So long.....

It has been literally years since I have posted anything here.  That is not unusual for me.  However, this year will be full of many changes.  My daughter has gotten her drivers license and is in her senior year of high school, still homeschooled.  My son is starting his third year of public school as a sophomore in high school.  We decided as a family this was a good thing for him as he wanted to play baseball in high school.  Last year, freshman year, he made the varsity baseball team.  I am beyond proud of him and his dedication to both school and athletics.  He carried a 4.0 gpa last year. He didn't have honors or AP classes but still he finished with a 4.0.  My daughter has been doing competitive dance for the last four or five years.  She has done well with school and deciding what she wants to major in at college.  She is looking at secondary education with a minor in french and psychology.  Or some combination of that.  She has a good head on her shoulders and is strong and kind.  I couldn't be more proud of either of them.  They are you typical teenagers with the occasional attitudes but for the most part are good, kind children.  Well hopefully over the next little bit I can start posting again.  Enjoy the long holiday weekend.

What do you think about the picture in the header?

What do you think?  Do you like it.  I do.  Thank you Chris for taking this picture of my babes.

Pause

The end of 2012 was not an easy one.  It wasn't terrible by any means but I just didn't feel like myself.  I think it was the fact that we were out of our routines with school and the household.  We were kind of  'flying by the seat of our pant's' so to speak.  It was hard to get motivated some days.  I spent the first few of days of 2013 pondering what I wanted to accomplish this year.  Many other families and women have a word that they use to keep the year in focus.  The words range from focus to family and everything in between.  My word for 2013 is Pause. 

I am sure you are asking why pause.  Several reasons.  I want to remember to pause to trust God and his timing.  I want to pause to listen to God.  I need to remember to pause before speaking harsh words to my children or husband.  I need to pause to remember to slow down.  Life doesn't need to go 90 miles an hour down an open highway every day.  Pause to reflect and rejoice in what I have rather than covet what I don't.  Pause to sometimes just drink that cup of tea and have a biscotti while petting our dog.  Pause to play a game with my kids, even with the nerf guns that I loathe so much.  Pause to actually listen to my children and their hearts.  They are growing so fast and I don't want to miss it.

So for 2013, my word is Pause. 

The One Where My Son Gets Kicked Out of Homechool.......Almost!

We have been in school now for almost five weeks.  As a homeschooler we are able to start when we want and take breaks when needed.  We like the flexibility it gives us for vacations, field trips, etc. One downside is when my children don't want to do their schoolwork.  This happens more often than I want to admit.  Monday of this week was a struggle for my son.  He did everything else but schoolwork.  He even told me that he saw no need for doing school work because he needed to spend the time practicing his pitching for the day he makes to Major League Baseball. 

Alrighty then. 

Can you see my mind spinning here?  I don't want to discourage his dreams but I want him to be realistic about them too.  And, let's be real here.  Boo (son) has a bit of an issue with pride and humility.  He is very prideful and not very humble.  We are working on it. 

After a few minutes (yes it was really minutes), I calmly told him that he would still have to do his schoolwork or he could speak with his father when he got home from work.  School was going to take precedence over any extra curricular activities.  If he couldn't get his schoolwork done there would be no baseball and he would be unable to go to the r/c flying field on Saturday with Dad.  Suddenly, the wheels started to spin and he was able to finish his schoolwork (Math, English, Reading, Handwriting, and Spelling) in an hour and a half.  What? He had been working on it since 10 a.m.  Seriously!! He finished it up about 10 minutes before Dad got home from work.  Dad and I had talked while he was driving home from work so he already knew the situation.  He gets home and I am fixing dinner, the kids are outside playing.  Dad has decided that Boo is grounded until Saturday.  Boo will also be sitting in the garage with Dad and get started on tomorrow's school work. 

Woah!! Dad is getting tired of it too!! Or maybe he is just tired of me complaining...yeah, probably that.

Needless to say, Boo had to sit in the garage instead of practicing baseball pitching.  He was able to finish his math that night before he had to do his evening chores.  Because Boo didn't get all of Tuesday's work done, Dad woke him up before he left for work.  6 a.m. Yep, you read that right.  Six o'clock in the MORNING!!! Whew!! That is early for a kid. 

