Posted in Family Time

In case you are wondering why I have been blogging less, I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Posted in Thankful Thursday

Posted in Lapbooks

I had seen these mini offices on blogs and wanted to do one for my dd. I googled “mini office for homeschool” and the first link I clicked on was http://www.squidoo.com/minioffice. I love the photos and I thought this would be a great way to have those resources on hand (desk) for my daughter. I did like hers so much I decided to use some of the same resources and just add a few of the others that my dd might need.  So I went searching to find more resources.I found so many great links and free resources. I still stand amazed at how helpful the homeschooling community all around the world is. It is such a blessing to me to have the help of other veteran homeschoolers. I am learning so much as I go along here. Even the new homeschoolers are busy posting helps for others. It’s great!

http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/mini_offices.htm
http://www.squidoo.com/minioffice I used many of the links here to find resources
http://www.donnayoung.org/math/multiplication-charts.htm
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/worksheets/mini_offices/math%20symbols.pdf
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/worksheets/mini_offices/Punctuation.pdf
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/worksheets/mini_offices/handwriting.pdf
As you can see if you go to the
http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/mini_offices.htm you will find a lot of resources there for mini offices that I used
I did a google search for a free image of the time zone map
http://www.abcteach.com/directory/basics/math/

So there it is. We had fun making it. Be blessed, Stacy

Posted in Thankful Thursday

I sat here last night trying  to get a post out for Thankful Thursday. It wasn't working. My pc was not cooperating with me and my attitude wasn't right. So I turned the computer off and headed to bed.
I know what I wanted to post on and so today, with the pc and my attitude adjusted I think I will give it another shot. So here goes.

Posted in Family Time

Three years ago my youngest child (Z) was born. He weighed 6 lbs, and was 19 inches long. Beautiful brown eyes and a head full of  hair and a beautiful complexion. He was my smallest full term baby. We were all in awe over having a baby in the house.  It had been 7 long years since the last time and now all the children were ready for another little brother.
Today we celebrated his third birthday where he wanted to go...Chuck E Cheese. He really loves that place. Even better was the fact that daddy was there to celebrate with us.  We thought he would be out of town but he made it back in time. He loves his daddy. My Z had a blast. We did not have a party, not really, but he thought we did . It was just our little family, the other two children I teach and of course my mother. I love her so much. She is always here when it counts!
Anyway, my little guy had a blast running from game to game and beating daddy at air hockey.


Ok so maybe the game was fixed . Still he felt great every time he scored, even if the puck did go in on his side and not daddy's. LOL  Here he is with his cake. I would say that is a look of satisfaction.
  
My little man. He is three and finally just in the last two days decided he was ready for the big boy pants and now only wears the diaper at sleepy time. So far he is doing great. Thank the Lord!
Well that is it for tonight. I am a bit on the tired side this evening. We had a big day today. At least I feel like we did I think I will retire early tonight and rise early in the morning. Seems easier to get my bible reading time in while the children are still sleeping and after my hubby has gone off to work.
Be blessed in Christ Jesus,
Stacy

Posted in Thankful Thursday

Posted in Prayers/ Encouragement

Posted in Birdwatching

Wow, three posts in one day. I must have too much time on my hands tonight. LOL. Well as soon as I finish this I will fold that load of laundry that has been in the dryer since the first post of the day . It has been so nice hanging the clothes out on the line. Today it rained all day pretty much so I had to use that money hungry dryer. No really, I do thank God for my dryer. I just prefer to try and save some $$ by hanging the clothes out on the line. Plus it gets me out of the house into the sunshine. We all can use a little bit of that in our lives right?? Well on to the post.
We are having such a good time with the bird unit from Apologia Science Zoology 1. I never realized how much we in this family enjoy the outdoors and right now the birds are everywhere!
So far our checklist is like this

