We were suppose to box up our computer yesterday but my Sweets, remembered that we need to make sure all the bills are paid before we move.

Our house is almost empty. Can't believe we are moving. We all are so excited and want to be in our new place. We are so READY!

The apartment won't be done in time. Lupe & I have been trying to figure out where to stay. I found a nice hotel called "Extended Stay" here in town. I'm trying fo find something that has a kitchenette so we don't have to eat out. We are praying that we will only need to stay in a hotel for five days. Because we are considered a 'large' family we have to have two rooms. Once I added up the cost of staying in a hotel for five days  I told Lupe we will be happy to stay and camp out in the back yard of our new place.

God is so good, he heard our prayers and today we got a phone call from a friend and she said if we needed a place to stay we can stay at her house. Nancy and Al are an older couple we met at McDonalds a few years ago. Come to find out they go to the same church. Later they sold us their three unit apartment to us and here we are today, getting ready to move into it.

Lupe and I were amazed because we hadn't even mentioned to her that we were in need of a place to stay. In fact I had just got off the phone with my MIL telling her we are trying to find a place to stay for at least five days.

Because we can't move our furniture and things into our new apartment Lupe ended up renting three storage spaces. The first one is our main one. It's climate controlled and 10x15. We wanted it climate controlled because of all my Creative Memory stuff and last year we purchased some nice furniture from an Amish store.

Then my Sweets, said that we are going to need a second storage because the apartment won't be done in time.  He rented a 10x10. This one is an outside one. Since we are only going to need it for a month. Once we are in our new place we won't need this storage.

Now that we are getting to the nitty gritty of things my Sweets said we need another storage. Much smaller; maybe 5x5. So today we are going to get all the misc. stuff and put it in there.

The last 'stuff' is the hardest to keep organized. I'm now just putting everything laying around in a box and labeling it.

That's were we are at right now.

I need to get off this computer and finish cleaning the kitchen cabinets. I also have tons of laundry to fold and box up.

Until next time......................oh, I almost forgot. I packed all our sugar so today I'm having my first cup of black coffee and it's not bad. I actually like it. I still prefer my whipped cream

Since Lupe's, uncles are here helping us and they have lives to get back to (they don't live in this area). We will start moving everything to storage. Especially the BIG stuff. I'm not sure when the computer will be taken down. Just thought I would communicate to you all =)

We sign papers next Friday morning. That means we have to be out of here by next Thursday.

Hopefully the next time I blog, I'll have some pictures.

In Christ Love,

Linda<><

I just found out that a very dear friend of mine passed away. Her name was Annette. I named my daughter after this precious friend. I would love to post a picture but they are all packed.

Both Pastor Dale & Annette were so kind to me and my sisters. We attended their church and were saddened when they moved. I think I was about 16 or 17 years old when they left.

I have many good memories with them. Annette was so funny and out going. I remember one time we all went to some camp at a hotel of course. LOL. Annette, said that was the only kind of camping she liked . We were walking to the elevator hand in hand (did I mention that I loved this lady) once we reached the elevator some guys came out. They were from another camp. Right away Annette, starts yelling to the guys, hey , these are nice, single girls and they are not dating anyone. My sister and I were so embarrassed  we weren't even thinking of guys. I tell ya, that Annette.

Another time she and Pastor Dale came by my house to drop of some food (we didn't have much money) and as she was taking the groceries out of the bag she pulled out my favorite pickles. She remembered what kind of pickles I liked. I felt so loved.

Pastor Dale was really special to us too. He along with Annette would take us places. Places that we would never have been able to go because my parents couldn't afford it. I remember one time they were taking us home and

Pastor Dale said to Annette, I think we go this way.

Annette saying, No, we go this way.

Pastor, No Dear we go this way.

They disagreed so sweetly.  I loved seeing them together. Later when I was a little older I would tell my family that I wanted to marry someone like Pastor Dale. I would pray for my future husband. I would tell my sister that I'm looking and waiting for my Pastor Dale.

When they were getting ready to move Annette, gave me set of mugs she was getting rid of. I still have that set. In fact I gave one to my sister Cynthia and MaryEllen years ago, so they could always have something special to remember Annette.

Years later after I had some of my children, I some how got a hold of Annette's phone number. I was sad to hear that Pastor had passed away. It was good to hear Annette's voice though. She sounded the same. We talked and I told her that my daughter's name was "Annette" she was really happy about that. We talked about getting together so she could meet Lupe and the kids. I'm saddened to say that we never did get together. The last time I saw her was over 20yrs. ago.

I know that when I get to heaven I will see both of them again. Until then I have their memories and I share them with my children.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. On my wedding day my sister, Cynthia, wrote me a note and it said, "You found your Pastor Dale."

Lupe, is so sweet and kind he reminds me of Pastor Dale. When we disagree he reminds me of Pastor Dale.

Guess what?!? My uncles-in-laws are in town to help my Sweets  and they are going to put a line or hook-up so we can have a washer AND a dryer. How wonderful is that? I'm so excited. We won't have to go down the street to do our washing. What a blessing. Yahoo.

We have no room in the apartment so the washer and dryer will be outside. We will have to buy another set because we have a front loader washer/dryer and we don't want them to get ruined being outside. We figure we can buy used or on sale. Lupe, is really good about finding appliances on sale because we have to sometimes replace them in our 11 unit apartment.

Just to clarify: we are moving into our three unit apartment. There is one three bedroom in the front (which is rented to a family of 3) and we have two in the back. One on the second floor and we will be moving into the one on the first floor.

You want to know some of the best parenting books? Read about Gladys Alyward, George Mueller, Cameron Townsend, Nate Saint,  David Livingstone and Mary Jones and her Bible. Read about their mothers and fathers. Find out who raised these Heroes of the faith.

Read about the Pilgrims. Read about all that they sacrificed and did with out. Read about Hudson Taylor, Charles Wesley and Spurgeon. Read about the people who died for their faith. Read about the martyrs.

It's amazing how much you learn about parenting when reading about  these amazing people.

When I read And When the Word Came to Power to my four older children you wouldn't believe how much we learned. Joanne Shelter taught not only me but my children what it means to give up a dream to follow and do what God wanted. The sacrifices she made to do God's will and the faith she had. You see it all unfold in a 20yr span of Joanne's life. She is truly an amazing women.