Boo got up and finished his Tuesday work (as did his sister) and then he did the school work for Wednesday.  Now Boo is always working a day ahead.  If it isn't done by the time Dad gets home from work he will not be able to play baseball or go flying with Dad.  It has taken the stress off of me.  I know the steps I need to follow and when to get Dad involved.  Is it a perfect system? Nope. But it is working for us at the moment. 

We are also using a green, yellow, red card system for obedience and behavior.  Again, it isn't perfect but it does work for us.  I will write more on that a bit later.

Hope your week is going well!!

Blessings,
Sabrina

Time to dust this thing off.

I believe that it is time to dust this blog off and to start posting here more regularly.  Please feel free to follow along so that we can stay in touch.  I will be posting about homeschooling, parenting, and just general life.  So stick around and follow the life of a homeschooling family that is sometimes way too busy. 

My gifts

I received a gift today from my children.  Breakfast in bed.  Why?  Because they wanted to do something kind for me.  No other reason.  It isn't my birthday.  It isn't Valentines or mother's day.  It was just a Monday and they wanted to be kind. 

How many times do we, as busy mom, let these gifts pass us by?  My children have been an enormous help to me lately.  I had a really bad cold a couple of weeks ago and was in bed a good portion of it.  My daughter fixed breakfasts and lunches for her and her brother.  I got over the cold just in time to throw my back out the next week.  Monday afternoon I was letting the dog out.  I ended up in bed all day Tuesday and Wednesday.  Emmalee did all of the laundry.  Every bit of it.  Joyfully, too.  She separated it.  Put it in the washer and dryer and folded it.  Seriously.  My 10 year old daughter did this, happily.  She even put some of it away.  She finished it on Friday afternoon.  There wasn't even enough left to put another load in, a few stray socks, a towel, and a shirt.  Those items for some reason didn't make it to the laundry room earlier in the week.  What a blessing my daughter was during that time.  It got done and I didn't have to worry about it. 

You might be asking what my son was doing to help out.  He did a lot too.  Easier stuff like getting me water, fixing a sandwich for lunch, getting a dvd for me to watch, etc.  On Friday night, he actually fixed dinner.  Yes, it was a frozen pizza but he took the time to make it.  He put pepperoni on it, put in the oven and took out of the oven.  No, his dad and I had no idea Eoin was fixing dinner.  He surprised us. 

I have been blessed with wonderful children.  Yes, they have difficult moments but don't all of us have those moments?  I have been blessed more than I could begin to imagine.  I love my family. 

Oh, and for breakfast this morning, they made me a strawberries, cup of milk, bagel with cream cheese and a chocolate covered strawberry for dessert. 

We have to remember our blessings that God gives us every day.  They may not be easily seen, but we should look for them.

Have a great day. 

Creative gift ideas part three

Are you ready for part three?  Let's get started with this post and finish up all of this. Almost three months later.  I have been busy as most everyone else in the world is. 


Calendar Journal

I thought this would be great for anyone who has a new baby or even a newlywed.  You could also use this as a blessings journal.  The idea is to write down something (quickly) that happened that day.  You keep it for 10 years and each year you can look back to see what was happening each day in your life.  I actually made two of these.  One for myself and one for a gift.  I can't post pics until after Christmas because one is a gift.  I will include a couple of links to show the different versions people are making.  For dividers you could use greeting cards or even pictures to divide the months.

http://www.designsponge.com/2010/12/diy-project-vintage-postcard-calendar-journal.html

the blessing box design

http://www.lemusingsofmoi.com/2011/01/blessing-box.html

Another design

http://www.thegeekysaver.com/2011/01/inspired-for-2011.html


I am going to post this for now.  I might go back and edit it later.  I have found so many other things that would be cute and great gifts.  Not just at Christmas but for birthdays, anniversaries, etc.  I know that I have forgotten a few things but this will get everyone started thinking about fun, creative gift ideas for others.  Gifts should be from the heart not just because we feel the need to do so. 