1. American Robin-Turdus migratorius (our yard was filled with them on Feb 15th) pics take. This day with a yard full of these birds started us off on a new "spot that bird" quest. We are loving it. Everywhere we go we take our Bird watching guide and the camera. Once we see a bird we all want to look it up. We take the pics then write it down after we get home.
2. Eastern Bluebird-Sialia sialia ( Yakistan my 11 yr old ds spotted this and snappped a great pic of it) this was in our yard
3. Red Bellied Woodpecker-Melanerpes carolinus (again spotted and photographed by Yakistan) There are two of these that visit our pecan tree regularly. We have snapped a few good pics of them.
4. Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawareensis (spotted in the city in a large parking lot)pics taken
   
5. Laughing Gull- Larus atricilla (spotted at the beach on the coast)pics taken
   
6. Killdeer (there are many of these that visit our yard daily right now)pics taken alot of them also by Yakistan
7. Mallard -Anas platyrhynchos(spotted at the mall close to the road)pic taken
   
8. Great Egret- Ardea alba (spotted in Honey Island Swamp)pic taken
9. White Heron- Egretta alba modesta ( spotted in Hiney Island swamp) All Herons were spotted in the same spot at the swamp.
   
10. Great Blue Heron- Ardea herodias (spotted in Honey Island Swamp)pics taken
    
11. Brown Pelican- Pelecanus occidentalis ( spotted on while at the beach with my brother and family) pics taken
    
12. Sanderling-Calidris alba (spotted also on the beach-coast-while there with Brother and family)pics taken
    
13. Morning Dove-Zenaida macroura- (spotted and pointed out to me by Yakistan in our yard and in town)no pics yet
14. Rock Pigeon- Columba livia ( Wal-Mart parking lot) I tried to take a pic...no memory card!!!
15. Northern Cardinal- Cardinalis cardinalis (tree in our yard, tree at my mothers-photograhed by Yakistan-Honey Island swamp)
16. American Goldfinch- Carduelis tristis ( near my mothers house next to a small bridge) no pic :(
17. Chipping Sparrow- Spizella passerina (spotted and photographed by Yakistan...again)

So this is it so far. These listed are the ones we have identified. We did get to watch a mama bird as she was warning others with her call to stay away from her freshly laid eggs. She picked a terrible spot in our yard to do this. Did I mention we have three dogs? One thinks she is a bird dog... Well you can pretty much figure out what happened to the eggs as soon as we stopped guarding them.  Here is a link about the  Killdeer.
We also spotted in our pool filter where the water heads into the hose to be filtered, an American Robin's nest with eggs still in it.  Here is a site you can read a little about the American Robin .
Here are a few pictures of those sweet little finds.
Mama killdeer warning us "Stay Away" she is telling us and other birds by fluffing her tail feathers this way that she is upset we are getting too close for comfort here..
Watching too see if we have left yet. As she was doing this she was making loud calls to warn us and almost sounded like she was screaming at us! The kids really enjoyed watching
Killdeer Eggs


  American Robin Eggs

Below are the eggs inside the filter without the filter cropped out


Also here are a few more pictures of some of the bird listed above




This Friday hubby is going to be making birdhouses and bird feeders with us. He is getting most of the material from his brother..which means it is free. That is always a plus. The bird I would like most to see, watch and get some good shots of would be the Belted Kingfisher. When my dad was down here he said he saw one out by my mothers house on the river. I didn't see it. Now I am on a quest to find it! Here is a link with a little info on the Belted Kingfisher
So there you have it. Updates on our Birding. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I am not the best at photographs, still I love to snap away .
Be blessed,
Stacy

Posted in Homeschool

Back in the school thing full force with yet more changes. Last night I sat up for a bit and worked on report cards. Now this is not a must but I believe it helps the children to see where they are.
Well....
I hate to admit defeat but  I will. I have sent my oldest back to school . His friend that I was homeschooling also went back. Both around the same time.
 I know, I know...I should have held on longer but given the situations here in my home ( a lot of chaos), I gave in. For our sake and for his. Now he attends a school that I can only take comfort in knowing there are many true believers that also attend the school and  a large part of the staff there are also believers. Of course there are downfalls and I know them all to well . Yet this is all I can do for now for the sake of the whole family. 
This has been a struggle this year and I gave up the fight! I was outnumbered, worn out and just plain tired of trying so hard and getting nowhere. Seems things just continued on a downward spiral. So I threw in the white flag and surrendered.
Do I feel like I failed? At times yes. I have my moments, still. It has only been since after Spring break that he went back. He is on his second week. Already I see a change in his attitude. Small but noticeable (to me anyway).