I learn so much from all these people and I read about them to my children and see how they help me shape my children into young people who love the Lord.

Family radio programs and parenting books are all good, but don't forget about all the great books on the lives of faithful men & women who lived their lives according to God's word. They can teach us so much.

The children and I will sometimes pretend to be these people. We wonder what it would be like to have been Mary in the book Mary on Horseback. We talk about their lives and what they gave up.

I have introduced lots of stories about missionaries to my children at an early age of 4 (thanks to Sonlight) and although many parents think some of these stories are too much for such young children (only you know your family) for my children I think it has helped them to see that the world is bigger than the four walls around them. I want them to know at an early age that people don't have all the things that we take for granted. I want my children to know at an early age that there is more to life than their wants and needs. I want my children to pray for the lost at an early age.

When Joshua was 6yrs old he was thinking of ways to raise money for the Tsunami victims. My children have given up all their little saving to send to the Katrina victims. They save to send money to missionaries. I believe this is because they know of the suffering of this world.

I don't over burden them but I do let them know that people need God. When we leave the house I tell them that they are the salt & light of this earth. They are God's representatives. When people see us we want them to see Jesus.

We put all the toy bins, buckets, bags and boxes in the upstairs hallway. For example; we have containers for

• Legos
• Play Mobiles
• Blocks & Wood train tracks
• Wedgits
• Lincoln Logs
• Animal Bin
• Action figure, army men, small people container
• Darts for dart guns
• cars

there are a few more but you get the idea. These are our main toys. What doesn't have a home or the children don't play with it much will be donated.

I then gave each child a big bowl and am having them go around the house putting whatever toy they come across in the bowl. They are to take them to the bin area and sort the toys and books.

We'll keep all the bins in the hallway for the next few days, as we find more toys we can put them away in their proper place. Some will go to storage and some we will take to the apartment.

In Christ Love,
Linda<><

Yesterday my Sweets hired someone to help him move some of the bigger furniture to our storage. Anything that we are not taking to the apartment is going into storage. One thing I need to make sure of is, that I'm marking our boxes with as much detail as possible. We are taking the bare minimum with us. Now those of you who homeschool know how many books one can have. I have bought five cores from Sonlight, 5 cores from WinterPromise, three from MFW, and of course the many that I purchased. You can imagine how many wonderful books we own.

One of my plans when we get settled is to slowly go through all our books and organize them in boxes by American History, World History, Geography, Sonlight Readers, Winterpomise Readers and so forth. This way if we need a Geography book I'll know exactly which box it's in. We plan to move at least three more times in the next few years, so organizing them this way will be very helpful.

Normally other than the electrical stuff Lupe can do all the remodeling on his own but since we don't have time we are hiring people we know. Josh helps on the weekend and Lupe goes after work. Got to get this done

Here is our moving schedule. If you all can pray for my Sweets. He has to get so much done in so little time. Pray for strength and for him to stay healthy.

At the apartment we need to :

June 15-18foundation guy is coming to see what he needs and will start working on the foundation of our apartment tomorrow and prayfully be done my Thursday.

June 18-start the remolding process

June 20th-have the electrician do all the wiring in the ceiling. When my Sweets pulled down the ceiling he noticed that the wiring wasn't done correctly before. We are going to bring it up to code/safety

June 22nd-25th-start  drywall, painting, floors. Hopefully all the inside of the house (minus the kitchen cabinets) will be completed by the 25th. We HAVE to be out of here on the 26th

June 26th-stay in a hotel for a few days. Honestly we don't think all the floors, painting, drywall and such will be done by the 25th.

At the house:

June 15th-20th-Pack like crazy. Get everything out of all the rooms

June 21-26th-Live out of boxes  and sleep on mattresses so we can clean this house top-to-bottom.

When we first move into our apartment we won't have all the kitchen done we  plan to eat  quiet a bit at Wendy's .99 value menu. We will have our fridge hooked up that will help. We most likely will use paper plates, bowls, cups etc. starting next week .Hopefully by the 2nd week of July, we'll be eating off of real plates and using our cloth napkins again .

I do have to get back to work. My dear, sweet dad came by for a visit this morning and stayed until two and now it's four o'clock already.

In Christ Love,

Linda<><

This morning I did something that we don't normally do on the weekdays. I let the children watch t.v. We don't watch much cable but since this has been a wacky week I let them watch Animal Planet. I can't even remember the last time they watched cable television.

We usually control everything they watch by using dvd's.

Before I go any further let me state that this is my opinion on television. Please know that I'm talking about my family and our choices. I don't think watching television is a sin . Limiting the T.V. works for us. 

Since the kiddos were young I haven't let them watch too much t.v. I'll admit that at times when they were all 6yrs. and under I did use the T.V. as a babysitter now and then. They would watch an hour of Mr. Rogers or Couliou, Rainbow Reading or Zoom. It gave me a chance to rest.

I do think that because we limit our children's television time that it helps with them not being so materialistic. They don't see all the latest toys and gadgets.  Not everything needs to be entertaining to them. It doesn't have to have lights and animation to be neat.

My children love to watch things like Pilgrims Progress or The Jesus Film. Both these films don't have any action or cool affects. I don't even think when I was young that I would sit and watch them. I probably would have been one of the kids that thought it boring.

I think  because my children don't watch cartoons and other  shows daily that they don't need all this animation in order to watch a good movie. They can sit through the Waltons, Little House and other shows that are considered 'slow' .

We can go weeks without watching something. We do watch a family friendly movie on Friday nights and the children  watch some cartoons or a movie on Saturday but that's basically all we watch. It's great. I love that my children don't need the television to entertain them.

 I remember when we didn't have a television. We had some family over and they noticed right away that there was not a t.v. in our living room. One of their teenage kids asked, "What do you do?" they were shocked that we had no t.v.

