PIcture

Okay, I think I have finally figured this picture posting stuff out, hopefully it works this time.  :)

Have a great day!

Donna

Merry CHRISTmas Eve!

Okay, so we ordered a dollhouse for Madison, it is now sitting in the UPS place, and has been there since yesterday evening.  I keep checking for that very hopeful statement on the tracking information:  "out for delivery".   Looks like I will be picking up a back-up just in case today.  Thankfully she is very easy to buy for and will love whatever she gets.

I made cake balls last night, yes I am turning into a Christmas baker!  They turned out really good.   Today the boys will make the birthday cake for Jesus that we will enjoy tomorrow.  

I read a verse in Luke today that I just love - Luke 1:45  Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.  

That is Elizabeth speaking to Mary just after Mary found out she  was carrying God's son.  

May I spend more time listening to God and actually hearing what He has planned for me!

I am going to attempt to post a picture.  If it works, it is a picture of Ryan and Justin in the snow we had a couple of weeks ago.   If not, draw a picture of a snowman and two excited boys! :)

For those who want to read the story of Mary and Martha, it is found in Luke 10: 38-42 in your Bible.  Check it out and pray about how you can choose what is better.  :)

Yikes, I can't believe it has been so long since I posted!  I can do better than that, I will make a point of posting more!

Well, I had my first homemade bread making  experience yesterday.  My wonderful hubby bought me  a stand mixer for Christmas, and let me have it early.  I got a great recipe from another homeschool mom.  It was alot easier than I  thought it would be.  Justin had to be my secretary and answer the phone at some points when my hands were covered in dough, but he stepped up and helped out.

We still have a few things to buy for Christmas, as usual, I never seem to finish before Christmas Eve.  But as I continue working on our Christmas preparations, foremost in my mind is the preparations made so long ago for Jesus to be born.  What an incredible leap of faith for Mary to trust in God.   Joseph stayed by her side, and trusted as well.  I wonder how I can be more trusting of God, even when things don't make sense and are even scary?  

Today will be more cleaning, cooking and preparing  the house for Christmas, but I will also be looking for ways to prepare my heart as well.  May I not get so caught up in the "Martha" aspect of Christmas and find the "Mary" in me that will look for what is better.

Have a great day!  :)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

We are starting to get back into our regular school routine.  Both boys have done some reading and history work yesterday and today.  We returned our HUGE stack of books about Egypt to the library today, and started collecting ones about Creation.  Ryan was also excited to find many books about skyscrapers during our library visit today.  

Our church activities haven't started back up again, as the church still doesn't have electricity.  We have had Sunday worship services only since the storm.

Through the Storm

Hurricane Ike blew through here late Friday Sept. 12/Early Saturday Sept. 13.  We found ourselves living on vienna sausages and spam, both of which, Johnny and I have determined, are the same meat in different shapes.  God has been good to us, providing a few days of unseasonably cool weather, and then a generator and window air conditioner.  Power was restored last night and we are slowly returning back to normal, whatever that is around here!  Today will be a re-focus day for me, and hopefully we will start back up with school tomorrow.  

We are enjoying watching the Olympics as a family.  What excitement with Michael Phelps last week!  The boys both got Michael Phelps swim caps at swim practice last week and were very excited.

We are enjoying our last week of "summer" before starting school next week.  I have everything ready to go and have made multiple trips to the library.

Our Olympic Quote of the day, courtesy of Johnny: "Men don't do the balance beam".  (As Ryan was walking across the back of the couch doing his version of the event.)

Sunday, August 10, 2008

We have been working on some Summer Olympic activities, making a book about the Olympics, and reading The Hour of the Olympics, a Magic Treehouse book.  Ryan and Justin have both been doing some reading and writing as well.  Madison likes to pick up a book and "read" whenever they are reading, and she has been enjoying coloring with Mommy.  She especially likes to try and make circles, and has even identified circles that she has seen.

I have been collecting books from the library for our first History unit - Eygpt.  We have the rest of our books ready to go as well.  The first Science topic will be Animals, and  we will start with Camels.  

Both boys continue to do a lot of swimming on these very hot days.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Well, we are getting ready to begin another year of homeschooling.   Most of the curriculum has been bought, just waiting for a few things to come in.  The boys have been reading everyday to earn Indiana Jones Journal's, they each have a calendar we mark off after they read.  It is truly amazing to hear them read.  We start back to Homeschool PE next week, they are excited about that.  In September, we will begin going to the Museum of Natural Science once a month for Science classes.  For now they are doing a lot of swimming.  They both love going off the diving board and especially like seeing Daddy go off the board!