You know I recall the prodigal son. I think of the fact that His father gave him what he asked for. He did not turn him down. He knew, I gather, in his heart that sooner or later he would return home. Did that mean that he (the father) was happy with the decisions that the son was making? No.
Did it mean he would take joy in watching his son make those mistakes? No. It only meant that he (the father) knew it was time to let him make his own mistakes and prayerfully learn from them. He had to allow his son to make the mistake.  In order for him (son) to appreciate what he left, he had to leave it.
Well I feel a bit like this with my son. I feel like the more I pushed him toward homeschool, the more he pulled away. The less he tried and the easier he gave up in his studies. The more outrageous he became. The more things he did to try and go anywhere but here.He didn't want my help and wouldn't accept it when I offered. He was resentful, angry and unhappy. Oh the pain I felt and it almost took me to the ground. Well often it did...to my knees in prayer. I probably should have prayed more than I did. Instead at times I yelled , I screamed  and I cried . I know, not too mature is it?
I hated to look at him this way for as long as I did yet I wanted so bad to not "fail" at this attempt to home school him. When I did this before it was great. He did well. This was of course before he had made many friends and was more of a loner, if you would, than he is now. He didn't like public school. He got picked on and even beat up a few times.This need to not fail, was that for him or for me? I am not sure.
I really thought that I was doing good for him. My other children , when asked if they wanted to return to ps, answered with an astounding NO!  I mean they are happy as larks being homeschooled. However, all my trying did not change the way he( my oldest) felt. I hope and pray this will end a happy ending. I hope his faith in God grows, I hope I can still reach him, I hope that like God's Word says, if I raise them up in the way he should go when he is old he'll not depart from it.  He is mature yet immature. A boy and yet a young man. Desiring to be so independent and struggling with the fact that he still needs to be here at home.
Oh if I were to share the real of this house in the last month, I might lose more than a  few readers. I am not kidding. So I won't get too personal but I will say this..
 It has  been rough waters around here. The storms were pretty strong at times. The winds blew violently. There were even a few hurricanes. Nevertheless,these storms were not strong enough to sink the ship. The ship is a bit beat up, the sails are torn and tattered and we lost a few of our mates but are still sailing towards out destination. A few mates decided to jump ship and sail with another vessel. This is okay now, I struggled with it but realize that those who we start out with will not always finish the course. They must decide what their destination will be. I can only try to lead them and guide them.
Well if you are still reading, thanks sticking with us. I know if it were not for my friends here at HSB and in Blogland, and of course the Lord himself, I wouldn't be on this ship any longer. I'd jumped off months ago. Thanks a million ladies, much love in Christ Jesus too all of you.
Until next time...
Be blessed,
Stacy

Oh yea, today is another of my little brothers B-Day. Happy Birthday JR. Love and miss ya!

Posted in Homeschool

I decided to let the homeschool tracker generate report cards for the kids third quarter. My children (and the other) were all looking forward to seeing their grades.  This is not a mandate of the state I live in. It is actually pretty homeschool friendly down here in MS. All I am required to do is fill out a card by the 15th of September each year with the truant officer in my county and that's it.
One reason I haven't been blogging as much is that I have been  trying to get caught up on entering the completed assignments for  the children.  Below are two of my dc's reports. I am pretty happy with them. I think they are too!
I really do like the homeschool tracker program. I only have the basic one, that would be th free one but for now that is enough for us. I have learned..the hard way that I must keep those assignments entered weekly. Even better would be daily if I could just remember!
Yakastan (my 11 yr old ds)
SOS Bible                                               96.6
ACE English                                          97.2
History/ Social Studies (MOH1)&
American States and Presidents      91.9
Language Arts ( not ACE)                   95.5
Math ( Horizons Math 5)                      86.1
Penmanship                                        100
Science SOS 600                                 86.7
Science (Apologia Zoology1)           100