Another reason why we don't watch cable is the commercials are awful. When we were watching Animal Planet; a commercial came on. It was suppose to be advertising clothes on sale. Not once but three times it showed young ladies in their skimpy two piece bathing suits. My oldest son gets embarrassed when things like this are shown. I don't make a big deal about it because I don't want to bring attention to the half clothed girls, but some how Joshua notices and covers his eyes because it makes him feel uncomfortable. To help him through this I nonchalantly comment, "Why do they have to show them half clothed?" That's all we say and move on, but I think this helps Joshua to feel a bit better because he sees that I don't agree with all that skin either. (this all happens fast, so it's not like we are dwelling on it )

Here are some pictures of Ethan and his frog. He was so proud of himself, this was the first frog he caught on his own. We let it go the next day.

Here he is taking a nap with his frog.

A proud frog owner.

My dad has been over every day this week. As much as we enjoy his company (he is a great storyteller) school comes to a hault. The children are way too excited to do school when grandpa is around. He plays games and tells them stories of the past. He also tells lots of stories that he makes up as well as stories with history. He usually puts one of the children as the main character. Even Lance, will say, "Tell story grandpa." it's so cute and my dad loves all the attention that he gets from his grandchildren.

All week the children have done at least some math. We have been trying to fit in some Language Arts or at least part. Grammar for the two older and Phonics for the three middle children. Lance, well he gets to play.

Last night we had a funnel cloud or mini tornado whipping through Plano. Once we heard the siren for the tornado warning I had all the children go to my closet. You should see all the things they try to fit in their emergency backpacks. Instead of the basics like a change of clothes, book, water and a flashlight, they pull out tons of stuff. Caleb not only had his backpack but had opened his blanket piled some of his favorite things into the blanket and was trying to get it all downstairs. I told him we don't have time for that, just take your backpack.

Lance, once he was cozy in my closet with his pillow and blanket, he showed me his pillowcase. He doesn't have a packpack so he put everything in a pillowcase. First he pulled out his Bible. I was happy that he thought of that on his own, then he pulled out a wall clock. Not sure why he put that in there last he pulled out his stuffed monkey. Can't forget the monkey his Auntie Cynthia got for him.

I was happy that all the children remembered their Bibles. Annette opened hers to Psalms and I read a chapter.

What an exciting evening. I still have STUFF in my closet. LOL.

It rained and thundered all night. I was so tired that I slept through it all. In the morning, after I got ready for the day, I heard someone breathing in my room. Since only Brent was  on my bed and he was awake I new it couldn't be him. I asked him if he heard that breathing sound. I looked under my bed and there was Lance, peeking at me. He has done that before. Every so often I find him fast asleep under my bed.

Here is a picture of Lance.

Here is Joshua, showing his geography project to dad. He had to find food in the house and mark where it came from within the United States.

Close-up

Here is Joshua's school desk. He likes a lot of work space and sometimes he ends up on the floor.

This is Joshua's first time mowing.

He was really excited to learn. Lupe was going to mow, but I mentioned to my Beloved that I think Josh, is old enough to take over this chore now. Josh, was really proud to do it.

As a mom who homeschools, it's sometimes hard to get up and start school at 8:00 a.m. Especially when we don't have to. It's not like we have to be in the schoolroom at 8:00 or else we are going to get a late slip.

My Beloved and I would love to have the children up at 7:00 a.m., have their teeth & hair brushed, dressed, have eaten breakfast and ready for school by 8:00 a.m.

Lupe, thinks it's important for the children to have to wake up early. It's a discipline thing for him and I understand completely. I would love for us to wake up early too.

Our problem is we let the children stay up too late. Even when we put them to bed at eight they still don't fall asleep until past ten .

Then in the morning  I don't have the heart to wake them up early. I want them to be well rested before they start their studies so they will be alert and absorb all the information.

We usually start school about nine or so. Once I gather my little brood there is alway some who didn't brush their teeth, have bed head, isn't dressed and some who woke up so late that it's all plus they didn't eat. I would love to say, "Tough Twinkies to you." but I know if they are hungry they might even be grumpy and not in the mood to learn, so then I let them go and eat. (hey, I should have just gave them a piece of bread)

Needless to say, this is NOT what I imagined a homeschooling morning to look like. Same goes for bedtime. My Beloved and I are tired at the end of the day as well as the children. I will admit that not every night ends with a book being read and prayers. Eeeks! Some night I'm like, "Get your buns in bed, I'm not going to say this AGAIN."

My Dear Hubby and I have known we need to change our bedtime routine .

I am going somewhere with all this =) I was so happy when someone on a homeschooling forum recommended Children's Miracle Music.

We have been using this for a month now. It comes with two cd's. One for the morning and one for the evening. Every morning I pop the cd into the cd player at 7:00 a.m. and it walks my children through their morning routine.

A kind voice comes on and tells them it's time to get up and make their bed. They have one song. It continues to explain each task and how many songs they have to complete it.

By 8:00 a.m. my children are ready to start school. Teeth brushed and everything.

At night I do the same thing. I put the cd in at 8:00 p.m. and they are in bed by 9:00 p.m. One day I took the children to the park at 7:00 p.m. and Annette said that we need to be home by eight so they can get ready for bed. How many children do you know who are excited to get ready for bed?LOL.

Also included is a chart that they fill out. For every task that is completed on time they get a point. Once the reach 200 points they get a date with mom or dad. We kind of changed it a bit. On the part that says "Goal" they can write a trip to Hobby Lobby, Half Price, stay up for an extra ten minutes and so forth. Another thing we changed is at night there is 20 minutes of calm music for the children to fall asleep. We let the kids use this time to look at or read a book. Once the music stops it's lights out.

This has really freed Lupe & I. No more frustrated parents. Hee, hee. At first my Sweets was, "You spent how much on this?"

Now he agrees that it's worth every penny

I have been meaning to take a picture of this for a long time. Lupe, is so sweet. He helps keep the children's clothes organized.

One time as I was putting the boys clothes away this is what I saw. He makes me smile

Auntie Reff (MaryEllen) bought all the children these gross suckers. They have bugs in them. Yuck!

Annette: I was able to cut the worm out of her sucker. She picked one where the bug was at the very edge.

Josh

Brent, you can see some of it poking out. That means he had to lick it.

Ethan

Lance

Only with Reff, do I make a goofy face ;)

Lupe

My sis, Brent & Lance

The children with Auntie in fron of Bucca De Beppo (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) Some of my photos are small because I took them off of MaryEllen's facebook and forgot to enlarge them first. Too lazy to go back and redo it.

Just a quick short entry. I'm suppose to be packing right now.

