Well, my blog entries are few and far between, but I thought I would post about how our first day back at school after our Christmas break went.  Feel free to share how yours went also.  Ours was long!  The kids weren't all that cooperative and everything just seemed to take loooooonger than usual.  I found that even though we just took 3 weeks off, we need to take some time to review this week before we can start back with some of our subjects. 
We are also trying to get used to the new routines of following the chore charts again, and they are doing pretty good (with lots of help).
Here is what we finally managed to get in by 3 p.m. (to be fair, we did spend a good bit of time outdoors too).
Bible - We have started instituting a morning quiet time for everyone.  We get up and have ours before the kids.  When their alarm clock wakes them up, they get dressed (in the clothes we hopefully picked out the night before) and come join us.  Elizabeth has a devotional Bible and she reads her day's entry.  Katie has a begin to read storybook Bible and she reads it aloud.  I help her with the words she doesn't know.  Then we have a Baby Bible with very short stories and actions that we do with Michael.  As part of my "word" this year, my focus is on priorities.  I want us all to learn to put God first.  We also need to work on our prayer life and teach our children to do more than just pray before meals.  We hope to start and end our day with prayer, but it's hard to remember sometimes.
Here is what else we did for Bible today:
Memory verse (with song) from The Memory Bible -  "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless." (2 Samuel 22:31) 
By the way, I really want to set up this Scripture memory system.  It is on my long list of things to do, so who knows when I will actually get it done.  :eyes:
http://simplycharlottemason.com/timesavers/memorysys/
Studying God's Word, Book B (catechisms) "Sin Breaks God's Law" (brief discussion)
31 day devotional (also brief) - topic this month (or however long it takes us to actually finish) is self-esteem
Five in a Row unit study on "The Bee Tree"
Today we discussed Michigan and the Great Lakes.  We went over some worksheets from Enchanted Learning with maps and flags and a few questions about the Great Lakes (all done orally).  Talked about the mnemonic HOMES to remember the names of the Great Lakes (Huran, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior).  DH brought up that the art was similar to the art from "Mrs. Katz & Tush" which brought us to mention that it was the same author/artist and to review a bit of the culture we had previously studied.  We also went back through the book and discussed signs from the pictures that showed the time setting of the book.  We also talked briefly about what traditions are, and about hospitality.  We mentioned how we are going to be trying this year to be more hospitable & invite people over to visit more often.  (That is one goal I have for this year, to be more social and reach out to others more.)
Handwriting - using various manipulatives from Handwriting Without Tears, we reviewed the proper formation (and neatness) of our capital letters.  What I did is I would show them the capital letter card (the one that you use the wood pieces for, as the parts are numbered in the proper order).  The girls would write the letter on their chalkboards, then erase with the tiny sponge (the "wet dry try" method, sort of, modified since it was only review).  While they were doing that, I would help Michael make his letter with the wood pieces on the blue mat, then I would use the magnetic stamp & see screen to make the letter & he would trace it.  We went through all the capital letters, and tomorrow we plan to have the girls write them out on the gray block paper.  Then Wednesday we plan to review the lowercase letters, and Thursday/Friday to do a bit of copywork from a sentence from The Bee Tree.
Math - Even though our intent was to switch from Math U See to Horizons, both girls (Katie especially) expressed an interest in continuing and doing both math programs.   Today Katie did a page of lesson 12, adding doubles.  We skipped Horizons for the day and did a bit of review work with the Flashmaster instead.  We didn't have Katie do so much review as we feel she's pretty advanced in math for a kindergartner anyway.  For Elizabeth, she did one page of Horizons math, but when it came to the second page (a bunch of addition) we were met with tears.  We decided to work on reviewing her basic facts for the rest of the week using Flashmaster.  We sat with her and did the inputting of her answers, so we could see where her strengths & weaknesses were (i.e., which problems she needs more review of).  We had her begin with 60 second "timed tests" at level 2, level 3 and level 4.  We were watching for speed as well as accuracy.  I found she needs more review of 3's & 4's, so I had her review those in "table no order" format.  Then I had her do level 4 again, but with timed practice instead of timed test (the difference being that with practice, it incorporates review of missed problems).  For 180 seconds, she did 31/33, with 94% accuracy.  We felt this was enough math for the day and stopped here.  Tomorrow we plan to re-do the 180 second timed practice at level 4.  I'd like her to get to a better speed of at least 45 problems in 180 seconds at 100% accuracy, before moving on to the next level. 
In some ways, I can't help but feel like she is "behind" but I feel it is so important to get this basic facts down cold, so that is what we are working toward for now and will put aside the workbooks until we utilize the flashmaster to the fullest extent with addition and subtraction.  I guess that is the nice thing about homeschooling is that your child can work at his/her own pace and even be on different levels in different subjects, depending on their own strengths & weaknesses.  Even though she struggles a bit with math, Elizabeth does excellent work in all her other areas, especially reading.
And Katie seems to be the opposite.  She loves & excels in math, and for her reading almost seems a drudgery that she knows she has to do, but she doesn't particularly like it all that much.  She loves books, but just doesn't care so much for the "work" of learning to read them.  She is only in K though, and I am confident this will come in time.
I guess that brings me to our next subject area for the day, which is reading/phonics.  Katie did 3 pages of Explode the Code book 2.  Elizabeth worked ahead before Christmas, so she didn't have to do ETC today.  Elizabeth did read one segment out of Christian Liberty Press's Nature Reader Book 3, and we discussed it.  We began Lesson 85 of Reading Made Easy with Katie, but she was struggling with words she had already learned (sight words), so I decided to do review instead.  We went over to the computer and I brought up a notepad document and changed the font to the largest size.  We started the review with lesson one and (working through the table of contents) I typed up one word at a time (for each new "sound" she's learned from each lesson) as well as the sight words in the order she learned them, and had her read them to me from the screen (in the big font).  I was trying to make the review a bit interesting.  It held her attention for the most part, and hopefully with this review behind us, we can pick back up with our regular lesson again tomorrow.  Also, Katie has a short little reader (similar to Bob books) and read one short story from that.
During our recess we practiced with the kids throwing a ball and hitting it with the bat (sort of our P.E. for the day, I guess).
Overall, other than the slowness of it all, I guess it was a pretty good day as far as getting through the lessons is concerned.  It would have been better if we would all have been a little more cheerful, loving, kind and obedient though.  We are all works in progress though, and I am thankful that God gives us a new day and a chance for a fresh start every single day.

We are having a great time on our vacation.  We got here Monday evening.  Tuesday we went to the Mississippi Museum of Art*. 

(By the way, there are a lot of clickable links but I can't get them to show up underlined on my page for some reason, so I will put an * after them.)
We enjoyed it, though I think we were there a bit long for the kids and lost their attention toward the end of it.  We saw these exhibits:
Between God and Man: Angels in Italian Art
and
The Mississippi Story
We were going to go to the planetarium but we weren't there at the right time so we will have to go back later.
We went to see the Bee Movie and we all liked it.  I do agree there were a few parts that may be questionable, but they were all things that totally went over my kids heads.  We had a nice dinner of popcorn and lemonade, LOL!  We rarely go to the movies, so this was a nice treat for our vacation.
Yesterday (Wednesday) we went and visited a couple of my friends at their work (I used to work with them at a different store) and it was nice to see them again as it's been a few years.  Then we spent the rest of the day shopping.  :D  We went to Target (love it, don't have one where we live now) and we bought fall/winter clothes & shoes needed for the kids and a new electric razor (he's had his old one for over 17 years :eek: and it is finally time to get a new one as it's been making funny sounds lately).  We went to Sam's where we pulled a few sneaky maneuvers to buy some Christmas presents for the kids.  I took them to look at books while DH went back & got a couple of things for the kids, bought them and took them out to the van (in black plastic trash bags, LOL!)  (They didn't know he was doing this.)
Then DH took the kids to the bathroom and out to the van while I went to pay (and picked up a couple more kid things along the way that are also surprises for Christmas).  We mostly had to buy for Michael as we've already got a few things set aside for the girls that have been bought previously.  Last June, we bought scrapbooking kits for kids from Sam's.  Two years ago, we bought these* dolls at a cheap price (and some clothes):
After Christmas last year, we bought some clearanced tea sets and art sets.
These are the things we bought at Sam's this year:
Black & Decker Play Workbench*
Tonka Real Rugged Vehicles* 
Boy's Dress Up Trunk (like this* one, but with boy stuff)
The girls have been into Littlest Pet Shop lately.  This* is definitely going to have to be a shared gift.
They are also getting two sets of American Girl books (Samantha and Felicity).  Sam's also had sets with the cook book & art set, but I thought my girls were a bit young for that yet.  The book sets we did get each come with a small doll (about 6 inches tall).  Katie doesn't yet read well enough for the books, but she probably will before next Christmas, or maybe one of us can read them to her.
I also bought Elizabeth an American Girl magazine for her stocking and a My Little Pony* game for the computer that she'd been eyeing in the store (ssshhhh, she doesn't know she's getting it, LOL!)
This* girl's makeup kit is something else she was eyeing, but we discussed it and I think she is really too young for makeup of any kind.  It does seem like they are marketing it to young girls, but I don't really think that a young girl needs that much makeup, even if it is just for fun around the house.  What do you think?  And, do you let your girls wear makeup (just around the house for play) at all?
We also looked at these* toy vehicles as potential gifts for Michael, but they don't look to be well made and it seems like the doors (which do open) could break off pretty easily, plus we just don't like buying toys that have lights and sound.  We prefer them to make their own sounds (unless they are babies, then we make some exceptions).
Finally, the kids pooled all their money and bought this* Lincoln Log Set. They've been playing with it here in the hotel and love it!
I have insomnia in hotels sometimes and can't sleep too well, hence being up at this hour (in the lobby so I don't wake up the kids).  By the way, if anyone is ever passing through the Jackson, MS area and needs a hotel recommendation, we give this one 5 stars.  We always stay here when we are in town.  They know us by name even when we call on the phone, LOL!  They allow us to have 5 people in one room which is nice.  We get two double beds and the sofa pulls out into a twin-sized bed.  There is also a refrigerator and microwave in the room (on the rare occasion we've gotten a room that didn't have one or the other, when we asked, they brought us one from another room that wasn't being used, if we asked).  There is a really nice breakfast, which includes sausage biscuits you can microwave, boiled eggs, danishes, fruit (limited), cereal, oatmeal packets, coffee, orange or apple juice, milk, toast and waffles.  It's in Clinton not far off I-20.  It is called Best Western Ridgeland Inn.  If you want to use the wireless connection, you may want to ask for a room not too far on the end.  They are also wired though and you can use that if you just want to sit at the desk when you get online.  The rates are very reasonable.  This* link goes to the hotel website.
Later today we are going to the Agriculture Museum* and the Museum of Natural Science*.  Then tomorrow we are going to visit friends at their small hobby farm.  ;-)
Lastly, we plan to go to the zoo* and the planetarium* this weekend, and to see my family on Sunday.
We are having a great time!  I'll try to post pictures later.

We just got a Nutrimill for grinding our own grains, as they are more healthful and nutritious this way.  We also got a Zojirushi bread machine so we can start making our own bread.  I used the recipe from the Breadbecker's site (Ashley's variation):

http://www.breadbeckers.com/recipes/zojirushi_bread.htm

I did have a little confusion on one point.  The recipe states to add the ingredients in order, and generally you put the liquids in first, but the egg was the last thing on the recipe.  I went ahead and mixed it in with the liquids, breaking the yolk so it would mix better.  This is the loaf we ended up with.  It fell just a little, but it was still very tasty. 

