Keeping the Home by Lori Seaborg
Posted in What is Happening in Our House
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It's really hard to be blogging when the weather is perfect. I think you might see more of my posts this summer, when it is sweltering hot and I'm indoors more. We've had what seems like the most perfect spring I can ever remember. But I think I say that about each spring, except for the one that included two floods a couple of years ago. Lately:
Lori Seaborg |
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Posted in What is Happening in Our House
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This blog has always been a come and go thing for me. When I'm coming, I'm writing down what I've learned to share with you. When I'm going, I'm off learning from others. Lately, I've been spending my time at two places:
I'll try to get back on here more often to share with you all that I have learned. Our Spring is in full bloom here on the Gulf Coast . There has been so much to do, and all of it is fun! Lori Seaborg |
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Posted in Saving Money
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Someone asked me about our children's health insurance coverage, so I wanted to pass on the note to you all in case it can help someone else: Oh, I am so happy that you asked if the children's health insurance was in your state so I could find this link!! http://www.insurekidsnow.gov/ It is the government's site with a list of all of the programs available from each State. I have used the programs in Florida and in Alabama, and they worked the same. In both states, I was able to sign up online. I had to sign that our children were without health insurance, and give just a little financial and other information. It's a simple application and I never had to mail in paperwork in either state. If you make too little money, they will refer you to Medicaid, as this plan is not for the poor. There is an income cap, though, based on the size of your family. I don't know if the plan works the same everywhere, but in both Florida and Alabama, we paid $50 per year per child up to three children (you would pay less or more depending on income, but never over $100/year/child up to 3 children) and in both states, we pay nothing for ER visits, nothing for most services. We pay $3 once in a while as a co-pay, normally for routine doctor visits. At the pharmacy, I believe we pay nothing. We didn't pay anything for vision or dental. And we have for the most part been able to use any doctors that we already had, since the insurance is with a major insurance company. It has been an AMAZING blessing for us to have this. Our children don't go to the doctor for illnesses or routine visits, but this insurance has been a great peace of mind for us. We have used it for ear surgeries and for broken bones and ER visits and speech therapy and physical therapy. With 4 little ones, emergencies do happen! If anyone has uninsured children, I really encourage you to look at your state's children's health insurance plan. It will give you such peace of mind: http://www.insurekidsnow.gov/ |
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Posted in Recipes and Crafts
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Many of you have enjoyed the Crafty Blogs that I posted recently, so I thought I'd give you a little more inspiration by posting some of my favorite tutorials from those blogs. I haven't created any of the projects yet, but I'm sure going to do so! I think. Maybe. If the weather stays yucky. If I remember to buy thread. If..... No more excuses; I just WILL finish a project! How to Make a Yo Yo these little darlings on cute on anything from a quilt to blue jean pockets Criss-Cross Coasters a pretty way to use up fabric scraps, these also make great gifts An Easy and Quick Shoulder Bag to Make this is first on my list of projects to do. I already have the material! A Fairy Figure from Angora, Wool or Mohair I have an Angora goat who needs shearing. This is what I'm making with her "lesser quality" mohair. A Really Cute Dog Leash I have an Angora goat who needs this....just kidding! I don't have a dog, but this leash is so cute I might make it even without one! Patchwork Notebook Cover Tutorial A handy thing for a homeschooler and for Valentine's Day... Toffee Fondue That ought to keep you busy for the rest of the month! Happy Valentine's Day! |
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Posted in Homemaking
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A reader asked me to post a few more Crafty Blogs that I like to visit. Pure inspiration is to be had at these! Angry Chicken This is a fairly eclectic blog. It's fun to see the ideas she has. The author of the blog is also a book author -- her sewing book will be out in June. I'll definitely have to check that out! Hop Skip Jump I love her bunnies and monkeys. Our 9yo daughter says we need to make one now. NOW, she says. Little Birds Handmade This blog is on a break right now (January 2007), but you'll enjoy looking through the past posts. She is still posting on another blog but with only photos of a year full of beautiful mornings. The photos truly are beautiful and worth a look! Here you go: 3191 Craft Zine Blog This blog by Craft Zine magazine collects ideas from many blogs, often with links to the instructions. And one of the best is saved for last: One Hour Craft This blog is full of amazing craft tutorials. The author is definitely a generous soul to share so many instructions with us! Included in the recent posts is "How to Teach a Child to Sew," something many homeschooling moms may appreciate. Thank you to a blog reader for pointing me to this crafty blog. |