Sunday, Ethan, came running in the house so excited because he caught his first frog all by himself. It was just a little guy but he was as happy as a clam. We put it in a big gallon jar and kept it for a day.

After church we usually take naps. I went up stairs to check on the kids and Ethan was laying on the floor with one arm wrapped around his frog jar. It was so cute.

He really didn't want to let it go but we told him it was best for the frog. I'm sure the poor frog was hungry.

I think he named it Hopper Jumper

We are packing . Our house is in Escrow and if all goes well we should be moving in 3 weeks.

We are going to move into one of our two bedroom, 1 bath apartments. Lupe, took me over to see it. I have seen it before but only from the outside. I had briefly been inside one time when we were there fixing some pipes and the kids needed to use the potty, so I asked the women living there if we could use it. At the time I didn't pay much attention.

To be honest I was in shock with the condition. Carpets stained. Kitchen in horrible condition. Panels that are bent. Cobwebs all along the upper wall. But through all this I kept in mind that Lupe, is going to make this a nice home for us. Oh, did I tell you we will have to do laundry at a laundry mat down the road .

There is a nice big yard. It's not completely fenced in and it does need some work. There are more bugs and mosquito's out in that area. I believe there is a lake some place.

This is going to work out really good though. Lupe, can work on the fence, apartment and yard and not even leave home now . The boys can help him get the work done. Before Lupe, would be gone almost a whole day and he couldn't always take the boys with him because there is no bathroom or place to rest when they needed it.

The children and I are actually looking forward to living in a cozy 700 sq. feet house. We know Lupe, will fix it up really nice for us. He has already started tearing out the walls. We plan to put in all new carpet and floors, gut the kitchen, move a wall to make the bedrooms about the same size and so forth. I will have to take some pictures of it.

What is it that Dave Ramsey says, "If you'll live like no one else, later you can live like no one else". Can't remember it word for word. My Sweets will correct me later. I'll have to come back and edit.

My children want to play Heads-Up-Seven-Up. Got to go ;)

Blessings,

Linda<><

This week we have been doing "Light" school. The children are doing math & grammar (Phonics for the younger ones). It has been really nice. Next week we will do a full schedule again and the week after because we still need those weeks to be able to say we did a full 36 week school year. Although with us doing two hours a day 4 days a week through out the summer, I'm sure that will make it a 36 week.

During our 36 weeks we try to do 4hrs of school once they hit 3rd grade and can read well. When Brent, went to school for his K year they:

• 30 minutes of assembly time. They would sing, do the pledge etc.
• 30 minutes for lunch
• 10 minutes of transition through out the week. Going from class to art class/music/PE. Lining them up and so forth
• 30 minutes of recess.
• They would also have library time
• 15-20 minutes at the end of the day putting things away, getting in line, walking outside and sitting quietly before the bell would ring for the parents to pick them up.

Brent was there for 7 hours a day. I think it would be safe to say that they actually did 4hrs of school a day.

All this to say that today Lupe, dropped us off at McDonalds this morning at 8:00 a.m.. Some of the children ate so I only bought one plate of Hot Cakes, 6 Orange Juices and my breakfast. I also took math for Joshua, Annette, Caleb & Brent and Grammar for the two oldest. Josh also took a book. He is reading a Trailblazing book. I forgot the title, so I'll have to come back and edit once nap time is over.

The children played for three hours. They had so much fun. The older four would come and do school then play, come and do school and play some more. I then bought them all some ice cream cones and about 11:00 a.m. we started for home. It's about a mile walk.

Once we were home I made them some Turkey Sandwiches, read them a chapter of Pippi Longstocking and then had four of the children take showers and baths. Eeeks! What are we going to do when we have only on tub! Yikes! I'm sure we will survive. LOL.

Now the children are napping and I'm blogging  and answering some emails.

In Christ,

Linda<><

Ethan, "Mom, is the garage part of the house?"

Me a little puzzled by the question but I said, "Yes."

Ethan, "Then you owe me .50 I killed five spiders in the garage."

Me laughing. That little stinker.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My sister has come and gone and we are having the MaryEllen blues now . We miss her so much.

The children have soooo much fun with Auntie Reff. She plays all kinds of games with them. Their favorite is Hide-and-seek.

We were so busy, the kids had a blast. On Tuesday, she took them to Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-a, coffee (hot chocolate) at Starbucks. We went to the park, the Island of the Blue Dawn, went back to Hobby Lobby.

We didn't get too much school done. Josh & Annette did math and grammar. The younger ones only did math.

This Monday we were still recouping from staying up late and getting up early, so we did a little bit of school and today we had an inspection on the house, the air conditioner man came & some showing, so we were out of the house for half the day. Again they all did math and that was about  it.

I hope to have Caleb & Brent work on their Phonics Road to Reading. I don't want them to forget all those sounds we learned the week before.

The other day we were outside and I asked the children if they would like some ice cream. Of course they all shouted "YES". We all went into the kitchen. I was happily handing out some chocolate cookie dough cones to each smiling face. Ethan, was next I was about to get one ready for him, he is all smiles with that cute little tanned face when I realized he didn't eat his dinner.  I so wanted to act like I forgot but new I couldn't do that. I told him in an unapologetic voice, "I'm sorry, but you didn't eat your dinner. You can not have a cone." It was so hard. His smile dropped and I new he wanted to cry but he was holding it in. I wanted to scoop him up and say, "It's okay, I'll GIVE YOU ONE." but I didn't.

Then yesterday we all went to the park. On the way I told Brent, that he could not play until he finished his math. I noticed that he didn't finish his math for the day. When we got there, I sat Brent down with his math book. He was a good sport and said, "O.K. mom." I felt bad. He had about 30 math problems because he didn't finish half from the day before either. I wanted to say, "Brent, go and have fun, we can do this later." but again, I new he had to pay the consequence.

Disciplining isn't always fun. As you can see at times I want to give in so bad.

I have been taking the children to the park everyday. I love watching them play. You should see all the creative play they do. They play forts, tag but you have to stay on the paths they make and this week Brent can swing all by himself. He always needed me to help him. Not anymore. His face light up when he is swinging high with no help from mom ;)

The other day Brent, was pushing Lance, on the swing and he accidentally gave him a shove. Lance flipped over and fell. He looked up at me and said, "I'm okay." too funny. Today I was pushing Lance, when all of a sudden he started screaming. I couldn't make out all his words but I did catch 'too high'. He started laughing once I stopped him.

