. She will stay strong until one morning in mid - late October. I will see this in the evening and wake up to a mass of what looks like cooked spinach. I will cry.

For now, I will hang on to summer. I will ignore the bug holes, brown leaves, dull toad, and spent flowers. I am NOT ready to let it go.

First Assignment

Here is our first assignment of the school year. Take time this week to write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with homeschooling. Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling and whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back. Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children.

As a child I did well in school. It was fairly easy for me and that lead to quite a bit of free time. Free time that was spent stuck at a desk daydreaming. Of course, over the years school got a little bit more difficult, but I was so used to doing nothing to learn that I continued with my ways. That meant there were some B's thrown in with my A's on my report card. Once, I even got a D in Latin 2. I just could not stand that class and had no idea on how to study and memorize stuff, and before I knew it Iwas hopelessly behind. Overall, my school experience wasn't bad....but it wasn't really anything exciting. I didn't feel prepared for life, I didn't feel equipped to go out and conquer anything, and I certainly didn't feel confident about who I was.

Honestly, looking back I always knew I wanted to be a mom. A stay at home mom was my chosen career path. I had an intense interest in medicine, but still felt the tug to be a mom first and foremost. God was preparing me even at a young age, but I didn't know it.

So fast forward to the year 1984. I am a mom. A young mom, but a stay at home mom! Our son was under a year old and taking a nap. I was sitting in our dining room reading a magazine. (I think it was Family Circle) I came across an article on a homeschooling family and thought how absolutely wonderful that sounded. It just hit me deep inside and seemed so right. I couldn't imagine sending my little guy off to school.

However, over the next few years I didn't hear anymore about homeschooling. I didn't read about it, didn't see it on tv, and certainly didn't know anyone who homeschooled. So, the day came that I sent my little pumpkin off to school. I had another son at home and soon added another son to the mix. I sure missed kid#1. I thought about him all day. I wondered what he was learning, what he was thinking and how he felt.

Around 1991, we were led back to church. We found a wonderful church home. My hubby came across some families that he had connections with back when he was growing up. We connected right away and wouldn't you know, they homeschooled. Several families at our new church homeschooled! Then, in my oldest son's cub scout den a new kid joined. He was homeschooled AND my husband used to be in scouts with his dad. A few months after meeting this family, the mom asked me, "When are you going to start homeschooling?" That took me off guard a bit, but my reply was, "I'm not sure. Things are going well in school. I guess if there is a problem in school, I would homeschool in a heartbeat." Hehe... You know where this is going.

Fortunately, for me there wasn't a BIG awful problem. However, things began to crop up. Oudest son was smart and spent quite a bit of time sitting at his desk daydreaming. I knew this because I was now volunteering more at his school. The teachers all loved him. He was gentle, quiet and smart. Son #2 had a little more difficulty. He was gentle and quiet, too. However, school was a little harder for him. The teachers didn't even know how hard it was because he was very intelligent and compensated. I found out that he was acing his spelling tests and math tests, but he couldn't tell you the letter or number that he just wrote! No wonder, he had a hard time trying to read.

Mike, my husband, mentioned that he would be in total support of me if I decided to homeschool. I prayed about it and almost immediately had my answer. Within 24 hours, I had met 3 more families that homeschooled, flipped on the tv and saw a news report on a homeschooling family, picked up a newspaper and saw a supportive article on homeschooling and bumped into someone that brought up homeschooling even though they didn't homeschool. I also had an incredible peace about the thought of homeschooling. So in 1993, we took the plunge. I have graduated three boys and now we have a girl. Some days have been easier then others, some years have been more rewarding then others, but I have never lost that peace. :o)

My desire for my children's schooling has always remained the same. I wanted them to learn and to know how to learn. I wanted them to know who they were and what gifts God has given them. I also wanted them to feel confident in who God made them to be. Like I said, we are down to just homeschooling kid #4 and I pray that I accomplish those goals as she grows up.

Now, I am just going to throw a few pictures at you to reward you for reading all that!! (everyone likes pictures, right??)

I was going to show some pictures of when we first put the school room together a few years ago. It was so new and fresh, but then decided to just give you the real thing. So I ran in there and snapped a few shots. Keeping it real here and letting you see the lived in look. :)

This is where we sit most of the time to do seatwork and projects. If we are reading, we go snuggle on the living room couch. This is also where we do a lot of crafts.

Here is her own little space. This desk was my mom's when she was little. :) Kid #4 keeps her personal papers, favorite stickers and drawings in this desk. Ignore the closet...it's a little messy today.

This picture is already on my blog. It's kid #4's first day for this school year. She is ready to go.

family room update...

I was sitting here looking through some old pictures, when I realized that I never did post the pictures of some of the finishing touches to our room off the kitchen. Mike and I were just talking last night about how we wouldn't do anything differently if we had the remodel to do over again. That says a lot. There are tons of details involved in such a big remodel and we are happy with every single one of them!! :) I must say....I still wake up each morning, walk out to the kitchen and smile. Well, except for when Mike forgets to do the dishes!

Anyway...We are not 100% finished with the details in the family/great room. (not quite sure what to call it....but the kitchen and this room are all one big room) However, we are pretty close. Here are a few pictures of what has taken place, so far.

This is our little love seat. Kid #4 calls this her spot.

I love this cabinet. It is where I keep overflow from the kitchen. I went shopping yesterday and it is stuffed to the gills. It's a perfect addition to the room.

This is one of my favorite ideas. We brought a frame to highlight Kid #4's artwork. This is a one line project that she did last year in art class. Her pencil never left the paper. When she added some watercolor to it, I fell in love with the picture. She has a stack of other creative pieces, but I have had a hard time taking this one down.