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See my last entry for four websites I found for improving your health (or losing weight). Today, I searched for a free site that would allow me to track my measurements, and found this one: Weight Tracker. You can also track your weight and blood pressure at this site, and even create a journal. For your reading pleasure, you may enjoy The Hacker's Diet, which gives a rational explanation of calories, weight loss, and exercise. The hacker explains how these things work, with scientific explanations (all said in an easy-to-read, and often humorous, manner). All diet gimmicks are exposed for their money-taking ways after you read this e-book. It's free to read, of course, and has some free Excel charts to download, although I find the website above and the ones in the last post even easier to use. Oh, by the way, check out The Hacker's Diet's exercise plan. Click on "What Me, Exercise?" in the left sidebar's Table of Contents. If you really dislike exercise plans, but know you need to do at least something, you might like this simple plan that takes less than 15 minutes to do. I did the first rung yesterday. I will embarrass myself if I describe how I did. Just try it out for yourself! |
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Posted in Saving Money
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If, as part of your decluttering process, or part of your New Year's resolutions, you want to lose weight (or, better yet, just to improve your health), I have a few websites for you: The National Body Challenge is a health guidance program that will guide you through weight loss or weight maintenance. They give you a menu and recipes for healthy, non-processed meals. And they also give you exercise guidance. It's an 8 or 10-week program, put on by Discovery Health. If you are considering this, join now, because this program only continues through March. Get an Edge is an interesting program by Shape magazine that focuses on exercise. After putting my numbers into the program, it came up with an exercise program customized to me. Better yet, the program is interesting because each day you do something different, such as swimming, walking/running, biking, or strength training. I like the variety and the charts in this program. Their food journal won't allow you to save what you input, so don't use it. Instead, use the following.... Fit Day is a food journal program. You input what you eat each day and it calculates the calories eaten. My favorite part of this program is the graphs, which include a chart of nutrients. I love seeing if I am getting enough of each Recommended Daily Allowance of nutrients. It is fun to figure out what to eat to make the numbers go up. This would be a good program for your homeschooled children, too, so they'd learn more about nutrition. While searching for the calorie count of Moe's taco and side chips, I found another food journal/calorie counter at The Daily Plate. I think I may like this one even better than Fit Day's. It seems to have many restaurant items included in it and even gives recommendations of what you could choose instead of your normal high-calorie favorite. I'm going to try this journal and Fit Day's at once for a while until one comes out as my favorite. Every program above is completely and absolutely FREE, by the way. Check them out! |
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Posted in Homekeeping
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From a blog reader: Thanks, Lori, for the posts about decluttering. They motivate me. I am just so curious about all your decluttering. Did you have that much stuff or do you just not have anything left? Somehow, I really had that much stuff. But if I had a bigger house, it wouldn't seem as much as it seems in my 2100 square feet, and it would seem like more in our former 1200 square feet. I seek to declutter to the point that the house can 1.) Look "homey," which to me is filled with only things we love and/or use; 2.) Be easy to keep neat. With four little kids (ages 3-11), it is easiest for me to keep a house neat if there is a lot of empty floor space, and the children enjoy empty floor space for playing, so we don't have many stands or a coffee table or knickknacks, etc., and only recently I bought an indoor plant, since the children are now old enough to not knock it over/eat the dirt. The truth is, whether we have more room or not, we really don't need most of what is around us. Did you clear out a lot of toys? Were your children upset when you began? My children cannot usually be with me when I declutter their toys. They want to keep even the broken parts! If they cannot keep their rooms neat, I decide that they have too many toys. Everything that is loose on the floor or out of place, we put into Rubbermaid totes and put them in the garage . I tell the children that they cannot have these toys for a while, since they didn't choose to take care of them. They know that once it's in the garage, it's out of sight for quite a while. Later, usually on my own, I go through that tote, and throw away most of the stuff, give away anything I haven't seen the kids enjoy, and keep the few left. My goal - I"m almost there - is to have 2 decluttered, sorted, organized totes waiting in the garage or attic. Every month, we'll take all of the toys in their rooms, declutter, sort and organize them into a tote, and pull a tote out of storage to enjoy. This keeps the toys exciting and appreciated, I would imagine. Right now, I have a few toy totes to declutter in the garage, so I'm not at this level of organization yet. I hardly ever know of anyone that is really needy. Even my children would be happy to give if we knew someone needy. I have been piling things in the garage for a yard sale. I haven't had one for years for the reasons