I found out today that Joshua, doesn't like to do school on the computer. I didn't know that. I signed him up for Time4Learning and bought Reading Detective on cd-rom. I told him as long as he does a half our of Time4learning Math that's all the computer school he needs to do. I found a used Reading Detective workbook today for him which he was happy about.

Annette, on the other hand enjoys schooling on the computer, so she'll use the Reading Detective A1 that I purchases. Phew, that cost $29.00 + shipping. I'm pretty sure the other children will use it when the time comes.

Today Annette, was introduced to division with a remainder. Boy, did she get frustrated. She kept saying that she doesn't get it. I patiently explained it as we did problems. In the end she still didn't get it

My sister MaryEllen is visiting us. The children and I can't wait for her to get here. She will fly in on Saturday. She called today because she was at the book store. She is going to bring Lance, some Kumon workbooks. She got him My First Book of Tracing, My Book of Pasting & Jigsaw Puzzles. She also got Ethan, one called Around the World.

We started our homeschooling journey in 2002. I didn't know a thing about homeschooling. My cousin had homeschooled her children for about four years and talked to me about it, but by the time I started her children were back in school.

Here is some background before we switched to Textbooks:

I had heard about Sonlight from one of the yahoo groups I joined about mothering. I did a search, found the Sonlight website and requested a catalog. I ended up ordering a Pre-K & a Kinder. Core. I didn't know you could combine back then. We used Sonlight Pre-k, K, Core-1 & 2. Josh was on the younger side of what Core-2 was recommended for so a lot of it was going over his head.

For his 3rd grade year we did a year of WinterPromise American Story 1 and combined it withMy Father's World Adventures. 4th grade we did half of Exploring Countries & Cultures with Children Around the World. Those were some crazy years. For various reasons I couldn't decide which to use. MFW or WinterPromise .  I also had the younger ones tagging along.

If combining wasn't enough throw in trying the Well Trained Mind & Charlotte Mason. I was a wreck by the time Joshua, my oldest was in 4th grade. Everything sounded so good and the people homeschooling that particular way considered it the 'right' way. I felt like I was being pulled in all  different directions.

A lot of homeschoolers recommend combining and that was really hard for me. It worked fine when the children were 8, 7, 6, 5, 3 & 2 but it was getting harder to round up my little brood.

As I was flip-flopping around here was what was going on in my mind

At about the time Josh was in 3rd grade I thought about switching to textbooks. Everywhere I turned forums, yahoo groups, homeschooling books & magazines, textbooks were spoken of negatively. That by using them we were trying to do school-at-home, In other words bring the classroom setting home, instead of homeschooling. I read that Textbooks are boring. You child won't learn how to think. Workbooks are mindless filling in the blanks and on and on. Having everyone at different levels would be too hard.

I continued on with a more Literature approach. By this time I new I was not disciplined enough to be a Classical, Trivium or Well Trained Mind homeschooler. I was leaning more to Charlotte Mason, but even then I felt we were not doing enough. At the end of the day, I wondered if we covered everything.

Fast forward to our 2008-2009 school year. Josh 5th, Annette 3rd, Caleb 2nd, Brent 1st, Ethan K & Lance

For our 2008-2009 school year I was already to start My Father's World Countries & Cultures. I was going to use everything that MFW but go with workbooks for Language Arts & Math. We got to week 11 but it just wasn't working. The program was wonderful but again some of it was over my younger ones head or it was hard getting everyone together and many days we didn't even get to history or science.

I finally gave in and went the textbook route. Since I already spent most of our homeschooling money I went with Rod & Staff for most of our subjects along with a few other publishers. I went against what is considered the homeschool norm and used a reading program and workbooks for all subjects.

I felt so free from the Literature Rich way homeschooling. I don't feel like I'm doing a disservice to my children. Our textbooks are not mindless or boring. My children have learned a lot. The joy of learning is still there. Textbooks have not stifled my children.

Just because we use Textbooks does not mean our children are not reading "Living' books. They can still have a timeline if we choose to and I, can still have read aloud time. Using texbooks doesn't mean we will never read a good book again

Previous Post

• Boring Textbooks
• How Do We School Our Children
• Our Textbook Side of Homeschooling

Our Year is Coming to an end

We started using all textbooks in Sept. 2008 and it has been a REALLY good year. The children have commented more than once that they like their school books,  like that they can do school on their own, not have to wait for me and they have learned A LOT this year.

As for me I don't regret switching to textbooks. We made a few textbook changes through out the year, but I really feel we found our groove. At least for this season.  I have peace about our school.  I no longer feel like we are not doing enough. I'm not exhausted like I was before and I see that my children taking charge of their school. They set timers for each subject, take breaks, have a snack and get back to work .

After a few months of using textbooks I needed to order something from the Maxwells' and noticed that they had a new book out "Managers of Their Homeschool" and guess what the Maxwell's ended up using? TEXTBOOKS! This was a real encouragement to me. It just kind of confirmed that we were going to be o.k.

If we continue to homeschool I would like to use MFW for High School when the children can do more on their own but that's another post ;)

I have been going back and forth regarding The Well Trained Mind updated & revised book that is hot off the press right now. Do I get it or not. I am interested to see what some of her reviews and recommendations are. Especially now that Jessie & Susan have written more curriculum since the last revision.

I usually do recommend this book to new homeschoolers but at the same time feel a little guilty about it.

I have mixed feeling about it because so many people (including myself) have felt guilty if they couldn't keep with the rigid schedule. I didn't feel confident enough in myself back then. I still don't sometimes but something I have learned along the way is you don't have to be bound to one way or philosophy on how to educate your children at home.

As you read this book remember that's it's not the ONLY Way and you'll be fine.

Keep in mind that Susan Wise Bauer lives right next door to her mother. They live on a farm and if I'm remembering correctly they added on to the original house. Susan's house is connected to her parents. Jessie Wise (Susan's mom) helps her teach her children. I believe she is the one that taught some of her children how to read and continues to help. Susan's husband also teaches the children too. So as you can see she has  help. Something that most of us mom's don't have. Here I am the only one teaching the children. Lupe, supports me but he is not helping out in the day-to-day teaching.