I decided to make a second loaf to bring today as I had told my mother-in-law I would bring some for her to try.  We read the back of the breadmaker instructions and tips and decided to try to add 1 tbsp flour to see if that would help it to not fall.  However, this is what we ended up with. 

My mother-in-law (and I love her dearly) said to bring it anyway as it will still be tasty, just a little dense.  I am embarrassed to bring it though!    I was so sad I almost cried when I saw it!  Besides adding a tablespoonful of flour, the only other thing we did different was we did not break the yolk of the egg.  What am I doing wrong?  It is so depressing to wait 2 & 1/2 hours for the bread only to end up with this!

I also have some other questions related to grinding your own wheat and/or making bread.  I didn't want to waste board space, so I am putting this in my blog instead. 

1.  What do you use the various types of wheat for in your own home?  We have hard red, hard white and soft white wheat berries.  I did make some banana bread yesterday with a quick bread recipe and it turned out well.  I used about half hard red (we had leftovers) and half soft white. 

2.  Do you always grind your flour freshly?  I know it begins to oxidize soon so you shouldn't keep it too long, but it seems like it would be a pain (not to mention very loud) to always grind it fresh.  Do you have any you keep already ground in case you just need a little bit here and there?  If you do keep any already ground, how do you store it (in what sort of container and in the fridge or at room temp)?  How long do you keep it?   When you are grinding, how do you figure out how many cups of wheatberries to grind for the flour you need?

3.  Do you clean the hopper (the container where your milled flour ends up) after every time you grind grain?  If not, how often do you clean it?

4.  Do you have to wear earplugs?  The Nutrimill is supposed to be quieter but it is actually quite loud and sounds sort of like a jet plane taking off or landing. 

5.  Do you make a mess?  I wasn't trying to, but you can imagine the flour everywhere!  I can tell I am going to have to wear an apron or something for sure. 

6.  Do you make all your family's bread that you use for toast, sandwiches, and everything else?  What else do you make for your family?  (I guess that sort of relates to the first question above.)  How many loaves do you make every week, and how often do you make bread?  How long does it take to get your bread going?  It seems to still take a long time, though I'm sure not as long as it would take to make it by hand.  It just seems to take a while to do the grinding and all the measuring.  I am not really used to doing much cooking around here though.  (DH is wonderful and he does most of it. since he stays home with the kids.)

Anyway, sorry this got long, but I would sure appreciate any feedback!  And, happy thanksgiving to all!

Another great one from Heather's blog.

What kinds of strangers are dangerous?

• Treat all strangers as if they are dangerous.

• A stranger may try to trick children in many different ways.

• You can't tell who is a nice stranger and who is a dangerous stranger.
• Dangerous strangers can act nice.
• Even strangers who know your name, family members' names, or where you live are dangerous. This information is not hard for strangers to find out.
• Even strangers who look the same age as an older brother or sister can be dangerous.

What are some dangerous situations?
These are times you should run the other way and immediately find a safe place or a safe adult:

• Strangers who ask you for directions
• Strangers who try to touch you
• Strangers who show you a private body part
• Strangers who ask you to help them find something they have lost
• Strangers who offer you gifts, money, or candy
• Strangers who offer you a ride
• Strangers who have pets or other neat things they want you to come look at
• Strangers who ask you to go somewhere with them
• ADULTS ASK ADULTS for help, not children!  Strangers may ask for help in finding a lost animal, etc.

What is stranger safety?

• Never talk to a stranger.

• Never let a stranger get too close, whether he or she is in a car or walking.

• Never accept candy, a present, a ride, or anything else from a stranger.

• Never tell a stranger your name or address.

• Never go with a stranger to find a lost puppy. Adults ask adults for help.

• Never go into deserted places alone.

• Never keep secrets from your parents about strangers.

• Always try to walk with a friend or a grown-up.

• Always stick to the same safe route in traveling to and from school or a friend’s house.

• Never open the door for a stranger, if you are home alone.

• It's always best to walk with someone else, even if the person is younger or smaller than you are. Groups are even safer.
• Know where your "safe spots" are. Safe spots are the houses of people you know. Go to a safe spot if a stranger tries to get close to you.
• Stores, libraries, schools, police stations, and fire stations are also safe places.
• If a stranger comes toward you, immediately run the other direction.
• If a stranger asks you something, run the other way.
• If a stranger is near and you don't feel safe, run away and make as much noise as you can. Scream and yell and try to get people's attention.  See below for WHAT to yell ...... 
• Run as soon as you can. Never wait around to see what the stranger might do next.
• Go to a safe spot right away and tell an adult about the stranger.
• Never take gifts, candy, or food from strangers.
• Never walk toward a stranger, even if they want to show you something.
• Never follow a stranger, get in the car with a stranger, or let a stranger take you somewhere.

What about answering the phone?

• Young children should never be left home alone.
• Some older children can be left home alone if they are prepared, responsible, and know how to handle emergencies.
• Teach your child not to answer the phone if he is home alone.
• Or, teach him how to answer the phone if he is home alone.
  • Never tell a caller you are home alone.
  • Say that your parents are busy and can't come to the phone.
  • Never tell a caller your name, phone number, or address.
  • If the caller asks for this information, hang up and call a safe adult.
  • If a stranger calls twice, hang up and call a safe adult.
  • If the caller teases you or says things that scare you, hang up and call a safe adult.

What about answering the door?

• Young children should never be left home alone.
• Some older children can be left home alone if they are prepared, responsible, and know how to handle emergencies.
• Teach your child not to answer the door if he is home alone.
• Or, teach him how to answer the door if he is home alone.
  • If someone knocks, keep the door closed and locked.
  • Look through the window or peephole to see who is there.
  • Never tell the visitor you are home alone.
  • Say that your parents are busy and can't come to the door.
  • Talk to the visitor through the closed door. Don't open the door. Keep it locked.
  • Never let a stranger in, even to use the bathroom or the phone.
  • Don't let anyone in unless your parents said it was okay for this person to come in. If you didn't talk about this person, don't let them in even if you know them.
  • If the person says they came to deliver something or fix something, say your parents are busy and take a message.
  • If the person will not go away or tries to get in, call 911.

How can we avoid problems with strangers?

• Teach your child never to wander in the woods, alleys, or isolated streets.
• Teach your child to come home before it gets dark. Instead of walking home after dark, children should call a safe adult.
• Be on time to pick your child up. Call an adult if you will be late so they can supervise your child while he waits.
• Teach your child not to help strangers. If a stranger needs help, your child should find a safe adult and tell them.
• Teach your child his address and home phone number and a back-up number, like a grandparent. If the child is ever in trouble or needs a ride, he can call.
• Teach your child to tell a parent, teacher, or other trusted adult if a stranger ever asks him to keep a "secret."
• Teach your child to tell an employee if he is lost (at an amusement park, at the mall, etc.).
• Teach your child these safety tips in a matter of fact way. Do not scare him.
• Ask your doctor for more safety tips.

Quick Answers

• Children should treat all strangers as if they are dangerous.
• Teach children to run away from strangers who offer a ride, candy, gifts, or who ask for directions. Never go anywhere with a stranger.
• Teach your child stranger safety. If a stranger ever tries to come toward him or talk to him, he should run in the other direction and tell a safe adult.
• Teach your child how to answer the phone or door if he is home alone.
• Children should never tell a stranger they are home alone. They should call a safe adult right away if a stranger at the door or on the phone won't leave them alone or is scaring them.
• Teach your child not to help strangers. If a stranger needs help, your child should find a safe adult and tell them.

And some of the best advice I found ...

If a stranger tries to grab you, yell as loud as you can and run away. Yell "this is not my daddy", if it is a man. If it is a woman, yell "this is not my mommy". Sometimes if you just yell help, people think that you are just a bad child throwing a temper tantrum with one of your parents or a caregiver. But if you let people know that it is a stranger that has you, they will try to help. If this does not work, yell fire! fire!  A fire call always gets the attention of others. While yelling, try to fight your way free by punching, kicking, biting, etc. Once you are free, run tell a trusted adult so that they can contact the police.

*****This ends the quoted part.  Heather wasn't sure of the author.  I did find this link in a google search.

http://www.virtualpediatrichospital.org/patients/cqqa/strangersafety.shtml

I found this on another rower's blog.

Ways to pray for your children
(author is unknown to me)

Monday~
Pray they will know Christ as Savior early in life. (Ps. 63:1, 2Tim 3:15)
PRay they will have a hatred for sin and evil. (Ps. 97:10)

Tuesday~
Pray they will have a responsible attitude in all their relationships. (Dan 6:3)
Pray they will respect those in authority over them. (Rom 13:1)

Wendesday~
Pray they will desire the right kind of friends and be protected from the wrong friends. (Prov 1:10-11)
Pray they will be kept from the wrong mate and saved for the right one. (1Cor 6:14-17)

Thursday~
Pray they and their future spouse will be kept pure until marriage. (1 Cor 6:18-20)
Pray they will learn to completely submit to God and actively resist Satan in all circumstances. (James 4:7)

Friday~
Pray they will be wholeheartedly sold out to serving Jesus Christ. (Rom 12:1-2)
Pray they will be hedged in so they cannot find their way to wrong people or wrong places, and the wrong people cannot find their way to them. (Hos 2:6)

Saturday~
Pray their children and grandchildren will know Christ as Savior and Lord and serve Him with their whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Matt 22:37-38)
Pray when they leave home it would be with an eternal perspective and Christ-like values and characteristics. (Is 40:8)

Sunday~
Pray they would be caught when guilty. (Ps. 119:71)
Pray they would be protected from the evil one. (Luke 2:52)
Pray they will be protected from the evil one in each area of their lives; spiritual, emotional, and physical. (John 17:15)

I found this on my friend Heather's blog & it was so great I wanted to add it to mine so I could have easier access to it.