you mentioned. I guess I thought I had more stuff this time that would equal more money. It is hard to know who needs something. I've found that many on our local Freecycle list are needy, so I offer larger items on that list, like a car seat or stroller. I don't want someone coming to our house to pick up every tiny outfit, though, or we'd never get schooling done. If I have a friend with several children, I'll offer extra clothes to her, since your hand-me-downs can usually only hold up well through two children, it seems. Our Waterfront Rescue Mission offers free pick-up service. I have called and said, "I have 20 boxes to give away," and arranged a pick up time within 3-4 days, even before I had the boxes ready. That motivates me to get those boxes ready and on the front porch, waiting for the Mission truck to arrive. Here's another idea: Several years ago, we started having a garage sale early on a Saturday morning but within about an hour, it seemed a shame that people were leaving empty handed or buying just one or two things, and I could see that all that clutter was going to stay at my house. Besides, I wasn't exactly raking in the money. After okaying the idea with Tim, I told the kids, who had a toy table of their own and hoped to make money, that I was changing it to a Free Sale but they could take their things out if they liked. They thought and thought about that, and finally decided to leave the items out for free. Then they watched and waited for someone to come. We prayed that God would send whoever needed the items. Soon after, a family of 7 or 8 got out of a very crowded old car. They spoke Spanish to each other and only one spoke broken English. She said, "Free?" and motioned around. "Nothing?" I said, "Yes, it's all free." She excitedly told the rest of her family. Two of our children stood by their toy table and watched their children look at the toys. Britty handed a little girl her Barbie, and Brenden handed a boy his robot toy. The adults picked up some cooking items and clothing. Later, a very young couple came - also in a beat up car, with the gal quite pregnant - and they were so very delighted when I loaded them up with baby gear and baby girl clothes. They kept saying, "God bless you," and nearly brought me to tears right there on the lawn! A lady picked up blankets for a family she knew who needed practical things like that. Throughout the day, people came and I was very impressed that nobody was greedy in the slightest way. They only took what they or someone they knew could use. At the end of the day, we moved what was left to the curb and put a "Free" sign on it. By morning, we were left with only a few scattered things to clean up. Giving that day was far greater a blessing to our family than the money would have been. Our two oldest children remember that day well, even though it was several years ago and they were young then (about 6 and 8) . It was a great lesson for them, to realize that there are people we can bless with our things. |
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Posted in Homekeeping
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If you are at all overwhelmed by the extra things, a.k.a. clutter, in your home, I really want to encourage you to visit The Colossal Clutter Clean Up. The challenge begins today with a free 62-page ebook. I am absolutely amazed at the generosity of Amy Verlinnich, the ebook author, who has given so much time and effort to write this book. If you are discouraged by the state of your home, please don't feel alone. I've been there, too, several years ago when we had 3, then 4, little ones and were going through a difficult time financially (it seems that stress attracts clutter). Don't feel alone, but do work on finding your way out of your clutter. You will feel so much freedom once you let the things in your home go. Don't fear letting go. I have sent literally truckloads of donations to the Waterfront Rescue Mission, and I have yet to miss a single thing I sent away. In fact, when I needed to remember what I had donated for this year's taxes, I found it very difficult to remember much at all! (TIP: Before donating items, if you're going to use the tax deduction, take a digital camera photo of the contents of the box to help trigger your memory when you need to write up the deduction amounts.) Once your home gets decluttered, you will find it easy to keep clean. Hospitality will be much easier to practice. You will no longer worry about unexpected visitors dropping by. Your toes will get hurt less. :) And your children will be happier. After we decluttered most of our home, our 10-year-old said, "You know, we get in trouble less now." It's true, they do. Your husband will be happier, too, of course, and so will you! Best of all, you will have time....time that you've never had since childhood....time for creativity, to discover your interests, time to start a little business, time to sew or cook or learn how to cook and sew, time to act on others' needs, time to visit with your Creator, and especially time to play with your family. I said a prayer for you just now! |
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Posted in Homekeeping