Take from the book what will work for you. I have tried many of TWTM suggestions and they didn't work with my children, but I still like to have the book on hand to gauge or get some encouragement to continue on this journey.

Don't take the book as gospel. TWTM is not the only way to give your children a good education. It's a good resource but it's not for every family and that's okay.

Your children will be okay if they only learn Latin roots instead of doing a full blown Latin course

It's okay if you DON"T follow the 4yr. history cycle. Some families do not like to teach about Greek gods and so forth at an early age.

You don't have to be so rigid for 1st grade. I believe while children are learning to read they shouldn't have to have a spelling program or learn Latin. Phonics and Math are the two main subjects and everything else is gravy. Get a good kid friendly science & history book to read to your children. They'll be fine. You can start adding more in through out the year or start in 2nd grade.

Anyway, my point is, if you read the book don't feel like you have to follow it to a "T". You are not a failure at homeschooling if you do decide to school as The Well Trained Mind suggest but  four years down the road you are ready to give up or it's not working for you. Again, take from what you need and move on.

Personally I don't agree with everything in The Well Trained Mind book and just because I'm not  using something that Susan suggested doesn't mean the sun will not shine tomorrow ,  life will go on. 

One main reason why TWTM does not work for  me is I  like more of my curriculum to be centered around Christ as I have mentioned in a previous post. Another is I only have so many hours in a day .

Like the Charlotte Mason Philosophy. I read a post a few years ago about a mom who felt like she was failing her children because she couldn't do everything that CM suggested. If you step back and think about it. Charlotte, didn't have to do laundry, keep house, change diapers etc.

 Blessings,

Linda<>< (who most likely will get the new book but will not be bound by it )

This is not meant to be a negative post about The Well Trained mind method of schooling, but to encourage others that it's okay if you don't 'fit' into the WTM mold :)

After going over all my options of what I can have the children do for Summer School I think I narrowed it down. Remember I was having trouble just thinking about what to do in a earlier post.

For Joshua, I am going to have him finish Writing Tales 2 a few weeks after our 36 week of school mark. We are going to drop the Grammar portion of WT2. This was hard to let go. WT2 Grammar is REALLY good, but doing Growing with Grammar & WT2 Grammar portion was overkill for Josh. Since I really want Josh to have a sense of accomplishment with finishing his workbook I thought it better to let WT to go since he can work on the writing part and in the end he will complete both programs.

Here is his Summer Schedule:

• Continue with Christian Light Math at a lower grade to review and solidify what he has learned. One lesson a day
• Time4Learning 30 minutes a day. Either using the math or science part of the program.
• Reading Detective A1. We'll use the cd-rom version I have decided to stop his regular reading program for the summer. He really needs to work on his critical thinking skills.
• At a faster pace the Phonics Road to Reading Levels 1 & 2.

And that is basically it for Josh.

Annette's Summer Schedule:

• Reading Detective A1 30 minutes a day.
• Math 4x a week 30 minutes.
• Time4Learning Language Arts 30 minutes a day
• The Phonics Road levels 1 & 2.

Caleb's Schedule:

• Finish Christian Light Math 2 he started this in January and is moving pretty quickly through it.
• Continue with Growing with Grammar
• The Phonics Road to Spelling & Reading

Brent's Schedule:

• Schoolaid Math
• Science

Ethan:

• Continue with Christ Centered Phonics
• Schoolaid Math 1

Lance:

• Start Christ Centered Phonics & Math through out the summer.

It looks like a lot but I strongly believe that my children need to be kept busy. If there is a day that the weather is nice we'll stop to go to the park or something. I plan to have them at least do two hours a day. Where they left off they can start there the next day.

Mom's Schedule:

• Work half an hour with Ethan using Christ Centered Phonics.
• Work half hour with Josh & Annette with The Phonics Road
• Work half hour with Brent & Caleb with The Phonics Road
• Work 15 with Lance using Christ Centered Phonics & another 15 minutes using CC Math
• Work 15 minutes with Caleb on Growing with Grammar
• Work 15 minutes with Brent on Science

I think they are going to keep me pretty busy too . Some subjects can be worked on at night. I'll can always  break it up. Maybe work with Josh & Annette at night when dad is home. I really think by having Josh use Phonics Road levels 1 & 2 over the summer is really going to pay off.

My children are waking up. We might go to the park, come home eat a "What-ever-you-can-find" dinner and play a game of Skip-bo.

As you all know Joshua has a hard time in spelling. I am currently using The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading with Caleb & Brent. I really like how this program teaches spelling, so I got to thinking. I wonder if I can use this with Josh. In the fall both Annette & Joshua will use The Bridge to the Latin Road which is an intro to Latin. I was wondering if I use The Phonics Road along with The Bridge would it be overkill for Joshua who desperately needs something like this.

I decided to call Barbara Beers, the author of The Phonics & Latin Road  programs. I told her my situation with Joshua. She suggested that I use The Phonics Road level 1 at a much faster pace. Maybe finishing it in 10 weeks. She also said that he can use his own notebook. I don't have to purchase another binder for him.

Then when he completes level 1 have him move onto level 2 also at a faster pace. Again he can use his own notebook. With him completing these two levels over the summer than he can start The Bridge in late fall. I'm really excited for Josh. I pray that this will help him with spelling. From reading all that I can about this program it seems so thorough not only in Phonics but Spelling. I'm so thankful for my sister who gave me this program to try.

SpellQizzer is a downloadable spelling software that is compatible with any spelling program. What makes this spelling program unique is you can audio record the spelling words, so your student will hear your voice. You can even get dad involved to record a few words. It's really a neat feature. You can make this more amusing for your child by exaggerating your voice, have fun with it.

Most computers come with a PC microphone. If you don't have one you can purchase one for about $10.00. If you don't have a microphone you still can get started right away by typing in your spelling word then simply type in a sentence or phrase that gives a hint as to what that word is. For example: if the spelling word is 'chair' you can type in 'something you sit on' and the child reads and guesses chair and types the word in.