Animalfriend98 (my 10 yr old dd)
SOS Bible                                                           96
Abeka Health Safety and Manners              100   
History/Social Studies (MOH1)                       92.6
Language Arts/English                                    86.3
Math (SOS 400-)Additional worksheets       89.9
Penmanship (Horizons 400/Copywork)      100
A reason for Spelling C                                     90.3
Apologia Science Zoology 1                           100
I did not post the others as I have not asked permission. However I will say this. Kaybug has all A's and B's. My two high school students are back in public school. I'm working on the post about that. Well that's it for this report. Maybe I will have time later write.
Be blessed,
Stacy

Posted in Thankful Thursday

Posted in Thankful Thursday

Posted in Homeschool

Well, here I am again at the pc. I just can not seem to stay away. No really I was up doing some school related planning (looks like time opened up for me tonight). I know I said in my last post I wondered how in the world to do it, well I guess you just make the time.
I had a talk with all the children last night. you know, one of those talks that seem to need going over about every six months. That is after mom has let it go and let it go and let it go. Well you get the point. Anyway, they have a new schedule...again.To be honest it is an old schedule with new reinforcement. So this is how it goes. There is actually a bed time now, for all of them. 9 pm. They will go to bed and read and at 10...lights out. Big schedule huh? Well I have to start somewhere.
There are a few differences now to the way we do things. These changes have occurred over the last few weeks.The older boys ( my 15 yr old and his friend that I school also) are now in a program that involves going to a ranch on Mon-Wed. Mon and Tuesdays are Life skills days and Wednesday (depending on their behavior) they ride the horses. They go to the work program on Thursday and Friday and they school here in the afternoon/evenings only on Tues-Friday. I have also switched their curriculum from Alpha Omega SOS to School of Tomorrow Paces. I used these with my oldest  (in the 9th grade right now) for all of his 6th grade year  and he was happy to get back to them. So we will see how things go from here for them.
My daughter and my 11 yr old son have both  started piano/keyboard lessons right here at home.  Can I play? Not at all. We are trying an online program for now until I can afford/find a local instructor. We also started a new bible study I downloaded from the Keys for Kids website. This is how we are going to start our day. In the Word! I often get sidetracked and forget the number on reason I want to homeschool. Teach them first and foremost about God and His way for us.
I have decided to focus on ( other than the Bible) math and spelling with my daughter. She really struggles with both of these subjects. She's a great reader and loves to write. I do worry a bit about her math because we have gone over certain area's many, many times and she is not retaining the information. Maybe I am not teaching it well enough, I mean ya know I am not a certified teacher like some people, in some states, mainly to the west,   think I should be in order to teach my children.  Ok- won't go there .
Anyway, today we started a multiplication lapbook ( of course I will post pics when it is completed).  I know she should have most of these down her being 10 yrs old but like I said, there is a struggle in math. I got the idea from another blog I found. She loved doing it .
Her enthusiasm and interest really jumps to another level when we do hands on like lapbooking. She loves things to do with nature, animals ( of any kind), drawing, journaling, cutting, pasting, coloring, painting and such.  She collects insects (dead ones) . I know that's gross but she keeps them all categorized and in a box, glued to cardboard. She loves to catch lizards. I mean she just about has a fit ( nearly in tears) if she sees one and can not get to it.  She literally searches for them and can spot one quicker than I can blink sometimes .
She realizes that she has to let them go in order for them to live. This of course is after "losing" many lizards to our house cats or the poor things just dying from being taken out of their natural habitat.Now when it comes to trying to keep her focused in a workbook/worksheet is like torture. She daydreams, spins in the chair, plays with her pencil, stares into space or talks about anything and everything.
So why am I saying all this? I guess I am hoping for some feedback here . I know that she has a learning style that suits her. I want to cater to that, as well as my other children. I am not sure of how to do that other than what I am trying now.
I love getting suggestions from you ladies out there that have been where I am, or maybe you are there now and have found a way that will work for you and are willing to share some insight. I know there isn't a perfect way to homeschool but I also know that there are those that have been able to reach into their children and help them bring out the very best of what is in them.
Well now that I have rambled on again tonight, I will stop there. I need to be off to bed. Sorry about the whining in last nights post. I need to not blog when I am so tired. Oh yea, I think I read that somewhere on blogging tips back when I first started here. LOL, Guess I didn't retain it very well.LOL
Be blessed,
Stacy

