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saying yes to the little things..

saying yes to the little things..

My kids.  I love them with all my heart.  Will do most anything for them.  Lately though, I have caught myself saying no to them a lot.  You can tell by the looks on their faces, that hurts them.  This week though, I have tried my best to be more of a yes mom.  I want my kids to remember that I closed my laptop, put my phone down and that they did have my undivided attention.  I only have them a short amount of time and I want I to make the most of it.

So what did we do this week?  My daughter made me some jewelry (with a little help from me).  I now have this awesome red diamond bracelet, as well as a white diamond ring.  And yes, I did wear it all day!

 

Next, I got a little pampering from my kids.  They begged to paint my fingernails and toenails.  I even got a little lip gloss on my lips.  In fact, they have done this 2 days in a row! (fingernail polish washes off very easily)

Next up was a game of Battleship with my youngest son.  This was a Christmas present that he had asked for.  We have started games before but had never finished one until the other day.  Guess what?  I LOST!!  My 7 year old son beat me!  (N0, I didn’t let him win either!)  I told him we were going to have to have a rematch soon.  I have to redeem myself!  {grin}

Not to be outdone by brother, the Care Bear checker board was brought out.  We had a great match going back and forth, but in the end, I won.  Not by much though!  I only had 2 Care Bears left on the board!

Do you play any board games with your children?  I would love to get some more ideas for games for our family!

curriculum: what worked and hasn’t worked for us this year…

We have definitely had one interesting sort of year.  Nothing bad has really happened, but some things never go as you plan them.  This past year was just like that.  However, I do feel like we have accomplished what God wanted us to.  To me, I feel like we have even come closer together as a family.  Sometimes, book work definitely needs to be set aside while we work our our relationship with one another and also with God.  I feel like this year was that big year for us.  We have had a lot of great talks around our table during school time.  Talks that I don’t think would of happened if my kids were in school all day away from me.

So, let’s get started with what did work for us.

Mystery of History, written by Linda Lacour Hobar and published by Bright Ideas Press, has been a wonderful addition to our homeschool this year.  My kids (all three that I am homeschooling) have come to love history again through this wonderful curriculum.  We have enjoyed it so much that we are going to begin Illuminations that is also from Bright Ideas Press.  I am excited about this currciulum as I can adjust it for my 2nd grader so she can do it along with my 3rd grader and 9th grader.

Apologia Science has also been a big hit in our home.  I have used the elementary series with my oldest daughter when she was younger and she loved it.  This year, my younger children and I read through Exploring Creation through Botany.  We have had a wonderful time learning all about plants from our they grow from a seed, to how they get water and food to why some tree leaves change colors and fall off trees.  My oldest daughter has also enjoyed Apologia Physical Science and will be moving on to their Biology course as soon as I can get it ordered!

My younger kids have also used Hooked on Phonics and Bob Jones English this year.  It has worked well and the kids are beginning to read.  This was our first year using Hooked on Phonics and I like the fun little songs and lessons that the kids watched.  They also have workbooks that you can get to follow along with the lessons.  I used Bob Jones English with my oldest daughter when she was in elementary grades and it worked well with her, so I thought I would try it with the kids.  They have done well with it.  I think I will keep using the workbooks for extra practice, but we will be using other curriculum for English, Grammar, Spelling and Writing next year.  (Will explain in another post what that is. ) I will still recommend it for homeschooling families that are just beginning their journey.

My oldest daughter has loved using Teaching Textbook for math.  It has made a big difference in our family.  We no longer have anymore crying breakdowns.  She will be finishing up Pre-Algebra and heading right into Algebra this year.  For myself, I started the younger kids out with Bob Jones math.  I was comfortable with it from using it before and it has worked with our family.  My youngest son does get frustrated at times with math, but I think it is because there is so much repetition with it.  He catches on to a concept very quickly and is ready to move on.  While I think I will look for something else for him, I plan on keeping it for our youngest daughter.

Finally this year, thanks to a great friend, I found an art curriculum that we all love!  It is See The Light with Pat Knepley.  This art curriculum uses every day art supplies and really captures a child’s attention.  However, what I love about it most is how they incorporate scripture at the end of each lesson.  I am looking forward to getting the rest of the lessons.  They also have wonderful story dvd’s that are told through their art and give the students lessons after the story has been told.

We really had a lot work for us this year compared to what didn’t work for us.  What didn’t work for us was mostly with my oldest daughter and her curriculum.  At the beginning of the year, we started out with Tapestry of Grace.  I have said before that I love Tapestry of Grace and was excited about using it again.  We had used it two years ago and it worked well for us then.  This year, we just couldn’t get it to work, no matter how hard we tried.  By mid-year, my oldest daughter was listening in on the younger kid’s history and doing lessons suggested for her age.  It worked so well, that she will begin the Illuminations with the younger kids.  Not only am I excited about this change, so is she.  They will all 3 be using the same History and reading a lot of the same books, just at their own levels.

We will begin Illuminations soon and continue schooling through the summer.  It won’t be a very heavy workload, but I am excited to begin this new season with my three children that I still have at home with me.  I am looking forward to sharing with you all soon what new curriculum we will be adding.