31 Ways to Pray for Your Children by Bob Hostetler For years, like any responsible Christian parent, I prayed daily for my two children, Aubrey and Aaron. I prayed for God's blessing and protection throughout their days. I prayed for them to be happy. I asked God to help them through difficult times and to help them make wise choices. My prayers were regular, heartfelt, and--for the most part--pedestrian and repetitive.   I wanted more than that, however. I wanted so much for my children, but when I knelt in prayer, I invariably found the same tired words rolling from my lips, like an adult whose table grace never progressed beyond "God is great, God is good, now we thank him for this food..."   Then one day, Nancy, our pastor's wife, shared a testimony during a morning worship service that changed this parent's prayer life. She told how her concern that her children develop strong Christian morals and the fruits of the Spirit had prompted her to develop a unique prayer list, that included reminders to pray for her children's salvation and growth in grace, as well as other concerns (such as that they would "be leaders, not followers").   That day I decided to follow Nancy's example, and develop a "parent's prayer program" of my own, a simple practice that has revolutionized the way I pray for my children. Each day of the month, in addition to my prayers for their safety and for the concerns of that day, I also pray for a specific character trait, virtue, or fruit of the Spirit to be planted and nurtured in my children, through my efforts (and my wife's), through the influence of others, and through Aubrey and Aaron's own actions and decisions. At the end of each month, I begin praying through the list again, combining traits when the month is shorter than thirty-one days.   Following is the list I have developed, complete with brief suggestions for prayer from Scripture. Feel free to duplicate it--or improve upon it--to help you pray specifically and purposefully for your children to experience and evidence:   1 salvation "Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory" (Isaiah 45:8, 2 Timothy 2:10). 2 growth in grace "I pray that they may 'grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ'" (2 Peter 3:18). 3 love "Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to 'live a life of love,' through the Spirit who dwells in them" (Ephesians 5:2, Galatians 5:22). 4 honesty and integrity " May integrity and honesty be their virtue and their protection" (Psalm 25:21, NLT). 5 self-control " Father, help my children not to be like many others around them, but let them be 'alert and self-controlled' in all they do" (1 Thessalonians 5:6) 6 a love for God's Word " May my children grow to find your Word 'more precious than gold, than much pure gold; [and] sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb'" (Psalm 19:10). 7 justice " God, help my children to love justice as you do and to 'act justly' in all they do" (Psalm 11:7, Micah 6:8). 8 mercy " May my children always 'be merciful, as [their] Father is merciful'" (Luke 6:36). 9 respect (for self, others, authority) " Father, grant that my children may 'show proper respect to everyone,' as your Word commands" (1 Peter 2:17a). 10 strong, Biblical self-esteem " Help my children develop a strong self-esteem that is rooted in the realization that they are 'God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus'" (Ephesians 2:10). 11 faithfulness "' Let love and faithfulness never leave [my children],' but bind these twin virtues around their necks and write them on the tablet of their hearts" (Proverbs 3:3). 12 courage "May my children always 'Be strong and courageous' in their character and in their actions" (Deuteronomy 31:6). 13 purity "'Create in [them] a pure heart, O God,' and let their purity of heart be shown in their actions" (Psalm 51:10). 14 kindness "Lord, may my children 'always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else'" (1 Thessalonians 5:15). 15 generosity "Grant that my children may 'be generous and willing to share [and so] lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age'" (1 Timothy 6:18-19). 16 peace, peaceability "Father, let my children 'make every effort to do what leads to peace'" (Romans 14:19). 17 joy " May my children be filled 'with the joy given by the Holy Spirit'" (1 Thessalonians 1:6). 18 perseverance " Lord, teach my children perseverance in all they do, and help them especially to 'run with perseverance the race marked out for [them]'" (Hebrews 12:1). 19 humility " God, please cultivate in my children the ability to 'show true humility toward all'" (Titus 3:2). 20 compassion " Lord, please clothe my children with the virtue of compassion" (Colossians 3:12). 21 responsibility " Grant that my children may learn responsibility, 'for each one should carry his own load'" (Galatians 6:5). 22 contentment " Father, teach my children 'the secret of being content in any and every situation. . . . through him who gives [them] strength'" (Philippians 4:12-13). 23 faith " I pray that faith will find root and grow in my children's hearts, that by faith they may gain what has been promised to them" (Luke 17:5-6, Hebrews 11:1-40). 24 a servant heart " God, please help my children develop servant hearts, that they may serve wholeheartedly, 'as to the Lord, and not to men'" (Ephesians 6:7, KJV). 25 hope " May the God of hope grant that my children may overflow with hope and hopefulness by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13). 26 the willingness and ability to work hard " Teach my children, Lord, to value work and to work hard at everything they do, 'as working for the Lord, not for men'" (Colossians 3:23). 27 a passion for God " Lord, please instill in my children a soul that "followeth hard after thee," a heart that clings passionately to you (Psalm 63:8, KJV). 28 self-discipline " Father, I pray that my children may develop self-discipline, that they may acquire 'a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair'" (Proverbs 1:3). 29 prayerfulness " Grant, Lord, that my children's lives may be marked by prayerfulness, that they may learn to 'pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests" (Ephesians 6:18). 30 gratitude " Help my children to live lives that are always 'overflowing with thankfulness,' 'always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ'" (Colossians 2:7, Ephesians 5:20). 31 a heart for missions " Lord, please help my children to develop a heart for missions, a desire to see your glory declared among the nations, your marvelous deeds among all peoples" (Psalm 96:3).   After several weeks of praying through the above list for my children, I discovered an additional benefit to my prayer program; as I prayed with my children each night, the Lord brought to mind the subject I'd prayed for that morning, and I would repeat my request in Aubrey and Aaron's hearing. Before long, they began to echo my praying, and pour out their own hearts in prayer for the very virtues and qualities I desired to see in them. Thus, my simple prayer program not only changed how I prayed, but also how my children pray. . . and, by God's grace, how they live as well.   *****This is the end of what I quoted.  I hope I can implement some of these prayers into our home.

At breakfast, with our morning devotionals, we've been reading through a small book we bought at Walmart titled One-Minute Prayers To Start Your Day, text by Hope Lyda.

The morning after our very near miss with the train, we read this.  It is amazing how God speaks to us to tell us what He knows we need to hear.

Legacy of Peace

LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.  Isaiah 26:12

Sometimes it takes chaos for me to better understand peace.  When I am in the midst of circumstances that seem out of control or volatile, I can feel a stillness deep within that allows me to still seek You.  I am sensing Your peace.   When rough times are smoothed over and I am able to accomplish a goal, I know I have witnessed your peaceful protection.

You do so much for me, Lord.  Without You, I am without direction and purpose.  Without You, I could not achieve anything of eternal value.  Thank you, God, for caring for your child.

It is just amazing how God puts what we need, right there when we need it. 

I was in the city spelling bee in 6th grade. Oh, and my maiden name was a food, and my married name is another food.
I was a foster child growing up, yet I was a National Merit finalist and a great student and really an overall good kid (compared to most people's views of foster kids). I am a member of Rho Chi (pharmacy school honor society) and I graduated with honors from pharmacy school, so I guess I did all right, with God's help.
Also, I went to a math & science residential public school for my junior & senior years of high school, but when I went to college, I started out majoring in communications, thinking I wanted to be a journalist. I thank my Lord that my foster dad steered me into pharmacy as it has been a great field for me and was something I would never have considered.

On a board where I post, the question was asked, "How do YOU stay healthy?"  This was my response.

Well, nothing I have ever done before has really worked for long when I was trying to lose weight. Now I am not trying to lose weight, just be healthier. We've decided to make just a few small changes for now until we get used to them. Maybe next month we'll add something else to make us healthier. Losing weight would be a nice side effect, but we've decided to focus on just being healthier since that benefits everyone in the family.

Here is what we are doing. We just started this about a week ago, but it is going well and I have lost a few pounds this week without really trying.

1. Having daily devotionals & prayers for ourselves individually, as a couple and as a family. I can't believe I didn't make this number one when I started writing this long reply, but had to come back up & add it. We all know this should be a priority for our health & well-being.

2. Planning meals means less eating out & less fast food and more cooking healthier meals. It also means I often have leftovers to take to work for lunch instead of having to buy something. Since I can't leave our building for lunch, I was usually buying a plate of fried chicken, macaroni & cheese and potato wedges. So hopefully this is saving us money also.

3. Aiming to eat at least five fruits and/or vegetables every day. We try for 1 at breakfast, 2 at lunch and 2 with supper. If we only get one with lunch, we try to have one for a snack.

4. Getting up every morning & walking, even if I have to work that day. We only walk for about 20 minutes but it is much better than nothing. I started out just saying I would walk on my days off, but going ahead & scheduling it for every day (into our daily routine) is working much better. I have more energy during the day, and if I do miss a day for some reason, I don't feel bad about it but just make sure I don't miss more than 1 day in a row. We are trying morning walks now, as it is usually still hot in the evening, plus the bugs are more prevalent in the evening. And when we would try to work in a walk at night, it just wasn't getting done. We have too many evening thunderstorms here and other excuses that come up to keep us from walking.

5. Get everyone to bed by their specific bedtime. Our (parents) bedtime allows us to get at least 7 hours of sleep at night as long as we make ourselves go to bed on time. When I don't get home from work until 7:30 (on the days I work) it is hard to go to bed any earlier, so our bedtime is 11 p.m. I am also a night owl, so this is actually earlier than we had been going to bed. Now that it is starting to get dark earlier again, it is easier to enforce the kids' bedtimes than it was this summer, which helps us all get more rest, and I do believe sleep is extremely important to good health.

6. We all drink water most of the time. I try to drink at least 8 cups of water daily and I have a large insulated cup with a lid that holds about 4 cups worth, so I try to drink at least 2 of those daily. I keep water & ice in it all day long.

7. Having a daily schedule helps us be healthier too. We have a schedule for our school days and the morning & evening routines especially help us stick with the walking. And I just wanted to reiterate how much better that morning walk makes us all feel (or me at least). I think a successful evening routine helps me to get a much better start to my day the next morning. I also try to get on the computer less in the morning, though this morning we decided to allow everyone to sleep until 6:30 instead of 6:00 since I don't have to work. Since I woke up before everyone else anyway, I decided to get online now so I'm not taking time away from my family later on. And I think when we have a set routine we try to follow (including getting dressed all the way to putting shoes on, for me anyway) we are all more productive, and we are also more likely to make sure we allow time for our daily devotionals and prayers. Ack, I really should have made our daily devotionals & prayers number one on the staying healthy list. I'm going to go back up & add it now. Okay, I am back now. Anyway, we are also all more likely to sit down to most meals together.

Sorry this got so long. I think I am inspired to post this to my blog. Thanks for asking this & causing me to think!

This was shared on the message board.

Sung to the tune of Veggie Tales "The Pirates who Don't Do Anything."

All 3 Moms:
We are the home school moms who can't do everything
We just stay at home and plan a lot
And if you ask us to do everything
We'll just tell you
We can't do everything
Mom2:
Well, I've never been to Boston and I've never shot a musket,
and I've never built a cabin using nothing but an axe,
and I've never skinned a possum, and I've never staged a battle,
and I've never started home school before fall!

All:
We are the home school moms who can't do everything
We just stay at home and plan a lot
And if you ask us to do everything
We'll just tell you...

Mom3:
We can't do everything!

And I've never distilled water, and I've never banded birdies,
and I've never built an ant farm 'cuz I can't stand things that
crawl,
and I've never dug a fossil, and I've never owned a test tube,
and I've never started home school before fall!

All:
We are the home school moms who can't do everything
We just stay at home and plan a lot
And if you ask us to do everything
We'll just tell you
We can't do everything

Mom1:
And I've never slaughtered chickens, and I've never milked a go-oat,
and I've never gone to 4-H or the local county fair,
and I've never sewn a jumper, and I don't look good in denim,
and I've never started home school before fall!

Mom2: Huh? What are you talking about? What's a milk goat and denim
jumpers got to do with being a home school mom?

Mom3: Hey, that's right! We're supposed to sing about academic-y thi
ngs!

Mom1: Oh...

Mom2: And who ever sews school uniforms? That's impossible! Why even
bring it up? Am I right? What do you think?

Mom3: I think you should do your laundry.

Mom2: Huh? Why do you think that?

Mom3: You should...

Mom2: Don't wanna!

Mom3: You wore that shirt yesterday!

Mom2: That's it, you're going to help me!

Mom3: Says who?

Mom2: Says ME, that's who!

Mom3: Oh yeah? Well I'm not picking up your socks! (pinches her own
nose)

Mom2: Argh!

Mom3: Yike!

Mom1:
And I've never done gymnastics, and I've never danced the polka,
and I've never painted daisies 'cause I cannot paint at all,
and I've never made a schedule, and my house is never perfect...

Mom2: It'll never happen!

All: And we've never started home school before fall!

We are the home school moms who can't do everything
We just stay at home and plan a lot
And if you ask us to do everything
We'll just tell you
We can't do everything

Mom2: Pass the pencils! Who's got the teacher's guide?