So now is the time for this...Spring break. The public schools will be out next week and I think I will make use of the time to go over where the children are in their studies. I know that there are some weak points and then the strong area's too. I am still trying to get the public school mentality out of my head. I try to take a break here and there and then I worry and fret over the fact that the children could get behind somehow when compared to the other children. Aha...the problem is right there. Comparing with others. I really need to stop doing that.
I want a more relaxed schedule as in room for something other than school (as in worksheets, workbooks) chores and sleep. I want to make more time for reading as a family aloud together, visiting the Library together, nature journaling. The kids really enjoy these types of lessons. They do so much better than when stuck in the house doing *paperwork*.
I think I should take the time to clean my bookshelves. Over these past few years I really have acquired a lot of material that we do not use and more than likely never will. Why do I hang on to it? Am I a pak-rat? I really need to learn better organizing skills. I read a lot about it ( or maybe I just think I do) but until I apply it, it isn't going to do any  good. I started a Home management binder but can not for the life of me seem to finish it. I have a million (yes that is an exaggeration) rough draft schedules but seem to never complete the final one that I can use.
"Lesson Planning". Sounds so nice but how in the world do I fit it in between teaching, cleaning, cooking, church, bible study, devotional time, laundry, baths and sleep and so on? Oh yea, now would probably be a good time instead of being on here sitting in front of the PC ranting about how I can not get things done.
Maybe I am just a little tired from this flu bug and lack of sleep. So I should stop for the night, get to sleep and start over in the morning. Weeping may endure for the night but Joy comes in the morning ( as His Word says) . I know, I know that's more like whining tonight but hey, I got to try and encourage myself in the Lord before I go to bed. Scripture...good medicine for a sick soul.
Be blessed,
Stacy

 

Posted in Lapbooks

This is my first time doing this. I joined the little laplink group over at http://lapbooklessons.ning.com/. The theme for this month is Easter/Resurrection Lapbook. I did a search on the web and so far this is what I have found. I am not sure of what I will use, maybe I will do the one that Valerie has at  http://lapbooklessons.ning.com.  I am not sure yet but I guess I'd better figure it out, we need to be working on it already! Anyway here are the resources I have found so far:

Resurrection lapbook resource links

 

Story time

http://misslink.org/children/biblestories/easter.html

 

Easter Mobile (craft)

 

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/easter/meastermobile.html

 

Recipe card pockets (just a thought) food for thought J

http://www.dltk-kids.com/recipesdb/view.asp?rid=6

 

 

http://www.dltk-kids.com/recipesdb/view.asp?rid=155

 

 

songs to sing (music)

http://www.dltk-bible.com/jesus_alphabet_song.htm

 

 

puzzle pocket ( would be best printed on card stock ( my littlest one loves puzzles)

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.dltk-holidays.com/easter/images/cpuzzle2.gif

 

Poetry (recognizing colors)

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/easter/jellybean.htm

 

vocabulary

http://www.dltk-bible.com/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.dltk-bible.com/word-list/easter/ceastereasy.gif

 

cover or booklet inside????

http://www.first-school.ws/t/easterheisarisen.htm

coloring pages

http://coloringbookfun.com/easter/

 

 

tracer pages

http://www.kidzone.ws/tracers/easter-r/tracer.asp

 

 

 