Creative Gift Ideas Part Two

Book Basket

Continuing with our creative gift ideas, another idea was a book basket.  We had our daughters put together a book basket based on Little House in the Big Woods.  In the basket (metal pail) they included a copy of the book, a sack of peppermint sticks, a stuffed animal horse, ribbons (like Laura would have worn), and a bonnet. This idea could be for any book.  You just need to put together objects that go along with the book. This gift would also work for any age, depending on the book of choice. 

Memory Jar

Another idea is to take a mason jar (or any empty, clean jar) and put cards that have memories on them.  This is a great gift for a mom or grandmother.  Everyone writes different memories on a card or tag they have with that person.  Along with the jar, include a journal for the mom/grandmother to write her memories as well.  It would be great to have 365 cards in the jar so she could pull one out each day.  What a great way to have a journal with all of the memories in it. 

Blessings Jar

Wouldn't it be great to write a blessing or something special each day of the year for one year and pull out one blessing each day the next year?  This was another mason jar idea that we had come up with.  On the outside of the jar we glued words from the song Count Your Blessings.  Tie a cute ribbon around the top of the jar along with a tag that a scripture verse written on it.  A variation of this would be to put in different scripture verses for them to be pulled out daily or weekly or even monthly. 

Seasonal Candles

In a basket we put four candles, one to represent each season.  On each candle we labeled them with brown kraft paper spring, summer, winter and autumn.  On a tag we found scripture to go along with the season.  You could also do this for twelve candles.  One for each month.  Again, find scripture verses for each month or season or just twelve of your favorite verses. 

Bookmarks

Bookmarks are great to give along with a book.  You can make your own or buy them.  I have made two kinds and both are very simple.  The first one is a corner bookmark.  Here is a video tutorial http://www.thehybridchick.com/2010/01/corner-bookmark-video-tutorial/

I also make one using charms and stretchy string from the jewelry making section of the craft store.  You cut an 18 inch section of string and thread the charm on it.  Tie a knot next to the charm at the bottom (string should be in half) and tie a knot near the top.  I will try to get pictures of the bookmark up soon. 

Stay tuned for post number three!!

Creative Gift Ideas for Christmas Part One

In preparation for the Christmas holiday, I am putting together a list of creative gift ideas.  I will share links for instructions on how to make them.  Most of these are very simple, fairly inexpensive but nice to put together for an easy gift for a neighbor, children, parents, grandparents. Most of these are gifts that another woman and I put together for a Creative Gift Ideas presentation to a mom's group at a church in our area. 

Glass Magnets

The first gift is a relatively easy one - Glass magnets.  The link shows using lettered scrapbook paper for making the magnets.  This is a great idea for a child just learning letters, or how to spell or read. Another way to use these would be to make decorative magnets using scrapbook paper.  These would also make a great gift using pictures to make a gift for a grandparent with pictures of the grandkids.

http://papervinenz.blogspot.com/2011/09/back-to-school-magnet-board-tutorial.html

Tile Coasters

The next gift is also easy.  I made some tile coasters using inexpensive tiles from the home improvement store, scrapbook paper, mod podge, and polyurethane.  This were very easy to do.  The longest part of this project was the time it took for the glue and polyurethane to dry.  Here is a link to how to do these. 

http://www.curbly.com/users/DIY-Maven/posts/6125-Curbly-Video-Using-Paper-Napkins-to-Make-Decorative-Tile-Coasters

I used scrapbook paper instead of napkins.  I also used mod podge to glue the paper to the tile.  Then I put three more coats of mod podge on top of the paper.  After that was completely dry I put a coat of polyurethane and let that coat dry.  I put a second coat of polyurethane on top to ensure a good seal. 


Quiet Time Basket

As mom's we don't always have time to have our quiet time with God.  However, this a very important time for us to connect with God.  It helps us to be better moms, wives and women in general.  I put together a basket that contained Ann Voscamp's book, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are.  I also included a pen, a journal and a ceramic travel mug.  The journal was a composition book that I altered by covering with scrapbook paper and ribbon.  Here is a link for an example of an altered composition book.  http://www.squidoo.com/altered-composition-books?utm_source=google&utm_medium=imgres&utm_campaign=framebuster

For the pens, I took a scrap of paper 3 1/2 inches by 7/8 inch and a Pentel RSVP pen.  I removed the top and rolled the paper around the barrel.  I then slid the paper down into the barrel and replaced the ink tube and top. 