Mom1: Here it is! (holds up shredded paper)

Mom3: (groans, then smiles with sudden inspiration) Time for recess!

Mom2: It's definitely time for Scotch tape.

Mom3: Oh, I don't like that stuff...

Mom1: Hey, look! I found a crayon!

We made a few changes to the schedule since I originally made this post, so I am editing it to add the changes.  8/29/06

(Originally posted 8/17/06)

Here is the new daily schedule we are trying, starting today.  We are trying to incorporate my old Flylady schedule with the Children's Miracle Music (CMM) routines.  We bought the CMM some time ago & it works well as long as we keep remembering to follow it.  You can click on the link above for mor information about either of these.  We are also trying to eat healthier (at least 5 fruits or veggies daily) & get some activity in (a short 20 to 30 minute walk) each morning, even if I have to work.  I am thinking that it will be better to get our walk in the morning since it won't be as hot as it is in the evening, plus there won't be as many mosquitoes & other bugs to contend with.  Also, we have a lot of late afternoon/evening thunderstorms here, and it would be too easy to take a nap or do something else & just talk ourselves out of going for that walk.  And, the walk helps get our metabolism going for the day.  Today DH also wrote out a lot of meal plan ideas and planned seven suppers.  I try to let him plan what he wants to cook since he is a SAHD & does most of the cooking.  However, I do ask him to try to pick at least a few things that have recipes so I can try to help out more on my days off, as I need instructions to follow if I am cooking.  We also worked together & planned out breakfast for each day (definitely going to need something quick & easy on my work days if we plan to walk too, as I have to leave by 7:30 in the morning), and I also wrote down lunch & our morning snack for the days I am not working.  DH usually does almost all the meals, and I feel like I will be more likely to do them myself on my days off if I have something already planned so I don't have to take the time to think about what to prepare.  Oh and in the 8 to 9 a.m. slot we aren't really doing all those chores (unless they need touching up) as we now have someone coming in once a week to clean.   (She doesn't actually do dishes, but I still love this picture!)

Anyway, here is our proposed daily schedule:

Everything I Needed to Know About Life I Learned from a Jigsaw Puzzle

Things are going well here.  I just thought I'd give a little update on where we are in our school.  (Well, not so little, as I just finished typing it all out and it is rather lengthy.)

Five in a Row - this is the "spine" of our homeschool (in other words, what most of our studies are based on).  It is weekly unit studies based on wonderful children's literature.  Much of the work is done orally, but since the children have a mental "hook" in their minds on which to hang the facts they learn (the story is the "hook"), they are more likely to remember what they have learned.

This past week, our unit was on Storm in the Night and this is what we discussed.  We did a different subject each day.

Social Studies - We discussed human relations, in particular, the close and loving relationship between Thomas and his grandfather.  We also discussed the emotions of fear, and how it is normal to experience fear, and that fears can be overcome.  We didn't really do any geography for this week as we placed our "story disk" on Mississippi since we have so many summer afternoon thunderstorms here, and the girls are already very familiar with the name and location of our state.  We've been having great weather for this book this week! 

Language Arts - We discussed what italics were, and why they were used in this story.  We discussed what quotations marks are, and how they are used.  The vocabulary we learned was mandarin (orange colored), bough (branch of a tree) and errand (something that one goes to do).  We also reviewed onomatopoeia, personification and similes, which have all come up in several previous Five in a Row stories.

I was working on Art and also on Science day, so Matt taught those lessons.

Art - They talked about the reflections in the story (in the windows) and how some other smooth, shiny surfaces can reflect also (even how you can see yourself in someone else's eyes if you look closely enough).  They talked about how you can tell which direction someone is looking by the whites of their eyes.  He also discussed with them the contrast in the last picture in the book and how it was used to make a dramatic statement.  He also briefly touched on what a   profile is (the side view of someone's face).

Science - He talked about sources of light such as sun, moon (light reflected from sun), stars, lightning, fire, lightning bugs, moonjellies (we've discussed bioluminescence before), flashlights, light bulbs, etc.  They talked about our five senses and how when certain senses aren't being used, other senses seem more acute.  We also talked about clouds and thunderstorms, and read various books from the library and also from our home library about weather and also about our senses.  Elizabeth even read a few related books on her own.  We read a library book about thunderstorms, and turned off most of the lights.  DH provided special effects for our story with the lights (for lightning), banging on a cookie sheet (for thunder), spritzing us with a water bottle (for rain) and even tossing a bit of crushed ice on us (for hail).  We had a lot of fun with it.  Oh, and he even blew on us for wind. 

Applied Mathematics - We discussed shapes and demonstrated various shapes using a geoboard.  It is basically a peg-type board you use rubber bands on to make a variety of shapes.  We discussed pentagons, hexagons and octagons, as well as reviewed squares, triangles, rectangles, diamonds and parallograms.  We talked a bit about right angles also.

In our Bible/devotional time these past few weeks, we've been sharing from a devotional called Promises for Kids as well as a book called 20 Bible Stories Children Should Know.  That one even has a CD to go along with it.  Our devotionals this week have been about obedience.

In the area of life skills, we are continuing to work on getting the children to help out more around the house.  They are now responsible for folding all the towels, and they are able to empty most of the dishwasher, and to help reload it.  They can also set the table and help prepare drinks and help a tiny bit with meal preparation.

Mathematics

Elizabeth continues in the Math U See Alpha book.  She has mastered +0, +1, and +2, meaning she understands and has memorized those fact families.  She can answer 20 questions in less than 60 seconds (even when she is having to write the answers herself).  Currently we are working on lesson 8, solving for the unknown.  For example, what plus two equals 9?  The goal is for her to master each lesson as she goes, as the lessons build upon each other, and if she has fully mastered addition (including solving for the unknown) subtraction should come easier to her.  The Math U See site has a nice online drill page as well as a worksheet generator that we can use to create more sheets as needed.

This is the scope & sequence for alpha. 

http://www.mathusee.com/pdfs/alphascope.pdf

Math U See teaches using a mastery method instead of a spiral method, meaning the child is expected to fully master each area before moving on to anything new.  It uses blocks as manipulatives and we have heard almost nothing but good things about it.  The only thing is that due to the untraditional scope & sequence, she won't be introduced to some topics until later in the program, but we have bought a few inexpensive workbooks from Sam's so we can make sure she is at least exposed to other areas of math.  Also, she can already tell time to the nearest five minutes, as we did that last year, and of course we teach money here and there as necessary, as well as measurement.  (There is a lot of applied mathematics in Five in a Row as well.)

Katie is about halfway through the Math U See Primer, which does not require mastery.  She already knows most of it, but I feel it is a good gentle introduction to math and I don't believe she is ready for mastery yet.  Elizabeth did the primer last year for kindergarten.  Even though Katie won't be 5 until November, she is doing kindergarten level work as she is ready for it.  After she finishes the Math U See Primer, we will probably work on some other inexpensive and colorful and fun kindergarten math workbooks and wait to start Alpha until she is closer to six, or maybe at least 5 & 1/2 years old.  This week, Katie just finished lesson 14, which is counting & writing the numbers to 20.  She can actually already count to 100, by 1's, 5's & 10's though.

Handwriting 

The girls both continued in Handwriting without Tears.  Elizabeth is writing words and practicing lower case letters.  Katie is working on upper case letters.  We also had Elizabeth do copywork of a few sentences from our Five in a Row story last week.  This is a good opportunity for her to practice writing neatly and be exposed a bit to proper capitalization, punctuation and grammar.

Reading

Science

The Five in a Row science (above) is really pretty complete, but we like science here, so we add extra for our family.  We have an Abeka grade one health reader that we are reading through this year, as well as some Usborne science books that we use when we want to read a bit more about science topics (and of course the library is our favorite resource of all).  We also have a subscription to United Streaming, which is an online resource of educational videos for educators.  The girls watched an episode of The Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm the other day, while Michael watched the Letter Factory video. 

Preschool

Katie is on the next to last book of the Rod and Staff preschool curriculum workbooks.  These are actually used by some of the Mennonite schools as a kindergarten curriculum, as official school does not begin for some of them until first grade.  They teach the basics very well.

http://www.timberdoodle.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=963

Grammar

For grammar, Elizabeth is working through First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind.  Most of this is done orally and there is a lot of memorization and repetition.  Right now, she is learning about proper nouns (and before that learned about common nouns).  She is also memorizing her second short poem, and writing the name of our city and state.

Miscellaneous

Our family does not watch much television at all (we don't even have cable) but the children do enjoy watching Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, Between the Lions (about phonics) and Cyberchase (about math).  They don't necessarily watch them all every day though.  It just depends on how our day goes. 

For chapter book read alouds, we finished The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary a week or so ago and are currently near the end of the sequel Runaway Ralph.  The girls have really enjoyed listening to Ralph the mouse's adventures.  For reading time, since our children are still very young, I implemented an idea I got from another online homeschooling friend.  We spread a blanket on the floor and get out a quiet toy like bristle blocks or other building-type toys that they can all share, and the only rules are that they have stay on the blanket and they have to be quiet.  I will however ask questions, especially of Elizabeth, now and then to be sure she really is paying attention (and she usually is).

We don't have anything particularly structured for physical education and we are still trying to decide whether we want to enroll the girls in something like gymnastics or dance this year.  They are still so young for us to be always on the go, so we are still thinking about and praying about this.  They both played T-ball but that was a relatively short season.  Last year they took gymnastics in a town about 40 minutes away but the drive got to be too much, and this year due to Elizabeth's age, it would likely have to be in the evening, and rush hour anymore down there is awful.  We do try to take family walks though, and need to incorporate more of these.  My goal lately has been for us (as a family) to get at least 20 minutes of physical activity in, on each day that I am not working.  We've been doing okay on this but have a little bit of room for improvement.

We are about to participate in a "swap" of sorts with Flat Stanleys.  It is based on a book called Flat Stanley about a boy who got squished flat by a bulletin board and all the fun adventures he could have since he was flat and could even go through the mail.  We are in a group of 7 families.  We made our own "Flat Stanley" though the girls have actually done "Flat Care Bears" (Funshine and Friend bear to be exact) and we will send them, along with a journal, to the person who is on the list after us.  Each month, our Flat Stanleys will visit a different family and they will take pictures of them with things that are local to them or their area, and write about it in our journal, while each month, we will have a different "visitor" here that we will host and do the same for.  At the end of the six months, we will have a wonderful journal detailing our Flat Stanley's adventures.

As time allows, we are also working through Home Economics (by the Pearables) (ages 6 & up) with Elizabeth, as well as The ABC's of Money Management for Kids.  And as time allows, Matt has been teaching Elizabeth a bit about the piano, music notes, etc.  We also try to play fun and educational games (both board games and computer games) sometimes.  Most of all, we do a lot of reading around here and visit the library quite often.  After Labor Day, the children's activities at church should resume.

We are all having fun on our homeschooling adventure and learning lots!  Thank you if you read this far!  Feel free to email me if you have any questions about anything.  Have a happy and blessed day.

In order to plan to try to have a productive day today, I laid out my clothes before I went to bed, and this  morning I got up & got dressed all the way down to my lace up shoes (a flylady tactic, but I think it really does help me not be so lazy, LOL!)
At breakfast, we started a new devotional.  We had been doing this one:

Character Building for Families Vol. 1
http://www.rainbowresource.com/proddtl.php?sid=1153807373-1803522&id=000655

However, Matt felt it was a bit much for our kids at this time (and some of the scripture references he didn't feel were appropriate for the ages of

our children & their innocence, which we feel is our God-give duty to protect.)