Math- count the silver pieces and place them in Judas’s bag (still looking for printable resource on this)

Judas received 30 pieces of silver

 

Still searching...
Stacy

Posted in Prayers/ Encouragement

Sunday 3/09/2008
I got up this morning and even though I still felt a bit under the weather I wanted to go to church. You know, to get the meds the dr. just can't prescribe, those that only the Great Physician can give out .   I missed last Sunday morning due to some chaotic situation that came up that morning prior to service start time and I was determined that no matter what kind of morning we had, I would go to church, with my family.
Well as I said in an earlier post, I felt a bit icky, as in the flu kind of icky. I have been self-medicating with Nyquil and ther-a-flu. So I got up, drank the hot, disgusting, fake lemon tasting medicine and readied myself for church. Slowly but surely I was making it out that door.
Now can anyone tell my why in the world every Sunday  (am or pm) for the last three weeks this house ends up in an uproar? My answer seems to come in the form of an old Saturday Night Live segment called the Church Lady. Are there any former Saturday Night Live watchers out there or am I the only one? Anyway, the answer as I am sure most would say is hmmm.....satan.
He, that old serpent, does not want us to head to church together (as a family) and worship together (as family), pray together (as family), or hear the Word of God preached together (as family). As a matter of fact, he hates families. The family unit (as God meant for it to be) drives him mad . He has been after the family unit since the beginning, since Adam and Eve and Kain and Abel. He still hates the family unit today.
He knows that the family is stronger if we pray together, worship together, attend church together and hear the Word together. His goal for families? DESTROY and he will do whatever it takes to do that. If he can use you, me, our husbands, our children,our parents,  the friends, the car, the dog, whatever it is he will use it to try and break down the family unit. Now we can not forget about this present day society that we live in and the way that it has turned against almost anything and everything that has a moral family value to it. But I won't go there right now. I will spare you my opinions on that...for now.
You see, he (the devil) is trying to break down the family. He wants to cause strife, confusion, worry, fret and such. He would love to see the family unit so broken that it would be beyond repair . Turn fathers against children and children against parents and parents against parents.But I know the Master Carpenter, I know the Potter, I know the Great Physician and when the family unit is put into His hands,broken, marred, cracked, or what have you there is absolutely nothing beyond repair. He is a miracle maker. His Word says that when the enemy comes in like a flood- His Spirit will raise up a standard against him (Is 59:19). We don't have to. He will.
You see it is when we realize in the midst of the chaos that our fight is not against flesh and blood, but the Word of God says in Eph 6:12 , "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.", then we know how to fight him. Sometimes I get so caught up in the natural realm that I forget this. Thank God that he has sent His Spirit to call these things to my remembrance just in time.
 So what happened this Sunday? We made it to the morning service on time, all together, and for the most part without the chaos. We came home for lunch, dads famous roast and it was oh so good (as usual) and even enjoyed the company of friends and family together. The afternoon seemed to be going well.
As the time for our evening service drew nearer it became apparent that there would be no easy walk out the door to head to church this evening. The day had just gone so well. The family (visitors) and a few of the friends went home to take their naps or ready themselves for the service. So what happened?  Well my middle child split his head wide open! Unbelievable. I must admit I thank God that a few of our friends from church were still here therefore I had prayer partners this time! Aha, not alone during this attack. I guess the devil forgot that where one can set a thousand to flight, two ten...ten thousand.
How did he manage to split his head? He was doing something he had been told not to do. Surprising I know of an eleven year old boy. Just last week he had a friend over (monday) and they had both been on an old trailer of my husbands after being told then it was off limits and had accidentally caused it to roll down the hill to where it now sits. So there he was, on this Sunday afternoon in the back yard....on the trailer. The story I was told is he fell backwards ( jumping) and hit his head on some part of the old thing.He ended up at the emergency room, Sunday evening until 6:15p.m. Oh by the way, church starts at 6:00. Did we miss church? Nope. I know, crazy people!
My husband had taken my son to the ER while the rest of us waited by the phone, getting ready for the evening service in the mean time. The call came, the report was, "he's fine- be ready for church when I get there." We were reading and waiting. He changed clothes on the way to church. How did I stay calm in this situation? Only by the Grace of God. Oh yea, this too, I was so determined to not let the devil win this time that guess what? He didn't! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y in Jesus. I was singing as we headed to church. I know that the Lord intervened. For on my own- I would have surely lost. The difference was I saw ( He showed me) the pattern. I knew where the attack was coming from  and I knew how to fight back.PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!
Last week it was some different situation, another chaotic Sunday, as was the week before that. The only difference was, I must admit, I failed to recognize where the attack was coming from and tried to fight it in the carnal realm and lost . I let my flesh get in the way . When we (I) try to fight in the carnal what should be fought in the spiritual, that is always a losing battle.
The opposite is true in when you fight in the spiritual. Why? Because then the battle isn't ours...it is the Lords and when we allow Him to fight the battle for us, guess what? We get Victory in Jesus!
Be blessed,
Stacy