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A reader asked me to write more about decluttering. That is one of my favorite subjects, too, so I do have more to say on it! I've learned so much through the past decade about decluttering. When newly married, Tim and I lived in a one bedroom apartment and had one chair, one t.v., and a mattress on the floor of the one bedroom. Not long after that, we moved to a HUGE - in our eyes - 1200 square foot house. Over the next 12 years, we filled it not only with things, but also with children! It was while living in that Very Little - in our eyes, the house shrunk drastically over the years - house that I had to learn a lot about decluttering. Reading from FlyLady helped out a lot. It was freeing for me to learn, from FlyLady, that I do not have to have a garage sale. For me, garage sales are not worth the time it takes to do one, or the clutter that piles up while waiting to do one. You may live in a neighborhood that has a community sale, or you may enjoy having a garage sale, so decide what works for you. Instead of a garage sale, I like to be creative in giving away the items. It's fun for me to decide what to do with our extra things. Sometimes, a friend or acquaintance will get the items. I often pray that I'll know who to share with. Once I loaded up the back of our trunk on the way to a homeschool day in the park and asked the moms to help themselves. The local Waterfront Rescue Mission gets many items from us (they have been wonderful to the community during hurricanes. The Salvation Army is also great during hurricanes, by the way); sometimes I'll place an item on our local Freecycle, as we did a couple of weeks ago when we wanted to give away a large weight bench system. For homeschool books, or educational items, I now use the list I started, called Free Homeschool. We have family coming in on Monday for a - very late - Christmas, so I need to get back to work on preparing for that. But I wanted to be sure to give you a link to the Clean Heart, Clean Home site, which is wonderful. Starting January 7th, the Colossal Clutter Clean-Up is beginning at that site. If you have an overwhelming amount of decluttering to do (I've been there, too, you're in fine company! ;D), please check that out. Note: If you just want some cleaning or decluttering encouragement, visit the blog of the Clean Heart, Clean Home challenge. Be sure to look at the Side Bar for free printables and devotional pages. I love that blog! |
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Posted in What is Happening in Our House
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Happy New Year! Beginning a new year is exciting to me. Each year, I'm also starting a new year of life, since my birthday is on New Year's Eve, too. Today, I've spent some time writing down what I want to accomplish this year. My list is not long. I quit making too-long lists years ago. It's just full of a few things I'd like to see us do in school or in the home. One of the top things on my list is to have the children learn more Scripture and more Biblical knowledge. I'm using the unit studies at Heart of Wisdom for that. I'm also writing down a TBR (To Be Read) list of books that I want us to read this year. We own so many wonderful classics, but I usually get bogged down by someone's schedule and my failure at said-schedule, so we don't read them at all, since I can't remember where we are supposed to be. Instead of all that, I'm going to just write a long TBR list and start with the one at the top of the list, perhaps reading from two different books (at different levels) per day (one during the lunch hour and one before bedtime). I need things to be simple! One of my biggest goals for this year is to create a habit of eating healthy. I know how to eat healthy, but I'm not great at putting that knowledge into practice. It's really just a matter of bad habits. I hope to break the bad habits I still have, and teach the children about nutrition in this year's National Body Challenge. Check it out; you may want to join, too. It starts January 13th. Speaking of that, I need to sign off now so I can print a few things from the Challenge before bedtime. I hope your New Year's Day was lovely! |
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Posted in Recipes and Crafts
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I'm sorry I've been so quiet lately. I have been obsessed with 2 things: Decluttering and Crafty Blogs. Our garage is getting more and more empty by the decluttering day. I moved a changing table and an old desk to the far corner and said to dh, "This is my studio." I'm hoping that calling it that will: 1.) Keep it more clear of clutter, and 2.) Entice me to use the space. The kids were fascinated with the idea that a corner of the garage can be a studio, so took them only hours to pull out acrylic paints and wooden objects. Now they all want a studio of their own. Crafty blogs have been a second obsession of mine lately, and that is where I've been spending the majority of my online time. Here are a few of the blogs you can blame for me not blogging to you: Kiddley - This is a great one for homeschoolers! Kids' crafts abound on this blog, which is written by many designers. Craft Apple- Craft Apple is one of my favorites. Lots of sewing and lately beginner knitting ideas (I'm a beginner knitter, too). Heather Bailey: I love her recent Yo Yo posts. All Sorts : If you want to make last minute Christmas gifts, these criss-cross coasters look easy - and very cute! Anna Maria: This blog by a craft designer is another favorite. I could send many more, but that's enough for you to visit for now. If you are likewise inspired to craft (even if only in thought, not in action - I can understand that!!!), visit other crafty blogs by clicking on the links on the above blogs. You will soon find yourself surfing away through crafty blogs that you'll wish you'd known of at least in time to make something for the holiday season. Merry Christmas! |
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Posted in What is Happening in Our House