Girlhood Basket

In this basket we included a book, an eye mask, fuzzy socks, a pillowcase, rag rollers, bath salts, notebook, and pen.  I picked up the eye mask and fuzzy socks at Michaels in the dollar section. 

Here are in the instructions for the rag rollers:  http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/2008/09/works-for-me-ra.html .  I really need to make these for a stocking stuffer for my daughter. 

Here is the link for one style of pillowcase: http://raisinghomemakers.com/2011/sewing-tutorial-how-to-make-a-pillow-case/  This link does not have a contrasting border.

Here is a tutorial for a pillowcase with border.  She also has some great tips so be sure to read through the whole tutorial before starting.  http://kirstencan.typepad.com/kirstencan/pillowcase_tutorial/

I will continue the ideas in the second post.  I hope that some of these help you with your holiday gifts.  Remember, even if you are not a crafty person you can still put together a great gift very inexpensively. 

God's Great Power

Tonight as I was cleaning up some stuff, I ran across some papers.  I was ready to throw them away, but decided to look through them to see if I needed to shred something.  In the stack of papers I found a song that Eoin had written.  It brought tears to my eyes.  I asked if he had copied it from some where or if he actually wrote it.  He said he wrote it and did not copy it.  Here is the song:

God's Great Power (he says to the tune of Amazing Grace)

The power of God is so so great. It saved my soul.  I asked He gave.  He is the Lord. He healed my heart.  Sin is conquered.  No greater power than God's presence.

I know that it is short but the words came from his heart.  Simple words that mean so much to any of us that believe in the power of a mighty God.  Simple words from an 8 year old boy.  I still tear up when I read them.

Simple words that come from God. 

Will this ever be a hit song.  No, but it will be a hit with this mommy who loves her little man so much.

Busy

We have been busy.  Life has been busy.  School has been a work in progress at best.  Some days are great and run smoothly but other days.....let's not even discuss them.  It seems we are having more of the 'let's not discuss them' days than we are the wonderfully smooth days.  Part of it is because winter is NOT ending in these parts.  We had several inches of snow yesterday morning.  It was melted before dinner but still.  It was tough to wake up to that again.  It is almost May and I am craving warm sunny days of spring and summer.  My patience has been sorely lacking with the kids and myself.  But let's move on to other things than my complaining, shall we?


Eoin- this little man turned seven in October.  I am starting to see the compassion for people that he has most days and he is working at being a very obedient young man.  He is growing up and it is getting hard for this momma to see at times.  I wish he was still a little tiny baby at times but I know that this is good.  He started playing baseball this spring and boy has that been a learning experience for this momma.  The equipment that is required ........ uh, we won't talk about it.  Let's just say that his daddy had to take him shopping for a very important piece of equipment he needed if I ever want to have grand kids, and I do.  I was so not ready for that one though.  It really threw me for a loop.  
 
Emmalee - she is now nine and growing up.  I am seeing so many changes in her personality.  They are good though.  She is patient, kind, compassionate and helpful.  This girl is beyond helpful.  I love it.  She has a real passion for creative writing and dancing.  She has begun writing a book about a princess and a lost horse.  She is very obedient and loves to read her bible daily.  


This year for school we used My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures.  It has been a good year but we are starting to get tired.  We have been traveling the world and it has been fun.  It is a very good curriculum and there are a lot of fun things to do with it.  However, I have found that for my kids, some of the concepts are wee bit above their levels so far.  I believe that it is good to know where many of the countries are or at least what continent they are on.  But, I know we got tired of the same routine with each country.  Color this picture, color this flag, etc.  I understand the concept of teaching children where the countries are before studying about the ancient civilizations.  Anyway, after discussing with Mike continuing with MFW next year or switching to another curriculum we have decided to make the switch.  I have purchased Tapestry of Grace Year One.  I spent a lot of time praying and agonizing and getting other mom's opinions.  Mike and I looked over the scope and sequences that MFW Creation to the Greeks  and Tapestry Year one had on their websites.  Mike preferred what was on Tapestry of Grace.  He also liked that we buy the base curriculum over the next four years and just change the books the kids read until they graduate.  I like that too.  