Posted in Awards

 It has taken me way too long to post this, thank those who have been so kind as to award me with such a sweet award, and to pass it on. I do apologize for the time it has taken me to get this out. So here goes.
This award was presented to me last month by two very sweet ladies in blogland, Ginny from Proverbs 22:6 Academy and Kim from A Place To Call Home . Thank You both very much. You are both such a blessing to me and I am sure many others out here in blogland.

The rules read: By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you have to award it to 10 more people whose blogs you find Excellent Award worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want but please award at least 10. Thank you out there for having such great blogs and being such great friends! You deserve this! Feel free to award people who have already been awarded…

Here are the blogs I would like to pass the encouragement along to ( in no particular order):

1. Joann at Our Homeschooling Expedition
2. Yvonne at Mom 2 Two
3. Michelle at My 5 Little Ducks!
4. Bobbie at Encouragement Along the Way
5. BChsmamaof3 at Huber Hof Academy
6. SchoolinRhome
7. Kidcraze at The Journey
8. Tammy from Encouragement Along the Way
9. Amy at DANDELION SEEDS - Scattering inspiration one seed at a time...
10. Tamara
    

Be blessed,
Stacy

Posted in Lapbooks

This is the first lapbook that I created on my own without the instructions coming from another lapbooker, a freebie lapbook  I downloaded,  or a purchased one from somewhere like In the Hands of a Child, The Homeschool Estore,  or Knowledge Box Central.

I guess I am pleased to know that,  "Hey, I can do this!" . Silly I know. 

We finished this lapbook in one week. The pre-k student I teach ( not my 2yr old ds) is here three days each week. This was one weeks lesson and I was able to mix it with the Caits Christian Preschool curriculum I am using with him. So far this is working out fine.

Here are the resources I used:

A few stickers from Total Basic skills workbook by American Education Publishing

 

Alpha Buddy- B Bobby inside flap on cover

http://www.dltk-teach.com/alphabuddies/mbobby.html

 

Letter B worksheet extension flap

http://www.first-school.ws/t/alpha1/b.htm

B for Bible worksheet- Tracer

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/bible/coloring-pages/alphabet-zn.htm

“What Begins with B?” mini book inside folder

http://www.dltk-teach.com/minibooks/b/index.htm

 

“Circle the pictures that begin with B worksheet” inside red fold on inside right flap is from Caits Christian Preschool Curriculum. I purchased the volume 1 cd at www.caitscurriculum.com

 

Basket of fruit on back- cut and paste

http://www.first-school.ws/activities/nutrition/fruits/basket.htm

Well I guess that's it for today. I think I may have the flu. If you think about it, say a little prayer for me here. It's never good when and if mom gets sick, also that the kids won't get this...whatever it may be. Be blessed,

Stacy

Truth. In todays society where one of the biggest questions out there is, What is truth, I am so glad to know that is not a question of mine. 