Decisions, Decisions

Well, we went back to the conference on Saturday.  My plan was still to use Abeka for next year.  Johnny and I were walking through the exhibit hall with the millions ( okay, not millions), of curriculum choices and other vendors.  He has this habit of stopping at any booth that has either a mac computer or a video camera, regardless of what is offered for sale there.  Well, he sees a video camera and stops to talk to the vendor, and I am getting more and more bored by the minute.  Then I happen to notice the next booth, full of books.  I love books!  So I go in and discover the most amazing curriculum, My Father's World.  I look through the books, the teachers guides, talk to anyone I can there, and fall in love with the curriculum.  Then Johnny finds me.  Well, after looking at the brochure for a couple of days, I think we have decided to try it.  The notebooking activities and great literature look like something that will appeal to both Ryan and Justin.   

Tomorrow we have swim team pictures. I remember when I was little and would get pictures taken for school, dance, sports, etc. and the only options were the different size pictures that came with each package.  Not so anymore, not only can you order prints, there are also photo magnets, key chains, magazine covers, full size 16X20 prints, engraved plaques, etc.  I am waiting for the day that they offer to paint the side of your house with a copy of the picture.  

Well, that is all for now.

Donna

Homeschool Conference

My husband and I went to a Homeschool Conference.  What an amazing time of encouragement for us!  We use the Abeka Curriculum and are now looking at using the DVD program for both boys.  I have been very happy with Abeka this year, it challenges them without being too much.  Justin is reading far beyond what I thought he would do this year.  Ryan is such a sponge and remembers concepts after a very short instruction time.  Madison will join in next year with the Nursery curriculum for 2 year olds.  It was great to be around so many other homeschooling families today.  I went to sessions geared toward moms and was very refreshed and inspired.  Johnny found the Starbucks immediately upon arrival and was content the remainder of the day.   In an effort to do our part to help the environment, we rode the bus downtown and took the light rail to the conference.  It was an adventure for us both.  I didn't have the money ready and was shooed to the back of the bus pretty much as soon as we boarded.  We got off at our stop downtown and proceeded to buy light rail tickets.  The only issue was when we sat on the wrong side of the platform and came dangerously close to getting on a train going the opposite direction of our destination.   We made it to the conference in time to register and get to our first sessions.  (That was when Johnny made the Starbucks detour.)   We will return tomorrow, so more exciting updates to follow.

Honeysuckles:

  My oldest son who is 8 spent a lot of time finding honeysuckles today. I remember as a child enjoying them also. He wanted to know if I wanted one. A friend had showed him how to remove the honey, and he seemed to really enjoy the little bit of honey they produced. My youngest son who is 6 got moved up to the next level on swim team today. He was so proud, and so were we. My husband had to jump in the pool to save him about 5 weeks ago fully clothed. That day my husband got a speeding ticket on the way home from the health club soaking wet. The officer didn't notice or say anything about it. The boys said to me when they got home. Boy dad sure is having a bad day. My husband told the boys that it was a great day because Justin was alive, and well. He had fell off the board that he was learning to swim with. We were really concerned that he would be scared of the water so my husband brought him back the next day and got in the pool with him. He seemed fine, and we decided to enroll him on the swim team. He excelled at rookie camp, and has been swimming since that first week of camp. He has since learned the back stroke, and came in sixth at this past weeks meet in that event. His older brother  who is in his third year on swim team has yet to get a ribbon, and is pretty jealous.

  We are coming up on the end of our first year of homeschooling. It has been very hectic to say the least. I can't remember the last time I have had the house all to myself for any extended period of time. My oldest son has flourished this year, having had a rough couple of years in public school. It seems so long ago that we went to our first Homeschool conference wondering is this really for us. Deciding on which curriculum to use seemed to be our biggest concern. We decided on Abeka, and boy was that the right decision for us. In my desire to try and find the perfect curriculum, I had put to much pressure on myself. Being a certified teacher who had taught in the public schools for 12 years, I felt like it had to be perfect. My husband convinced me to keep it simple. He said Abeka covers every subject, and you get a good price on buying the whole curriculum. At the homeschool conference they had suggested keeping it simple your first year. Well it has been so simple I believe we are going to use Abeka again. It is an awesome resource for homeschool parents. 

  Since this is our first day of our new blog I will save some of our stories for future posts. We hope you enjoy reading, and please feel free to leave feedback.