A few weeks ago, I picked up some short little books at Lifeway Christian Stores for $2.99 each in the kid's section.  I tried to find them online but

was unable to do so.  Each book contains 31 days worth of devotions, with an accompanying scripture verse.  There aren't really any Bible

passages to look up, but I preferred to have our Bible handy to look up the verses in our preferred translation (NIV) as well as Elizabeth's Bible,

the NIrV:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0310926564/sr=8-9/qid=1153809323/ref=pd_bbs_9/104-7637258-0274326?ie=UTF8

The one we are starting now is titled "Promises for Kids."  We also have "Questions Kids Ask," "Ten Commandments for Kids" and a variety of

"Little Book Devotions" about various character traits, such as obedience, honesty, sharing, forgiveness, self-esteem, self-control, attitude, kindness and patience.

Each volume is geared toward lasting 31 days, which I like since looking at a book of devotions isn't so overwhelming.  I like these books

because the daily lessons are aimed more at younger listeners.  They are short enough that we don't lose their attention halfway through the

lesson.  And they are really just nice discussions.  Each day seems to have a Bible verse, an explanation, a tip for kids, a relevant quotation (for example, from a famous person), a tip for parents, and a prayer.

On to other areas, this morning it appeared that Elizabeth (and maybe Katie?) dressed Michael.  He is wearing the only outfit I have ever sewn (in spite of my good intentions to get more done, somehow life just happened and I never did yet get around to any more sewing).  It is a favorite though as I made it when Elizabeth was a toddler and all three children have worn it.  It is red overalls with an animal print.  The girls put it on him backwards but since it didn't really matter, we didn't worry about it.  And he went around all day with the snaps in the crotch unsnapped since we never did get around to fixing them up after Elizabeth said she couldn't do them (though I think she could have if she'd just tried).  Anyway, he still looked awfully cute today and it didn't really matter since we didn't go anywhere today.

After breakfast, around 9 p.m. we got started with our "seatwork."  First of all though, I got out a bag of sea creatures to occupy Michael on the

floor.  Katie worked on 1 & 1/2 pages of her Explode the Code phonics book.  She is working on the short "a" sound as in cat.  She's a bit young

for this really but she likes it & wants to do it.  They both worked in their Handwriting Without Tears books.  Katie is learning how to form her

capital letters now (today she reviewed R and began N) and Elizabeth is writing words and lower case letters (today she did words and also d).
Next we said the Lord's prayer and I prayed for our day (good thing, as my patience was already beginning to wear thin)  We said the pledge of

allegiance & discussed the fact that today was Monday, July  24, 2006 (which Elizabeth later wrote on our dry-erase board).

Yesterday I had rented a carpet cleaner, so during this school work time, Matt picked up our bedroom & vacuumed to prep for the cleaning.  The

kids were getting kind of cranky & I was getting fed up, so Matt took a break from the floors to help us out.

Matt helped Katie with her new Math U See Primer lesson (today she is starting to learn her addition symbols & the basic meaning of addition). 
Elizabeth & I watched the Math U See DVD lesson 8 on solving for the unknown, then we took our small dry-erase board and our box of math

manipulatives (blocks) into the living room to work on the lesson.  I had her work about 5 problems for me, then I had her pretend to be the

teacher showing me how to do the problems, and she made up a few problems for me.  Then we went back to the schoolroom & she completed one page of her workbook.  After we finished our seatwork, Elizabeth picked up Michael's toys from off the floor.  She is becoming very helpful when she wants to be, which makes me proud.

The children watched PBS (Reading Rainbow and Between the Lions) while lunch was being prepared by me & while dad was cleaning the

carpet in our bedroom.  While the kids ate lunch, I took a much needed break.  Afterward, Matt & I put dinner in the crockpot.  We put in it

porkchops, minute rice and some various "cream of" soups, plus some flavorings.  It turned out nice later on.

Matt left around 1:30 to go clean some carpets at his mom's house & run some errands (to take back the carpet cleaner, take some clothes to

the cleaner's, and the library).  The carpet cleaner was due back to the store by 3:30.

While Matt was gone, I spread out a blanket on the living room floor & got out a quiet toy (bristle blocks) for the kids to play with while I read their

chapter book.  We read chapters 5 & 6 of the mouse & the motorcycle.  I allowed the kids to eat grapes in the living room (even though the

carpets had just been cleaned) as they stayed on the blanket.  As I was reading, I would stop periodically to quiz Elizabeth to make sure she was

paying attention.  We had to take a break halfway through when Michael came back from the other room smelling a stinky finger from where he'd

stuck it down in his diaper (making me wish I'd fastened the snaps on his overalls earlier!)  The girls were very helpful to help me quickly gather

up what I needed to change his diaper, then after he was cleaned up, we got back to our book.  Around 2:30 the girls watched clifford while

folding towels, while I cleaned the kitchen.  (Michael had fallen asleep on the living room floor.)  I paid 2 cents for each washcloth or bib, 3 cents

for hand or dish towels, and 5 cents for bath towels.  Elizabeth earned 46 cents & Katie earned 65 cents. 

I asked Katie if she would wipe the table and she said no.  I asked Elizabeth if she would do it for a nickel and she agreed.  Katie got mad and started saying she wanted to do it.  I realized I wasn't being fair because I offered to pay Elizabeth but not Katie.  So I let them split the table (w/ only a bit of squabbling over what exactly constituted each half) & they each earned a nickel for doing a thorough wiping of the table plus 3 chairs each.  When they were done, I had them check each other's work for missed spots.  At some point in here, I did have to send Elizabeth to her room for 6 minutes for an ugly attitude that made no one want to be around her.  The girls watched Cyberchase while I finished in the kitchen & put away the towels they'd folded.  I had plans to do a bit more school in the afternoon but it didn't work out that way (well, we had some education

experiences, but not what my plans were for the rest of the day).  It's okay though as it is nice to take advantage of natural opportunties & lessons

from lifeee.  After Cyberchase, I did let the kids have some free play time for the afternoon as it was good for their imagination, plus they also

needed a break.

Matt got home a little before 5 p.m.   While he was still gone, there was a bug on the ceiling that I thought was a walking stick.  When Matt got

home, he caught it in a jar so we could examine it more closely.  He thought maybe it was a praying mantis.  It was hard to tell though, so we

looked it up online via google & I asked a science email loop I'm on if they knew anything about it.  I got a couple of helpful sites:
http://www.whatsthatbug.com
http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740
I printed out a couple of coloring/info sheets on praying mantis and walking sticks. 

All on her own volition, Elizabeth went into our school room & brought back a few books about insects that she started looking through.  She

found a praying mantis in a magic school bus book.
We finally identified our bug as a grass-like mantis, Thesprotia graminis.  The site said it is found in the south & often confused with walking sticks.
http://whatsthatbug.com/mantis.html
In fact, another site said another name for it was  walkingstick mantis.

Matt took the kids outside to watch the wind blow as some dark clouds were coming in, and had them chasing after leaves.  Matt & the kids

made jello w/ fruit.  Supper was served up, and Matt & the kids ate on the back porch.  I did not join them as I'm not much for eating outdoors
(I don't like bugs).  We had a bit of rain, and then as Matt was taking the food out, he saw a beautiful rainbow that arched across the whole sky,

and we had a perfect view from our back porch.  That rainbow faded while they were eating.  Then it rained more and another huge rainbow

appeared with a secondary rainbow, with the colors in reverse order.  It was beautiful.  Matt explained a little about the science of the rainbow to

the kids.  It started to rain lightly again (no thunder and lightning though) so the kids & I went out to play in the rain & gaze at our beautiful scenery. 

We started to rinse our feet off and ended up playing in the hose & we all got soaking wet but had a blast.  The kids even sat in their kiddy pool a

bit.  We were dressed but didn't care.  We were just having fun and acting silly.  Katie broke the small pumpkin and I put it on top of the fence

and recited humpty dumpty.  Then we did "where is thumbkin" and had to explain to Elizabeth why a certain gesture with the tall man finger was

inappropriate.  Matt didn't want to get wet, though I tried to encourage him to "let his hair down" (figuratively speaking of course) and relax & have

a little fun & not be so "stuck in the mud."  He did end up getting wet also but didn't seem all that happy about it. 

We all had fun running around the yard with the hose though.  At one point, I got a couple of fire ants in me & hopped into the kiddy pool to get my feet wet quickly.  Out of the blue Katie started singing, "The Ants Go Marching One by One, Hurrah, Hurrah!"  We all laughed so hard about that.  I wanted Matt to record it so he went to get our camera so we could re-enact it.  We all had fun acting silly for the camera.  After a bit we all rinsed off our feet, came in, bathed & got into PJ's.   The kids took forever to clean the living room & their bedroom but it had to be done as someone is coming to clean tomorrow & I don't want her to have to pick up their clutter or work around it.  We did a reading assessment on Elizabeth (same one we've been using) and from mid-May to now, she's gone from a 3.0 level to a 4.5 level!  We only have one lesson of Reading Made Easy left.

She loves reading & seems to have taking to it well & can read some really challenging words, but she still lacks confidence & gets intimidated

by pages with a lot of words on them or without a bunch of pictures.  Right now she is reading a Clifford Chapter book though.   It was very late &

the kids were going to eat their jello but Katie fell asleep on the couch before she got to it.  Michael ate his & then went to sleep on the floor in his bedroom.  Elizabeth took her Clifford book to bed with her but I don't think she read much before she fell asleep as it was so late, so she was very tired.  We didn't get to our new Five in a Row book (Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel) so we will begin that fun adventure tomorrow instead. 

Today seemed to hold enough adventures of its own.  :) 
I might come back later & add a few relevant pictures to this entry.  Please excuse any typos due to the lateness of the hour.  If you read this long entry, bless your heart, and have a blessed day!

This posting contains pictures of our finished school room that I am excited to share. 

Please see my previous post if you want more details of anything you see in my school room (like where we got certain shelves, etc.) 

Here is a link to my previous post about my "in progress" school room.

http://homeschoolblogger.com/BlessedBeingMom/122304/

You can also see how much has changed since the last set of pictures, about six weeks ago.

We are starting our new school year next week & can't wait to have fun in our new room.  Of course, we do a lot of couch school & outdoor school & school all over the house, but it is nice to have a designated place for it also, especially if we are in the middle of a lesson and it is lunchtime or something and we don't want to have to put it away.  It is so nice to have all our school stuff gathered together too.  These pictures start at the door & go counterclockwise around the room.

This over-the-door shoe hanger is already wonderful to hold all the small stuff!  Thanks to the ladies on the Five in a Row board for the idea! 

P.S.  Notice the pencil sharpener mounted on the wall.  Now we feel like a real school. 

My husband built these simple shelves to help make the best use of this small area.  The basket on the very top shelf holds our Sonlight Science K kit materials, and below it is a box of perler beads that we wanted to keep up high to avoid a huge mess everywhere.  A lot of our manipulatives are in this small cabinet.

We love the flat space on top of these bookshelves almost as much as the bookshelves themselves.    One of the bags up top is full of all kinds of preschool & kindergarten type flashcards that we bought here & there but never used much.  Maybe one day we'll get them out again.  At least now they are in sight so we are less likely to forget we have them.

We like to start our day with the Pledge of Allegiance, so we had to make sure to hang up our flag in our school room, and of course our calendar for morning calendar time.