Until then, I would love to know what curriculum has worked for you and what hasn’t worked!

 

Garden Challenge at The Homeschool Village

Garden Challenge at The Homeschool Village

 

It is once again time to link up with The Homeschool Village’s Garden Challenge.  Growing up, we always had a garden.  It was fun times for me, as I loved watching plants grow and produce wonderful goodies we could eat.  I am so happy that I am now able to pass my love of gardening down to my children.

This year we had a lot planned and time has just gotten away from us.  While we haven’t planted everything that we had wanted to plant, I am thankful we still have a little bit of time to get some vegetables in the ground.  Some of our seedlings have grown, while I let others die by lack of water.

Our tomatoes will be planted this weekend.  I can’t wait to pick our first tomato!

I did manage to get the green bell peppers in a bucket.  However, they do need thinning out.  I need to get a couple of more buckets to put the others in.

Our broccoli came up beautifully.  Then we left on our trip and didn’t pick it when we should have.  By the time we made it back from Denver, it had flowered and was to late to salvage.  So we are going to chopped up the plants and turn in back in the soil, hoping it will rot and help fertilize the other plants.

I am most surprised by our asparagus.  I didn’t think it was going to come up and yet I have 2 that has survived!

Our sunflowers have grown nicely.  I also need to get these in the ground this weekend, too.

What has surprised us the most this year is our herbs!  They are growing like crazy!  My husband has already clipped them back once and dried the herbs out.  We have been using them to cook with, fresh and dried.  The food just seems to taste so much better with home grown herbs.

This is my daughter’s pineapple sage that she choose to grow last year.  We couldn’t believe that it came back up!  We thought it had died during the winter.  We never used it last year, but I have read that we can make some tea from it.  We plan on trying it out this year.

Our rosemary bush has also grown since last year.  I am thankful for a warm winter, because this bush never died back.  It stayed green all winter long. I love to use fresh rosemary when I back a while chicken.  I break off a couple of small pieces and stuff it in the chicken with a lemon or an orange.  It is delicious!

I haven’t put the strawberries in the ground yet and I haven’t planted any cucumbers, squash or okra.  That is on my to-do list this weekend.  Our flowers are also growing.  The roses are blooming and the morning glory, marigolds, daisies and zinnas are all coming up as well.

It seems like our garden has changed a little since I last checked in, but we are making progress with what we have planted.

How is your garden doing?  Have you picked any fruits or vegetables yet?  Be sure to link up with The Homeschool Village and tell us about it!  you just might win a gift!

 

so thankful and blessed.. #861- 875

so thankful and blessed.. #861- 875

What an amazing and busy week that was filled with so many blessings.  Since I am late in posting this, I am going to get right to it.

861. The younger kids end of season ceremony.

862.  The magician who talked with the kids about Jesus during the Upward Sports ceremony.

863.  Amazing friends who watched my kids while I went on a short trip with my husband.

864.  Not getting sick on my first plane ride!

865. Safe fight to Denver, CO.

866. A beautiful ride to the top of Mt. Evans.

867. Time spent alone with my husband.

868. Seeing buffalo, prairie dogs, mule deer, mountain goats and sheep.  God’s creations are so beautiful!

869. Snow capped mountains.

870. Seeing friends we haven’t seen in 14 years and having dinner with them.

871. Safe flight back to our home in NC!

872. Seeing my beautiful children waiting for us when we got off the plane!

873. Getting love notes, hugs and kisses from my precious children who missed us!

874. Safe drive home from the airport.

875.  A good nights sleep in my own bed.

 

Won’t you join me and share your many blessings?  I am linking up over at A Holy Experience.

so thankful and blessed… #841-860

so thankful and blessed… #841-860

We have so much to be thankful for during our lifetime.  I don’t think we will ever be able to list everything that God has blessed us with.  While some moments might even look bad to you, God can use those times to point out some good when you think all is lost.

James 1

12  Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desirewhen it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

841. children being able to play in a Christian sports league.

842. coaches who pray and encourage the kids.

843. the hosting church for the Upwards Sports league

844. parents who yell encouragement to their children, instead of yelling wrongs.

845. listening to a devotional and prayer at every practice and game.

846. seeing my son’s face light up when he makes a basket!

847. seeing my daughter’s face light up when she completes a cheer.

848. a local church hosting a “Daughter’s of the King” club.

849. seeing how excited my daughter is about going to the club.

850. the older girls in the club taking my young daughter and leading her.

851. friends coming over to fellowship.

852. park days, play time and fellowship with other homeschoolers.

853. friends offering to help in a time of need.

854. friends taking the time to pray right then for you.

855. emails from friends saying they are praying for you.

856. being sick with food poisoning.

857. God speaking to my heart using food poisoning to slow me down to listen.

858. a washing machine that is broken yet still works enough for me to keep caught up on laundry.

859. a disagreement that brings attention to my disobedience to God.

860. a forgiving, loving and merciful God.

 

Won’t you join me and share your many blessings?  I am linking up over at A Holy Experience.