The software has a built-in spellchecker that recognizes both US and UK English spellings. It warns the user when a word is being inputed incorrectly thus makes it user friendly for your student. They can add their own words. SpellQizzer also has several downloadable spelling list on their website. They are constantly adding new list, so check back often.

Another great thing about SpellQuizzer is you can easily export and import to share your spelling list with other SpellQuizzer users.

Their site also has a page for homeschoolers. You can share your spelling list with other homeschoolers too .

With SpellQuizzer you can add or delete words to your list easily. I can make two separate list one for Annette who uses Rod & Staff spelling and another for Josh who uses Bob Jones. As more of my children start spelling I can add or use a previous list.

If your child misses a word SpellQuizzer will automatically have him re-quizz the word he missed. If they get a perfect score they are rewarded with an applause . My children practice about 5-10 minutes a day and it's not drudgery for them . They look forward to their daily spelling time.

With six children to teach, SpellQuizzer is a great help. My children can hop on the computer and practice their spelling independently.

Here is a video demonstration on how SpellQizzer works. SpellQizzer is $29.99. If you click on SpellQuizzer Trial  you can try it for 30 days FREE.

Happy spelling

Linda<><

Yesterday I was so excited! Lance's Christ Centered Math curriculum came. It was a bit pricey. Especially since  he is my last little student and I could have used what we have laying around the house. BUT I really wanted something that was geared for my little immature Lance. His fine motor-skills really need to be worked on. You should see his circle he made today.

I don't think he is ready for Schoolaid Math just yet. I like that CCM uses some manipulative's and stories about God.  He learned about Penguins and Generosity. He yawned a bit but that's okay. The program uses some big adult words. He really liked it though and felt like a big boy . Lance, also did a page in his Kumon workbook; My First Book of Cutting. I bought workbook A:1  of Christ Centered Phonics used and am waiting for that to arrive so I can start Lance with phonics.

One of the many reasons why we are homeschooling is to ground them in the Word. I know there are some homeschooling families that prefer not to have Christ woven into all there curriculum and that is fine but I really feel that this is one of the reasons why Lupe and I chose to homeschool.

 I believe that our children should be saturated with the Word of God. Everything should point back to God. This is a big reason why I prefer all our subjects be Christ centered or speak of God. For math this gets a little hard. Josh, uses Math-U-See and although there is no scripture in it Mr. Demme is a man of God and my children have heard him speak via cd's and every so often there are word problems like so and so read so many verses. And just knowing that the program will mention something about God  makes it nice for us.

I know that we parents need to be the #1 source of teaching our children about God and Lupe & I do that. I love that when my children read about Science it talks about God as the creator. When they learn about Grammar, the curriculum will mention that God is a God of order. It's just so wonderful to have these resources for my children.

Last week I think it was, Lupe and I went to an AWANA potluck dinner. They had childcare for all the children. Lance went with the 2-4yr. Ethan & Brent were in the same class and the rest of our kiddos Caleb, Annette & Josh were all together.

When I went to pick them up they were all in one classroom. There were three women waiting for me to get my children. One had elementary age children, the other had a 2 & 5 year olds and one was expecting, I'm not sure if she had other children.

They all were amazed at how good my children were. One of them said she could tell that they were homeschooled and asked Josh, "Are you homeschooled?"  Another said, that when they told the children it was time to clean up that my kids were the only ones that helped pick up the room. They also commented on how well they played together.

Lastly they asked the famous question, "How do you it?" meaning how come my children are so well behaved. I don't know what to answer anymore.  There is so much to rearing your children that it can't be summed up in  a casual conversation.

At first I use to answer by the grace of God, but then I realized that Lupe & I take a lot of time rearing our little brood. Yes, there is grace but also lots of hard work too. Then I started answering that we always take everything back to God's Word the Bible. People don't understand what I'm saying when I respond that way.

My sister-in-law has told me more than once that I should write a book. I am not a writer as you all can tell ;) and I think there are so many books on parenting out there already. Now I'm thinking maybe a little pamphlet would be nice. I can put some tips on there and resources.

I'm always telling my children that they are the salt and light of the earth and represent Christ. They know when they leave the house people are watching them. We get all kind of stares people count our kids as they walk past or just look at us like we are crazy.

 I love the opportunity to share how we teach the children but since most of them are acquaintances it's hard to really share. I want others to know that they can rear children to fear the Lord.

Joshua, attends a preteen Wed. night class called Junction 5/6. Through out the year I have received many compliments on how respectful and well behaved he is. When I pick him up he is the only one helping to put away chairs.

All Lupe and I are doing is teaching our children  to serve others like Jesus did. I had one mom ask me about how many children per room. She had a problem with children sharing. She felt that she was doing a disservice to her children if they had to share a room. I told her that Jesus, came down from heaven and was born to a family who was not rich and was born in a stable. If Jesus wanted to he could have been born into a wealthy family, but he chose not to. Jesus came to earth to serve and we need to teach our children that very same thing. He didn't always have the latest gizmo or gadget. She actually looked at me and said, that's good, I'm going to have to use that one. LOL.

Another mom was shocked that my 2yr. old at the time had chores. She didn't agree that children should have to wash their own clothes. I didn't say anything to her but this is another way for children to grow in the Lord. Children who have chores don't grow up to be as self centered and are less likely to  have a "me" mentality IMHO.

Parents are so afraid that there children won't like them that they don't discipline or teach them. They want to be buddies more than parents.

Well I'm going to stop now  I only meant to write a paragraph and then tell that Lance's Christ Centered Math curriculum came, but I guess I'll have to write about that tomorrow.

Blessings,

Linda<><

We had a great Mother's Day. Here are some highlights of the day.

We woke up, Lupe, put some meat in the crockpot for dinner. Children all surprised me with some homemade gifts. They did all this on their own, my sweet children. I fell back asleep for a few more minutes.

We missed church so we all piled in the van and listened to a Steve Farrar cd on Caleb. We had church in the van while driving around in the country. We stopped at a Wendy's and Lupe splurged and got me a Chicken Sandwich Combo.

We took the scenic route home, I took a nap, then my dad and brother came over. Lupe, got dinner ready. After supper Lupe & Josh arranged all the flowers that Lupe, bought at Costco. He so sweet. Every year he buys carnations for my mother and roses & wildflowers for me and makes beautiful arrangements with them. He is teaching Josh how to do this.