The kids and I (mom) sat down one day & colored all the pictures on the Handwriting Without Tears alphabet & number wall cards so we could hang those up as a border in our school room.  And we absolutely LOVE our rain gutter bookshelves that dad installed!

The baskets below hold our Bibles & devotionals as well as pencils, crayons & colored pencils.  Our most often used school books are in the shelves on the table, and our copier is to the right of the shelves (with our Math-U-See manipulatives on top of it).

We moved our dry erase board from the wall in our living area (living room/breakfast area).  Right now we are using it to hang up a poster, but we do have the dry erase markers handy also, though it is a bit low & out of the way to be very easily accessible to mom or dad.

Here you can see the floor to ceiling shelves that Matt installed.  The bottom three or four shelves are mostly for easy reader type books.

We finally got our curtains from ebay and they are great.  You can't see it up close but it is a schoolish pattern in primary colors.  There was a delay on the valances due to the seller having a family emergency, but she had excellent feedback so I didn't mind waiting.  After all, curtains are not so important in the great scheme of things.

We have yarn strung from nails along this wall to hang the kids artwork, and the shelves below hold games (which are both fun and educational).  The desk apprentices on top of the shelf hold my files for the various Five in a Row books we are going to be teaching.  The white baskets hanging beside the tall bookshelf hold my label maker (top basket) and our Handwriting Without Tears manipulatives.

And here is the final bookshelf.  The top shelf contains all our Five in a Row volumes & books.  The white basket above holds our ziplock bags of preschool activities, and our cash register is beside it.  This is also where we have our "book hospital" for books needing some tender loving care.

And, we finally got around to making this animal classification chart.  I got the idea from the Five in a Row archives and bought the display board for it over a year ago but just never did get around to working on it.  It feels good to get it done and hopefully it will come in quite useful as we do our studies this year.  This is what is on the board:

Vertebrates:
Mammals
Fish
Birds
Reptiles
Amphibians

Invertebrates:
Insects
Arachnids
Crustaceans
Other invertebrates

I was finally able to get Matt to finish re-hanging our map with the molding he prepared.  I think the map looks great.  Our world map is hung similarly on the opposite wall of this hallway.

Thank you for stopping by to view my pictures and share our joy!  Have a happy and blessed day!  And please excuse any typos as the hour was late when I wrote this, as I was trying to get it done while the kids were sleeping. 

Our new table & chairs for our school room finally got delivered today & we couldn't wait to get started!  The first thing we had to decide was where we wanted to put the table & whether or not we wanted to leave the leaf in the table.  We finally decided the more space, the better, so we did some rearranging of our original plans to make it fit, since it is a rather large table (54" by 54" with leaf in).  It is a nice, large & sturdy (and heavy!) table.  Our school room is approximately 11' by 11' with a triangle shape cut out of one corner (where the door is).  Here is a view looking out the door of our school room.  Our maps hang on the wall in the hallway.  We have a world map and a map of the United States.  Matt made the frame for our world map by using the molding that usually goes up near your ceiling and staining it a nice brown color and trimming the corners on a diagonal to fit together nicely.  We are going to be making a frame for our other map this same way, but it is not done yet.

Okay, so I am going to post pictures in the order of our room as you look counterclockwise around the room.  Keep in mind that this is a work in progress and I still have to get out all the books & make room for them.    As we love books, there are quite a few that I am going to have to figure out how to arrange!

Above is a nice double bookcase that we bought at Sam's.  The very top of the bookcase will make nice storage for oversized games or anything we want to keep out of reach of our children. 

This is the bookcase we bought:

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=162674

Beside this bookcase (half hidden by the door) is this Multi-Purpose Storage Unit that we bought from here:

http://www.lakeside.com/details.asp?ITN=XMS1&CAT=0&KWD=&ST=_23

It's a little small (but perfect for that small space there) and makes a nice place to hold some our educational manipulatives.  It has four small shelves & two small drawers.  I think Matt is also going to make some small shelves that we can hang above it to make better use of our storage space.

Okay, here is another view of this same wall, plus part of the next wall.  We have four bedrooms in our house.  This particular room used to be a playroom since it has the largest closet but the smallest room size.  The closet still holds toys & games (the ones that we had before we were married, like Monopoly, that our kids aren't old enough to play yet).  Elizabeth & Katie share a bedroom, and right now Michael shares our room, but will have his own room once we get around to arranging it.  Right now it is a holding area for all the toys that we took out of the playroom.    We are still waiting on the bunkbeds for the girls to arrive (they were backordered till the end of this month), then we will be giving away the queen bed they currently share and will have more room in their room for their toys.

Okay, let me insert this brief intermission into my typing here...  

So, I had stopped at the end of the previous paragraph to save it yesterday because I had to stop typing right then.  This morning I came back to finish it.  I had typed in a lot more paragraphs about the rest of the pictures below, as well as a bunch of links I'd had to find on the internet, and was at the very end and went to insert the little smiley for ROFLOL when I did something wrong and instead of clicking on the smiley, I tried to drag it over here to this window.  Well, don't ever do it, because it totally ruins everything you typed since the last time you saved the draft and you lose every last thing since your last save. 

  Lesson learned, save OFTEN!!!  :::::going to save right now, and pull my hair out while I am at it!::::::::: 

Okay, so, here I am again!  The picture above shows our wonderful new table and chairs.  We bought a grayish/black 12 compartment organizer at Sam's to hold our workbooks & the girls' notebooks, but since it is sized to hold 8.5" by 11" paper, most of our workbooks won't fit in it the standard way.  We ended up removing all of the shelves except the top one & we will see how it works this way.  It looks something like this:

http://www.webmasterwebsites.com/woodland/images/10AC2889A_large.jpg

Our crayons & pencils are on top of this organizer, but I am thinking of placing a pretty basket on top of it to hold them so it will look more attractive.

The wall beside the window is approximately 36" and we are going to put floor-to-ceiling rain gutter bookshelves along this wall.

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/oliver.html

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/rah_chpt6_p4.html#rain-gutter

The lower shelves will hold books for our children, and the upper shelves will hold our "how to homeschool" and other teacher-type books.  Along the wall above the table, we plan to put educational posters, a dry erase board or a bulletin board.  I'm thinking a dry-erase board would be hard to write on though with the table in the way, and we already have one anyway in our living room/breakfast room area that we use to make lists and to write the date, temperature and weather daily.

Beside the wall where we will be putting the rain-gutter bookshelves is a window that is about 6' wide.  I just bought these valances (from ebay) to hang on the window:

http://tinyurl.com/eq35z

Then we have these print wall cards from Handwriting Without Tears that we plan to hang around the room (sort of like a border) near the ceiling.

http://www.hwtears.com/printwallcards.html

Above are the bookshelves that will hold our Five in a Row (FIAR) library.  We are going to keep one shelf for kid puzzles, and we have this puzzle chest for our wooden puzzles:

http://www.backtobasicstoys.com/item/productid/3742/

Michael likes them, and I want to have plenty of fun, yet educational, things in our school room for him to play with while the girls are doing their lessons.

In front of the window we have the girls' rocking chairs that Grandma made for them at Christmas one year.  I thought they would make a nice place for them to sit and read.

In the picture above is a set of mission bookshelves that we bought from Home Depot.  We added extra shelves, so there are four total shelves that are about 6 inches apart.  We are going to keep the kids' games here.  They used to be in a cabinet that was locked up and since they were out of sight, they were seldom played with.  Since our children are still so young (ages 2, 4 & 6) I want to be sure to encourage lots of playtime, with toys that will be stimulate their intellects & imaginations.  Above all, I want them to have fun! 

We also have two of those desktop apprentices that we got from staples.com:

http://tinyurl.com/l95vx

I still have to figure out exactly how I want to use them in the great scheme of things.  I think on the inside of one of them, I'm going to put some hanging files and make a file for each FIAR book that we row (a.k.a. study).  Since FIAR is geared for ages 4 to 8, it contains a wide variety of topics to cover for each book, and many are not yet age appropriate, so we will likely re-row the books again at a later date when Elizabeth is older, so we can save any related printouts, ideas, etc. in the file folder for that book to make it easier the second time around.

Since this room is carpeted, we really aren't going to be doing anything messier than crayons, scissors & glue in here.  We do have another room (the one intended to be a formal dining room, but we don't own any formal furniture as it just isn't practical for this stage of our lives) where we keep my scrapbooking/sewing stuff and the kids' craft stuff, so we can do the messier activities in there where there is a plastic table and tile floor.  I can't post a picture of it right now as it is too messy. 

Anyway, so there you have it.  I will try to come back later when we are "done" and post more pictures. 

Oh and we also have these hanging baskets in white that we plan to hang beside the tall bookshelves in the picture below (in between it and the shorter shelves).  We will probably put more manipulatives there, like maybe our handwriting ones or something.

http://www.lakeside.com/details.asp?ITN=OIQ7&CAT=0&KWD=basket&ST=_38

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at this blog post.  If you have any great ideas to share, please feel free to email me or post a comment!  Thanks! 

I just have some reading-related things I wanted to share and a couple of questions, so I thought I would put them all together. First of all, our library recently got some new books that we've really enjoyed. It is a series -- "We Both Read." The parent (or older sibling if you wish) reads the longer portion on one page, and then the new reader reads the facing page, which has fewer (and easier) words. There are different levels depending on the ability of your reader.

Also, about 6 weeks ago, I had Elizabeth do this informal reading assessment:
http://highland.hitcho.com.au/readingassessment.pdf

She scored about a 1.25 reading level. Well, over the last month we've only done 8 lessons out of Reading Made Easy (which is rather slow as I'd prefer to do 3 lessons a week, but we've been slacking off). She's been doing a lot of reading aloud though, and we've been helping her with the words she does not know. Her reading skills have really seemed to blossom lately, and I was curious so I had her repeat the reading assessment today. I was pleasantly surprised that even though we've been kind of slacking off, she knew a lot more of the words and is now at a 1.95 reading level! She's gone through lesson 76 so far in RME.

Okay, in other reading news, Katie has been expressing an interest in learning to read for some time, so we decided to try RME with her and just go at a slower pace. Well, even though she really wants to learn to read, it just isn't clicking for her yet. I'm not that worried about it anyway due to her young age, but it's just that this is something she really seems to want. Well, I had a brainstorm. With Elizabeth, we went through the Explode the Code primers for preschool and she enjoyed them, so I bought ETC book 1. After looking at it though, the amount of writing was much more than the primers and she just doesn't particularly like writing or workbooks, so we decided to skip it since it just didn't seem to be a good fit for her. I decided to go ahead & keep it in case we wanted it some day for one of our other kids. We actually bought the primers for Katie to use also, but she's already working through the Rod & Staff preschool workbooks, and the ETC primers really just seemed like they would be busywork since she already knew the info from them. But today I decided to bring out ETC book one and Katie already loves it! We did the consonant pretest pages & she aced them (except a few where she really didn't know what word the picture was supposed to represent) so I know for sure the primers would be too easy for her. She is so excited about her new book, and she loves writing (even at her young age) so I really think this will be a much better fit for her than RME at this stage. (But we may still give RME a try later on when she's more mature.)

And finally, I have a couple of questions. In her reading, Elizabeth often mixes up saw & was, and also no & on. Is this normal? She just turned 6 last month. And when she's reading out loud, she often mixes up her articles, like saying "a" where the book has "the." I am thinking she's just busy focusing on the harder words & not paying that much attention to the smaller ones, because I know she really knows them. Does this seem normal also?