Another subject that we had to change curriculum for this year was math.  Emmalee was struggling so much with Horizons 3 math.  Mike and I discussed this and decided to switch her to Saxon 3 math.  My thought was that Saxon would at least help to build up her confidence with math before going back to Horizons.  She finished Saxon a couple of weeks ago and is back to working through Horizons.  We are going to have her finish Horizons 3 and then move her into Saxon 5/4.  


There were so many times I thought over the last few months that I would love to do a blog post but just haven't gotten here. I promise that I will try to be more purposeful about getting here over the next few months.  We are just busy and missing the warm weather. 

Curriculum for 2010-2011

As you can see we started school today.  Here is a list of our curriculum for this year.  

Princess: 3rd Grade

Language Arts: 
Reading - Combination of Sonlight Level 2 advanced and Level 3 readers, and BJU reading.  She will also have chapter books for free reading.

Explode the Code - finishing book seven and book eight.

Handwriting - A Reason for Handwriting Book C  
Spelling - Sequential Spelling Book 1 
English - BJU English 3  


Math : Horizons 3 

Boo Boo Bear: 2nd Grade
Lanugage Arts:
Reading - Combination of Sonlight level 2 intermediate and level 2 advanced readers, and BJU 2 reading.  He will also have chapter books of his choice for free reading. 
Explode the Code - Finish book five and hopefully get through book 6 and start book 7. 
Handwriting - A Reason for Handwriting Book T
Spelling - Sequential Spelling Book 1 also (same as his sister)
English - BJU English 2

Math: Horizons 2

The bulk of our school will be My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures.   It covers geography, bible, science, music and art.  Princess told me tonight that she was excited about this year because it looks so fun.  


We are doing a few other things as well but this is the bulk of what we are doing.



 

First day of school 2010-2011

We started a new year of school today. It went well and I am happy with what we have for curriculum.......so far. I usually am happy with it until around Thanksgiving. We are going to be busy this year though. We have lots to learn and do. I will take you through our morning.

Here are pics of them still sleeping:


Then of course you have the traditional first day of school pancake breakfast. This year it came from McDonald's because I didn't sleep well last night and didn't get up early enough to get the pancakes ready for my little munchkins. I don't think that they really cared though. As long they got pancakes I think they were a happy group.



And the traditional first day of school pics in front of the house. Of course, I am a little biased, but I think they are little cutie pies.

Reminding myself that I am not superwoman

I read this today. I needed it today. I am not superwoman. I can not do it all. I must have priorities. This is a season of my life at the moment. It will not always be my life. I will have an organized clean home.......someday........maybe.........when the kids leave. I hope the link helps you too.

Homeschool and Headaches

Let me just say that homeschooling two children and migraine headaches do not go well together. This allergy season is one of my worst so far. It is really getting hard to do my normal day to day stuff when these headaches are bad like today. Normally, I don't complain about them because it is just a part of life, allergies and headaches. But, today, I feel the need to say that I am tired of them already. Okay, enough of that pity party. Back to my regularly scheduled day.

Movies

Hubby has been gone for the last few days. I have been recovering from a virus. The kids have been sick as well. So, we have been watching movies. I have watched a couple that have made me think a little. Not because they were great thought provoking movies but because they hit upon something I have been thinking about lately.

The first movie was No Greater Love. It is a very good movie on forgiveness. How many times a day do we say to our spouse or our children "Please forgive me" or "I forgive you?" Do we really mean those words? I know that I may say them but not necessarily mean them. I think I do and I want to do that but I don't really forgive them. According to dictionary dot com forgive means to cease to feel resentment or several other things. But for this it is to cease to feel resentment. Do we really stop resenting the action or the person right then? Do we never bring it up again? I can think of many times I have not forgiven someone for their actions as I should have. God commands us to do this. I need to do this in order to become more like Christ. It isn't always easy but it must be done. I must pray for the Lord to help me with this.