At the end of the day I found a card that Lupe, bought for my mom. It said, "To Grandma Mary, in care of her daughter." I opened it up and read what Lupe, wrote to my mother who is with Jesus. I love how my husband shows his love for me by remembering these little things. He is a great example to our children showing Christ love for us and how God cares about the details in our lives.

Ethan, earns $.10 for every fly or spider he kills in the house. This morning he let me know that there was a spider under the table. I said to kill it and I'll pay him his ten cents. He looked at me and with his three fingers showing said, "Mom, you haven't paid me for the last three yet." He made me want to laugh, but he was serious so I held it in. I went and got him .30 plus another .10 and gave it to him. Once he was paid up he got rid of the spider under the table.

This week Caleb & Brent haven't done any phonics. I have been going back and forth with what to use . Since R&S (my choice but didn't work for my two boys) didn't work out (although they did finish %75% of the first year) I'm wondering what to use until the fall when they will start The Phonics Road to Reading.

They have covered both long and short vowels, vowel digraphs, blends, double ff, ll, ss and so forth that was covered in R&S 1. The second half of R&S goes over silent consonants, silent vowels, 'le' ending, adding suffixes, prefixes and ALOT more, so they still need to continue with their phonics lessons.

As I mentioned in a previous post I have Saredy Cat Reading System sitting on my shelf. I really like this program because it's so 'friendly' . Instead of using the terms long & short vowels, digraphs, etc. it uses scared & brave vowels, twin sounds, consonant slides etc. they are in my opinion more understandable to a child then long, short etc. It seems really boy friendly if you know what I mean . But since we will be using Phonics Road in the fall, I really hate to start SCRS only to stop in Sept. By looking at SCRS I don't think we will be able to finish it over the summer.

I know, I seem to make things more complicated then they really are . I could just start The Phonics Road now and if needed add some of the SCRS games in as we go along.

One of my main reasons for wanting to wait on Phonics Road was to get them a little more fluent with reading so they could concentrate more on the rules for spelling. I guess that sounds goofy when that is what Level 1 of Phonics Road to Reading is for . Maybe I'll have them practice reading and in a few weeks we will start Phonics Road and go from there. I'll save SCRS just in case we need it.

In the next few weeks I'll take a GOOD look at both, pray as I'm looking and go from there. I sometimes for get to seek God and ask Him what I should do . 

Am I the only one that goes back and forth with deciding =) LOL.

 Until next time..............................................................................hee, hee

I only share this so others who go through this also won't feel like they are the only ones :)

Yesterday, Joshua said, mom your ancient, because your old and have lots of history. I looked at him and said, "Thanks." I think. LOL. I remember when I use to think my parents were old. Not that they looked old, but they were older than me. I guess they were ancient to me like I am to Josh . Now I consider my dad young and my mother past away at a very young age. Funny how 60yrs. doesn't seem old to me anymore.

Caleb and Brent finished Scaredy Cat Level 2 last week. I have level 3 waiting on my desk. I need to cut up all the flash cards. I need to look over the Teacher Manual still. I was almost considered having them use Christ Centered Curriculum B:2, but thought I can't afford the workbooks right now and I NEED to use what I have. Don't know why my crazy brain even thought that .

I really want to get Caleb reading fluently. He reminds me of Josh and I really shouldn't worry but as a mom in charge of their education I sometimes do .  Scaredy Cat has more child friendly terms than a regular phonics program I'm praying  that he will understand and take off .

Once he is reading better I would like to use The Phonics Road to Reading and Spelling Level 1. My sister gave me this .  How nice of my sister. Because this program is pretty intense I decided that we won't go back to Rod & Staff Phonics . As much as I REALLY like their phonics program it's just not for Caleb. I dislike to admit that but it's true. We tried R&S Phonics and only needed one more Unit to finish but Caleb, was not retaining the rules.

The Phonics Road to Reading and Spelling is really a K/1 program. Knowing my boys they would not have been ready for a program like this. For Caleb going into 3rd grade and Brent going into  2nd grade, it will be a good fit. From looking at the Scope & Sequence I can see parts that won't take a week to learn for them since they are older and some will be review. Because this program really builds on itself, I much prefer to start from Level 1 and if needed we can move through it quicker.

In order for them to start Level 2 they really need a solid foundation in phonics.

I do think that Annette and Brent would have been ready to start The Phonics Road in 1st grade. It's amazing how different children are.

• Josh, learned to read cvc words at age 5, but didn't take off with reading until he was 10 years old. He read at a second grade level in the 4th grade, but the summer of 08 he took off. He now reads at grade level.
• Annette, could read cvc words at age 5. By the time she was 6 she could read and by age 7 she could read a few grades ahead. She currently reads at a 6th grade level. I still have her using a reading program at her grade though because she still needs to learn how to dig deeper in her reading. She uses Christian Light Reading and although she can read the reader very easily the whole program is a challenges her.
• Caleb, could blend and sound out words at age five, could read cvc words at age 6 and now at age 8 he can read words with the long vowels but still struggles. He can read words like pain but has trouble with words like staple. He has been slowly working through R&S Phonics 1. As you can see he hasn't had two years worth of Phonics yet, so hopefully once he finishes Scaredy Cat Reading System he will become a more fluent reader.
• Brent, is pretty much at grade level right now.
• Ethan, could blend and sound out words at age 5. He is now 6 and can read easy readers that have cvc words. We are working through Christ Centered Curriculum. Right now we are going through the review part of the program. He too is at "grade" level.
• Lance, will start Christ Centered Curriculum in the fall. Still deciding if I should start him in A or B level.

There you have it. A history of my children of when they started reading. Maybe next time I'll go over math history.

My sister Cynthia is the creative homeschooler. She has lots of free downloads and printables. You can visit her blog HERE. I'm the crazy, ex curriculum junkie, whose tried almost every curriculum out there before she almost found her niche or groove, homeschooler .

Blessings,

Linda<><

My coffee maker came today. I'm sipping a nice cup of hot, strong, decaf coffee .  I can't believe how fast it got here. My Sweets placed the order on Monday, way past our bed time. It shipped on Tuesday and arrived on Wednesday.

Anyway, quiet time is up and I still need to correct some papers.

Have a great day!