I Thank God that when the deceiver comes at me ( in thought, through another or however he chooses to try and deceive) with that question he used on Eve , "Hath God said", I can be sure in my answer when I say  yes because I know The Truth personally.  He (Jesus) said in John 8:32 that we shall know the truth and the truth shall set us free. Then later in that same book (John 14:6) Jesus said,  "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." When I look at that I can not help but reflect on what He did for me, for us. If it were not for the sacrifice that He made we would not, could not be saved. Today I am so thankful to know God, to know the Truth and to be set free.
Be blessed,
Stacy

Posted in Family Time

First off I know it is not spring yet but I was tired of looking at the winter theme on here . It's beautiful weather right now down here in the good ol' south and so I thought now would be a good time to get ready for the season that is approaching...Spring.  Okay so it rained and we had a good sized thunderstorm last night nevertheless, I am ready for a change . Thus the reason for my template change tonight.

I think I had cabin fever! So this past weekend (Friday included) we stayed outdoors most of the time.  Well first on Thursday we did our co-op with the local homeschool group. It was service/activity day and the theme  was "Free Enterprise". The children were to make something to sale at the co-op. So we made rice crispy treats and cupcakes that my middle son decorated by drawing clovres on them with green icing. The girls cut and pinned cloth napkins then I sewed them. They sold as sets of two for 15 cents a set.They each made a beaded, hand painted bracelet to sale also. The prices for each item, as I was told, was to stay between 1-15 cents. I gave them each a combination of coins equaling $2.00 and that was the budget each of them had to work with once they arrived to the co-op. They all did well but of course no one came home with extra money saved . Sugar rushes, yes . Money from the $ 2.00, no. There were just too many goodies there to spend on .
 
Then Friday we did a few lessons here at the house. We did a lesson I found on about.com about Leap year and of course everyone that uses www.aleks.com did their hour of math and then we were off to the park for our science and a little play time for the little ones. This was the start of our Great Outdoors weekend. 


Journaling for Science                              I just love that look on Z's face!


   a penny for those thoughts there!           My oldest had fun too. I love these kind of days!

 We enjoyed it so much that we have designated Friday as out Park day. We will do www.aleks.com for math and then head to the park for science and free time!
Was that enough for us? No way. Saturday we drove into Louisiana and went on a nature walk at a National Wildlife Refuge in search of the Endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker
We didn't see this bird but we sure had fun watching for it.  We did see a few other things like these turtles
 
Oh yeah and this strange monkey :

Okay it's no monkey, it's my fearless middle son. He loves to climb. When he was a bit younger he helped me to understand the true meaning of "climbing the walls'. This child loves to climb!
 
This is an excellent spot for nature journaling. I know we will go back. I tell you, this section of the Apologia Science unit has really intrigued us. The bird watching has become something the whole family has gotten into. They all want the camera, they all want to take pictures and each one is now pointing out the birds and asking, "What kind is that one?" or "Let's look it up in that guide".  Who knew something of this sort would ever bring this family together the way it has! It has got to be the Lord! Thank You Jesus!
So then what did we do once the trail came to an end? Well we headed to the Lakefront. Did I happen to mention we had been suffering from cabin fever? LOL . Really, it was a beautiful day and there was still daylight left so why waste it on the drive home? We weren't ready for the cabin yet. There's a park out there right on the Lake front so the children played, 
  the older boys loved being out by the water,
 
 
and we enjoyed the view!

 


As the sun was going down the wind picked up and it started getting a little chilly out. It was time to head home. There was no complaining as we had all had a very fun filled day outside. The drive home was peaceful. Now you must understand that a long drive with six children (my four plus two more) isn't usually a quiet, peace filled one. This one however was not the usual. The car was filled with a peace and calm that I can not explain.
As I reflect on this past weekend, I am so grateful to God for this family. For my husband and my children and the children that God sends our way. Even though we are not perfect and we have those days that seem like there is a  WW about to break out in the home, we have the Love of God here and that will prevail. I want to take the time to thank God, even though it is not Thankful Thursday, for allowing my family to enjoy this time together the way we did.
Be blessed,
Stacy