Thanks for any input.

I posted this on the Five in a Row boards last week...  (December 27th)

We got a bunny around mid-September or so. We got it from DH's brother & his kids. He is divorced so his kids weren't there very often to play with it, and it was in a small cage outside by itself. We got it & bought a lot of nice things for it, and kept it in a playpen-type cage in the floor of our bathroom (the toilet is in a separate area). We took her out from time to time too to play with her & pet & cuddle her & let her run around the house (supervised of course). I am sure we spoiled her.

Well, a few weeks ago she started having some bleeding from her bottom area and we weren't sure what it was. That was when I posted asking if rabbits had menstrual-type bleeding. Well, it wasn't a whole lot but enough for us to be concerned and when it hadn't stopped after more than a week, DH & kids took her to the vet (one week ago today). We have never used this vet before. He called the one he was familiar with but they said he didn't treat rabbits. Anyway, the vet said Oreo had worms & gave wormer, plus said it might have an intestinal infection from that & gave an antibiotic called Albon.

Well, a day or so after they came back from the vet, the bleeding seemed worse that ever. Then it was Christmas eve & we had to leave to go out of town for 2 nights. We left Oreo with some fresh lettuce & a full bowl of rabbit pellets, and a large container of fresh water, and a clean litterbox, so she should have been fine.

Well, there was more blood all over the floor when we got back (yesterday around 6 p.m. or so) and she hadn't even appeared to touch her food, and she also hadn't really used the litterbox either (so she wasn't eating or eliminating). DH planned to take her back to the vet today.

Well, now he just came in & asked if I had looked at the bunny yet this morning & I hadn't because it was still dark when I got up & used the bathroom this morning. When he asked me that though somehow I just knew what he was going to say. How do we tell our kids??? I feel so terribly guilty, like we did something wrong that caused this to happen.

And, this bunny did belong to the girls' favorite cousins, are they going to think we killed their poor bunny? Matt's brother had his kids last week up to Christmas night, so it will probably be a couple of weeks or more before they come back this way (they live about 2 hours away).
We did take her to the vet. Is there something else we should have done?

Now I am angry and upset and wondering if the vet could have misdiagnosed her or something. Ugh, I am just upset all around this morning. Please, any advice (and quickly) would be good. We locked the bathroom door for now so the girls wouldn't see her.

As an update to this...

Well, I sat down with them and explained it, and everyone cried (even Michael, though I suspect he only cried because everyone else was crying). Elizabeth was especially upset about it and kept saying over and over again that the bunny was her favorite pet. This is their first time to really experience death. Right now they are all going to go outside with dad to help pick out a place to bury him. I just cannot get over how upsetting this is to Elizabeth.

And finally...

We did bury her under a tree in the side yard.  DH dug the hole and the kids helped him put the dirt back in over the bunny.  Elizabeth sang a sweet song, over and over "Our poor bunny, he died..." and it was very sad.  It has been a few days now though and they seem better, though I did cry yesterday because I thought to myself (in my head) that we had to be sure we bought more hay for the bunny (something we were always  having to do) and then realized we didn't need it anymore. 

Elizabeth already wants to get a new pet.  We just aren't ready for another one right now though.  We do have 2 cats and a fish which we've had for a long time.  We hadn't really had Oreo the bunny that long, only a few months.  We've had our cats for over 8 years, and it will be a devastating day for all when one of them passes. 

Happy new year everyone!  We only have 76 days of school left to cover!  Our state does not require us to keep up with the number of days, but I do it for my own peace of mind.

I recently decided to try something new, and I downloaded homeschool tracker for lesson planning & assignments.  Thankfully I was off this weekend (and we start back to school Monday) so I was able to spend some time figuring out the program.  There does appear to be a learning curve to it, as with anything else new.  I think I am going to like it though.  I like doing things on the computer anyway, and I like to plan out my long-term lessons (like at least several month in advance) without having to write or type each separate entry.  It helps me to be better able to tell if we will soon be done with a book and needing to purchase new curriculum.  My son Michael will be 2 in February, and I am scheduling some time to work on Before Five in a Row (BFIAR) with him and his 4 year old sister Katie.  This is something we hadn't really been doing.  BFIAR is for ages 2 to 4.  Our eldest daughter Elizabeth is doing the regular FIAR, which is for ages 4 to 8, but sometimes I think it is too much for 4 yo Katie and she doesn't often sit in for the actual lesson unless it is something like an art project. 

Our first FIAR book of this year will be Lentil, followed by A Pair of Red Clogs.  Our first BFIAR book will be Good Night Moon, followed by Yellow Ball. 

We are looking forward to getting back to work again, and I love the look of my assignment sheets that I was able to print out from homeschool tracker.  Also, what I decided to do was to have the "due date" for each lesson of that week be the following Sunday.  Our typical school day is Monday through Thursday, but this allows us the weekend to "catch up" if needed, and we can spread the lessons out throughout the week.  I will be happy as long as it all gets done sometime that week.  I just hope this works out okay for DH, since I am the planner & he teaches over half the lessons.

Anyway, now that the new year has come & gone, it is time to hit the pillow.  Happy New Year!

Katie is four!  It is hard to believe they grow up so fast!  I just typed out a whole long blog about her birthday and somehow I did something wrong and the entire thing is gone.      I am beyond frustrated now!

Anyway, we had a theme of pink poodles in Paris (to go along with our week with Madeline) and a fun time was had by all.  I typed up a menu in French (thank goodness for online translation sites!).  This is what was on the menu, both food and activities...

Le Bistro de Katelyn (The Bistro of Katelyn)

Le menu (The menu)

Bonjour messieurs et madames! (Hello sirs and madames!)

Boissons (Beverages)

café (Coffee-- which we forgot to make)

limonade rose (pink lemonade)

Hors d'oeuvres

quiche de saucisson et fromage (mini quiches with sausage and cheese)

jouer comme un pied de le et les croissants de fromage (Croissants with ham and cheese)

petits gâteaux de sucre (Sugar cookies in the shape of dog bones and dogs)

le chocolat a couvert des fraises (white chocolate covered strawberries)

Pièce de résistance (main course)

gâteau d'anniversaire (birthday cake - had the eiffel tower and a pink poodle on it)
 
La glace à la vanille française (French vanilla ice cream, which I also forgot about)

Bon appétit!

La Boutique de Katelyn

Avoir Votre Face Peinte (Have Your Face Painted -- we had the older kids do puppy faces on the younger ones)

Deviner le nombre d'os de chien. (Guess the number of dog bones.)

Faire un bracelet rose et blanc.  (Make a pink & white bracelet, I ended up making most of them.)

The rest of the pictures are HERE...  Some are really cute, but I am not going through the frustration of trying to put them all here AGAIN!  LOL!

And, you can click HERE if you want to see our menu.

Thanks for letting us share!

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted an update to our blog.  Well, life gets busy, and then when the eye of a major hurricane (Katrina) goes right over your house, it gets even busier.  Thankfully we are inland somewhat, so we only had minor damage (to our siding, roof and lost our new fence, and lost a couple of trees) but are blessed to still have home and especially family!  Our family is doing well.  Elizabeth is reading now, easy books, but I am still amazed!  Katie just had her 4th birthday, but I am going to post about that in another blog soon (with pictures!)  I am blessed to have such sweet children!  Michael is 20 months old now & still petite.  He is extremely active, though he is rather laid back, which almost seems to be a contradiction, but not for him.  It's just that he has to do a lot of running around to keep up with his big sisters.

This week Elizabeth is learning to tell time, and I found a story bag with a clock and a frog puppet at the library to go along with this.  Last week we "rowed" Madeline and studied France a bit.  This week, we are traveling to China along with Ping, from The Story About Ping.  We still love Five in a Row and the girls are learning so much from it.  Next we will row the book Cranberry Thanksgiving and spend the next couple of weeks teaching and reading about the origins of Thanksgiving and how we celebrate it.  We are going to take the week of Thanksgiving off, and then the first half of December we will study Christmas, and then take two weeks off fort the holidays.  I cannot believe we are already thinking about and planning for Christmas again!  I love the holidays and especially enjoy teaching our children about the reason for the season!  Well, I am posting this with the current time.  I am going to post about our week with Madeline and also about Katie's birthday, and backdate them to the correct dates, so they will look like they were posted before this even though they weren't.

Our menagerie of various pets is really helping our children learn.  We've been watching our caterpillars turn into butterflies.  Well, this past weekend, one of them came out with deformed wings.  We do not know how it happened, but his front wings were turned so the bottom was facing up, and they were pointed above his head.  The bottom ones never fully developed.  The back half of him looked like it never finished metamorphosing, and he only ended up with four legs.  After about 2 days, he died.  All our other 4 changed just fine, and were released to the outdoors shortly after emerging.

Last night, I found a baby toad in our bathroom.  We kept it to show the girls before releasing it back outdoors.  Well, when we came home from church, we found that Elizabeth had placed a can over the jar, and our toad was dead, apparently from lack of oxygen. 

We explained what had happened to the toad, and DH went outside to give him what he called a proper burial.

This afternoon, Matt found the girls outdoors racing around the yard.  They each had one of our toads in their hand (Toadie & Toada) and were zooming around the yard with them like airplanes.  The girls knew that the toads weren't toys and that they weren't supposed to get them out of their habitat and play with them.  DH had warned them before that if they couldn't treat them right, we would have to let them go free.  Well, when he came outside, Katie ran to throw her toad back into the habitat, because she knew she wasn't supposed to be playing with it.  So, DH set them free.  He explained again how the toads could be hurt if they weren't treated right, and that we had to set them free so they wouldn't be hurt.  The girls were kind of upset about it, but hopefully it was a lesson learned.  So, long live Toadie and Toada!  It was nice while it lasted.  DH put them into his garden.  The girls were saying we still have them as pets, they just live in our yard now.  Anyway, thanks for listening to my ramblings.  Oh, we also tried raising tadpoles this year (DH found them in a drainage ditch nearby), but they didn't make it.  We aren't sure why, since we had great luck last year, and lots of tiny toads.

After reading all the great reviews on the Five in a Row boards, we finally took the girls to see March of the Penguins at the theater today.  I'd been warned that some parts might bother young or sensitive children, and since my children don't like what they call "scaries" in movies, we watched the trailer at home before we left, and I warned them that there might be some scary or sad scenes, and if they didn't want to watch, all they had to do was close their eyes & cover their ears.  Well, the kids really enjoyed the movie and I think they did well in the theater considering Katie hasn't been since she was a baby, and Elizabeth hasn't been in a long time.  I took Elizabeth to see a movie once that we ended up leaving because she sat in my lap & covered her ears & cried the whole time, even though it wasn't a scary movie.  I had to go back later to watch it by myself so I could finish it.  Now I can't even remember what the movie was, and it is going to bug me until I do.  I was looking for a suitable icon to put here, and didn't find one that fit, but I did find this one...    It remined me that I wanted to mention that DH has new nicknames for the kids.  Brickwall 1, Brickwall 2, & Brickwall 3. 

Okay, so the movie that I can't remember was at least a year ago, but it came out after the Jonah movie.  It was definitely a kid-type movie (rated no more than G or PG) or we wouldn't have taken her.  Anyone have any ideas to help this poor forgetful mom out?

Anyway, back to the penguins...