Another movie was Julie and Julia. I must say that this movie made me think about how I serve my family with food. Do I serve meals to them with passion or do I serve them with an attitude of something I HAVE to do? I hate to say it but most of the time it is with an attitude that is not at all servant hearted. It is with an attitude of another check off of my to do list. Does this mean I should cook my way through Julia Child's cookbook? Not necessarily but I should be willing to try new things. And most of all I should want to cook for my family out of love and certainly not duty. Another thought from this movie is that I should also find something that I am passionate about and it would not have to be cooking. It could be many different things. What am I passionate about? I am passionate about God and my family. If these are my passions, why then do I not put them first? Why do I put other things first like facebook or e-mail or searching the blogosphere for something that is not fulfilling to me? Why do I spend hours 'researching' something that is really very low on my priority or 'passion' list?

As you can see these movies have impacted me even though one of them was in no way a Christian movie. I have decided to work on forgiveness. I am also going to work on something I am passionate about, my family. I haven't fully decided on how to do this but I do want to start cooking more for them even when hubby is at school or out of town. I do enjoy cooking but have felt that everything is very dull and boring right now. I want to set a goal of trying something new once every two weeks. It can be anything, a dessert, a main entree, a side dish. I desire to be more like a Proverbs 31 or a Titus 2 woman. I think that by trying to cook more and try new things this is serving my family and will eventually get me to be more of a Titus 2 or Proverbs 31 woman.

So I ask you, is there anyone you need to truly forgive? Is there any way you can have a passion for something that can also help you to be more servant hearted?

A Snow Day

We finally got a measurable amount of snow. Of course the kids can't wait to get outside to play. The problem, Eoin has pneumonia. It probably isn't a good idea. However, I am really considering letting them go outside to play for a few minutes. They would probably come back in after a few minutes. Emmalee does not handle cold very well. They have also realized that the neighbor children are out of school today. Of course, they asked me why they had to do school. Well, because Daddy said so and we must obey Daddy.

So, instead we made some snow icecream. YUMMMMMMM!!!!!!

So much I need to blog about

There is so much that I need to blog about. I just haven't had the time. We were without internet service for two weeks. A few points to blog about later: school progress, discipline, lost tooth, apple orchard and my facebook post a few days ago. Lots of people thought I had lost it completely.

2nd day of school

Today was our second day of homeschool. Our first day was a bit more hectic because we had swimming lessons in the morning. I didn't want our first day of school pictures to be in swimsuits so I waited until today to do first day pictures. School has been going very well. The kids seem to really like what we have chosen for this year. It will take a while to get them used to the routine. However, I do feel good about this year so far. But it is only day two.

Here are some pictures of the kiddos and our first day of homeschool.

Emmalee - 2nd grade



Eoin - 1st grade




Here are pictures of some activities we did today.

So much stuff, so little time

We are getting ready to start our homeschool year. I have researched more hours than I really want to admit. This is what we are going to be using this year.

My 2nd grader:
Math - Horizons 2 and flashcards. I did purchase another math workbook to help cement the skills for her. She struggles with math most of the time. We will do only four days a week to allow lessons to go through the summer.

Language Arts - BJU English 2 and Reading 2, Spelling 2. She will also be reading chapter books that she picks on her own. I like BJU English because it incorporates writing, grammar and phonics skills. I am not thrilled with the spelling. I will probably make some adjustments to their program but I am not going to switch right now.

Handwriting - BJU 2 for this as well. Again, I am not thrilled with it but it will work for now. I might make up my own copy work sheets

My 1st grader:

Math - Horizons 1 and flashcards. He is very good at math and probably could pass his sister up if I would push him a little harder.

Language Arts - BJU 1 reading, phonics and spelling. Reading seems to be where he struggles. He is a slow reader. He needs more practice and he will catch up.

Handwriting - BJU 1 for this again.

Both:

We are using My Father's World Adventures for Bible, history, geography, art, music and science. For Latin, we are using prima latina. It will interesting to do Latin. Mike and I are excited about learning it as well.

There will be other things we do that I have forgotten to list here. I can think of a couple of others already. They will both be doing explode the code books and we will be doing life skills training.

If you go to the not back to school blog hop you can find out what more poeple are using