Both Elizabeth's (who is 5) & Katie's (who is 3.5) favorite part of the movie was the baby penguins.  As soon as the movie was over, Katie's first words were "It didn't have any scaries or sads!"  I guess my kids either just aren't very sensitive, or they are too young to really understand the implications of certain scenes.  We have talked sometimes about how part of God's design is for many animals to be predators & eat other animals.  They watch our toads being fed all the time.  We are pretty down-to-earth here, so maybe they just took those things as being a part of life (which they are).  I was just surprised that the intensity of certain scenes didn't bother them (even seeing things like frozen penguins).  Anyway, we all definitely enjoyed the movie, and I highly recommend it. 

When I started this blog about a month ago, I promised to write about our backwards day that we celebrated on my birthday, and I just never got around to it.  So, here it is, from my post on an email loop...

Here is the update on our backwards day! It was a lot of fun!
We said "good morning" and had a bedtime story. I tried to get the girls to take a bath with me (which is usually a before bed thing) but they were unwilling since they just had one the night before. We put our clothes on backwards. We ate birthday cake first thing (for breakfast) while singing "You to birthday happy!" Then we ate chicken tenders and french fries (oven-baked). Then we started our school day backwards by doing the last thing first. The girls played "StudyDog" on the computer and did pages in their ETC primers. Then we went outside and played in the sprinkler and ran backwards & forwards across the backyard (PE!) Afterward, we had a bite to eat (lunch) and some free play time. Michael was tired so he & I lay down so I could nurse him to sleep. The plan was for DH to take the girls to Dollar General (the only store anywhere close to us) to buy me a birthday present, while Michael & I napped together. Well, Michael didn't fall asleep after all (!) but I sure did get sleepy. So he got up and Katie came to lay down with me instead. I fell asleep and only 15 minutes later I woke up because someone called to wish me happy birthday. DH brought me the phone so I could stay in bed. By then Katie had already gotten up, and DH was preparing to leave with all 3 kids (wasn't that nice of him?) So they went to town around 2:30 & got back close to 7. I did absolutely nothing while they were gone and it felt great. After they returned (bearing flowers & chocolate!) DH made a breakfast casserole which we ate (along with grapes & orange juice) for supper, then read the children's Bible lessons (that we usually read in the morning with breakfast). Elizabeth got sent to bed right after supper for being disrespectful during dinner. I played around with my wish list on amazon.com to figure out what I wanted to get for my birthday and it said one of my packages had been delivered (and I didn't even know it!) so I checked by the front door (which we rarely use) and found 4 packages. Three contained Jesse bear books and one was another book I had ordered. So Katie and I (& Michael somewhat) had fun reading Jesse bear books, then I said "good morning" and Katie and I went to bed together (in their room, they have a queen bed).
It was a wonderful day! Thanks for letting me share (and for all the fantastic ideas!) We didn't get much school done, but I am still counting it as a school day.

Tonight, the dinner we ate seemed a little heavy to me, so after dinner we all went out for a family walk (even though we had done our exercise video already this morning). I am trying to start thinking more of having an active lifestyle overall & not so sedentary. Hey, anyone know of any good way to get exercise while reading? We had a lovely walk (in the near dark) down a lot of dirt roads (from the new subdivision they are adding near ours). On the way back (and it was really getting dark by now), it started to sprinkle. We tried walking fast & even running a bit so we wouldn't get soaked, though I joked that God was trying to help us cool down a bit. Elizabeth was slowing us down so we let her climb in the basket of the double stroller (she actually fit -- we never knew it was really a triple stroller!) So DH was pushing 100+ lbs of kids in the double stroller at a running pace and poor me had to beg him to slow down. We definitely got a good workout though! My pedometer says we did 3,386 steps, 1.28 miles. I don't know how accurate it is though. I measured out 100 steps & it said 109. I adjusted the sensitivity, and then 100 steps only showed up as about 85. I preferred it the other way & switched it back. I feel like we had some nice, active & fun family time this evening though!

Michael is only 17 months old and already he seems to enjoy singing, even though he is scarcely talking! None of my others have been singing this young. You might not recognize all of his words, but you can definitely tell what he is singing. He especially loves "broccoli, celery, gotta be, veggie tales! there's never ever ever been a show like veggie tales!"
Just now I heard him singing a piece of the ABC song along with the fridge phonics toy.

Well, since I found out about my high cholesterol, we have been trying to eat healthier, not for weight loss, but for the sake of taking proper care of the bodies that God gave us (and that our body is His temple), and for teaching our children about good nutrition and exercise.  We have basically been cutting out almost everything that contains high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated (or partially hydrogenated) oils, and trying to eat more foods that are as close to their natural state as possible, and less processed.  I've also been trying to drink water when I feel the urge to eat, but know logically that I shouldn't be hungry since I've eaten recently.  I have heard that sometimes your body mistakes thirst for hunger.  We've also been trying to get at least 20 minutes of physical activity in, at least on most days.  We have 3 kids videos we've been enjoying, "Move N Groove Kids," "Elliott's Gym," and "Kick to Get Fit Jr."  I've been exercising right along with the kids.  It is nice to have a variety of videos to choose from, since it is so hot most days, and for me it is just easier than trying to get everyone fully dressed to go outside before it gets too hot, especially on the days that I have to work.

We've been trying to eat at least 5 fruits and/or veggies a day (1 with breakfast, 2 with lunch & 2 with supper).  It is amazing how much better I feel already.  I don't even feel hungry between meals anymore.  I didn't get a starting weight since weight loss is not really the goal here, but I happened to weigh myself the other day, and I've lost 6 lbs from my highest recent weight (and I was eating really badly right up until I received my cholesterol results, on 7/28).

I hope it isn't too late to reverse any bad habits I have already taught my children!

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What Type of Homeschooler Are You?
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Or, is that chrysalides?  I went to Merriam-Webster online dictionary to search for the plural form of chrysalis, and it gave both choices as the plural form.

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=chrysalis

Anyway, two of our gulf fritillary caterpillars have metamorphosed into the chrysalis form!  One of them was a few days ago, and one of them was the day after the first one.  We could tell they were getting ready to make the change when they hung upside down in a J shape.  Pictures will be forthcoming when I get around to getting them off the digital camera.  Our fuzzy caterpillar has lost most of his fuzz except on one end, and we aren't sure what to make of him.  He must be eating some of the passion-weed leaves or he would have died already, I would guess.  But he hasn't really grown or changed much except for the loss of his fuzzies.  DH wondered if he might be one of the ones that burrowed underground to pupate, and there is no dirt in the jar.  We aren't sure what he is, but are thinking either a woolybear caterpillar or maybe a saltmarsh  caterpillar, and I couldn't find any information about how they change.  Anyway, stay tuned for further updates, including pictures of caterpillars crawling on kids!

I found out yesterday that our toads have been named by Elizabeth.  She says they are Toadie & Toada.  She can even tell which one is which.  (I can't!)  We also got four caterpillars from Grandma's house.  One is white & fluffy & quick moving.  You will never guess what Elizabeth named him...  Fluffy!  LOL!  The other 3 are sort of black & orange & poky.  You will never guess what Katie named one of them...  Poky!  LOL!  The other two didn't get names, just the two the girls were playing with.  Fluffy definitely gets around a lot faster than Poky.  Fluffy is really soft & cute.  We don't know what kind of butterfly or moth he will become.  I searched around & it looks sort of like a woolybear or saltmarsh caterpillar, but mostly white, or maybe slightly yellowish.

DH says the orange & black ones are going to be gulf flitteries, whatever those are.  Oh, I just searched & it is gulf fritillary.  They apparently like passion-vine (weed).  There is a picture here...  Apparently ours is going to be the orange one...

Oh well, I will keep you posted on our pet adventures.  Oh, and DH left the jar with our pupating tobacco hornworm in it outside on the back porch & apparently he is cooked because he is no longer moving. 

Well, it is off to bed for now! 

I'm so proud of Elizabeth.  There was a little girl (4 years old) at church today in her Sunday School class who was there from out of town, visiting her grandparents.  During church, they sat behind us.  When the children went forth for the children's message, Elizabeth took Madison's hand and held her hand as they walked to the front of the church.  Afterward, when the children went to children's church, Madison went back to sit with her grandparents, but Elizabeth called out "come on!"  Elizabeth went out the door with the other children when Madison did not come.  But then Madison decided to come, so her grandmother took her.  After church, Madison's grandmother told us how sweet Elizabeth was and what a good friend she was and how she was waiting outside the door of the church for Madison to come.  I am so pleased that she knows how to be a friend.  Maybe I know what I am doing after all.  I am so thankful God has blessed us with such wonderful children. 

  (P.S.  I picked this smiley just for Elizabeth.  She said she liked that flag one because we celebrate America.)

Okay I am new at this so still figuring out what I am doing, and trying to type quietly so as not to wake anyone else up, LOL!

1. What is your best memory from childhood?   Hmmm, not sure, my childhood wasn't all that great (ended up in foster care) so it's hard to say...  I remember being in the city spelling bee in 6th grade, that was pretty cool!
2. If you could have lunch with ANYONE who would you choose and why?  Gosh, I'm not all that good at these sorts of questions, LOL!  I know I should think of someone important or famous, but I really am a homebody so my first instinct was DH Matt, but we do that all the time.  I really can't say.
3. What is your biggest regret?  Regaining the 50+ pounds I lost after my second daughter was born. 
4. If you could choose only one book of the bible to read for an entire year which would it be and why?   Maybe John because I have heard good things about it, or Genesis since that is the book that started it all.
5. What song ALWAYS makes you want to get up and dance?  Probably anything from the Grease soundtrack, LOL! 

"Toads eat crickets & if that toad sticks out his tongue he'll go (insert slurping noise here)." 

This was the observation just now from my  3 year old.  She is drawing me a picture of one of our toads on her magnadoodle.  She also just told me that the toad came out, and it's "the one that pees."  She is saying that he is the one that peed on the floor when she touched him. 

We like pets here as we feel they are educational.  We have a regular zoo here.  Right now we have 2 cats, 1 beta (fish), 2 toads, lots of tadpoles and 3 pupating tobacco horn worms.  We also had a dirt dauber pupating in a jar, but we just checked and apparently he came out when we weren't paying attention (we forgot about  him) and now he is dead in the jar.  Oh well!  Next year I'd like to get some caterpillars that metamorphosize into pretty butterflies, and maybe a few chicken eggs to incubate.

In the interest of fairness,  here is a better picture of Elizabeth, our very first sweet baby!

Well, here it is, my very first blog entry to this homeschooling blog.  It is nearly 1 a.m. so I will not write much.  I think this will be a great idea for friends & families who are interested in our life to keep up with us.  It looks like I can even post pictures.  That should be fun!  This is a homeschool blog, but when you are homeschooling, well, everything is school, really, so I guess I will write about other things that might not seem very "schoolish" too.  We homeschooled Elizabeth & Katie last year for preschool but it was pretty laid back, just to get some idea of how much we might like it.  This year, we chose to homeschool Elizabeth rather than send her away to kindergarten.  We started school around the first of June and it is going really well for the most part.

In my next entry, I hope to explain more about our family's decision to homeschool, in case anyone is interested in learning more about why we made this choice for our family.  In another entry, maybe I will write about our "backwards day" we had recently, and share pictures!

Happy reading, and thanks for being here.  If you wante to be added to my email list for when updates go out, please email me at BlessedBeingMom@aol.com to let me know!  Oh, and my favorite color is purple, if you couldn't already tell!

I am testing how to insert a picture.  This should turn out to be a recent picture of Michael.  Isn't he adorable?