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St. Nicholas Day is tomorrow, December 6th! That day is the birthday of the real Santa Claus. For more information on St. Nicholas, and ways to celebrate the day, go to this beautiful website: http://www.StNicholasCenter.org . We will celebrate by making spice cookies from a recipe on the above site, waking to full stockings that were left by someone during the night, who gave in the spirit of St. Nicholas' generosity. We'll read a story of St. Nicholas (the real Santa Claus), and most importantly, doing something for others. For the latter, we will make up a tin of Christmas goodies for our neighbors, make Christmas cards, and donate some extra toys to the nearest charity. Do any of you celebrate St. Nicholas Day as an alternative to Santa Claus at Christmas? I'm fairly new to this - only a couple of years ago, I didn't know that Santa Claus was truly a real person at one point who had been significantly changed over time. As I learned about St. Nicholas, I decided to celebrate St. Nicholas Day as an extension of the holidays, but more importantly, as a way to get the kids to think of others during the season, and not just of the gifts they will receive. On St. Nicholas Day, our goal is to give in the spirit of the real Santa Claus, who gave freely all that he owned. by Lori Seaborg 2006 |
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Posted in Homemaking
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I'm feeling very domestic today. So far.... I painted as much as I can of the girls' room without Tim's help. He needs to move the bed and dresser for me to do more. Oh, and he has to do the trim work. I cannot cut straight lines nor can I hold a paintbrush steady enough to do the trim. In an impatient moment, I tried to do the trim on one wall of the girls' room, just so it would be done, and Tim could be proud....but not only is he going to have to finish it for me, he's also going to have to fix several smudges on the baseboards and two big "oopsies" on the ceiling. A pretty pinkish-lavender does not look swell on a white ceiling. The kids, who regularly dig huges holes from the riverbank, discovered "treasures" today. I was so hoping that they'd find something from the Civil War era. The Yankees walked up our river to meet up with the Rebs. But I think the treasure is just a bunch of useless junk that someone must have tossed into the river at some point, or perhaps it came to our yard via a flood. Either way, I don't need an old roller skate, a few bones, and pieces of glass. In the oven as I write, is a Whole Wheat Banana Bread, sweetened with Sucanat (cane juice). I haven't tried a wheat banana bread, nor have I tried one with Sucanat, but I'm going on the recommendation of the always-right Crystal Miller, who says it is great. Sharing the oven with the banana bread is my homemade granola. I make this quite often, all year-round. Here's the receipt (as Tasha Tudor would say - I love her recipe book):
I think the banana bread is ready. Hope you're doing well, too! by Lori Seaborg 2006 |
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Posted in Homekeeping
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I've been on such a path of learning lately. I've been learning more and more about nutrition and healthy eating (I think I said the same thing twice just then!). If you're interested in some of what I'm learning, go pay a visit to Crystal Miller's site. She is such a talented teacher! http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com by Lori Seaborg 2006 |
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Posted in What is Happening in Our House
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Having...Nothing to say that seems worth your reading. I've been the one reading lately. Reading....toooo many books. I love using PaperbackSwap*. I have most recently received, via that site, Newman's Own Cooking, a book on Biblical foods (I think this would be great for a family feast during a series of lessons on the Old Testament -- or a unit study), and a book on Tuscany (I thought it was a cookbook, but it's about an old house someone bought there. My neighbor borrowed it before I finished it, so I don't know if it's any good.) Feeling....sore. My back has been giving me so much trouble lately! I set up an appointment at a chiropractor, but I doubt the stress of going to a doctor (I'm doctor-phobic, even though I was a nursing major) and paying what I'm sure will be a million dollars, can possibly be helpful. Studying...Video game designing (the 11yo son) and Cooking (the 9yo daughter). Can you imagine how tickled I was when she said, "I want to learn to cook Breakfasts and Lunches, so you never have to do them again!" I let the kids choose a subject to pursue in depth. They'll write me weekly reports and we'll figure out other ways to keep it educational. They can change subjects at any time. I think we'll use some of Cindy Rushton's tips on Notebooking for this idea. Finding...a beautiful Tarragon plant in my garden. It's sunny yellow flowers are so bright! Also blooming in the wild are Goldenrod and Black Eyed Susans and several purple and blue flower varieties. Canoeing...down the river with part of our family in one canoe and my parents and a couple of kids in their canoe. It was such a lovely way to spend an afternoon! We all got wet, of course. Going...back to Orlando this week, but this time with only Tim. It's a business/pleasure trip. We are very excited about it, and about getting some alone time, too. Thank God for grandparents who will watch the kids! *PaperBackSwap.com is a site where you can list books that you'd like to give away. You'll receive points for books sent out, which you can then use on books that you'd like to read. If you join, mention Dreamwords as a referral, and I'll get a free book point. It's okay if you don't do that -- join anyway! by Lori Seaborg 2006 |
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Posted in What is Happening in Our House
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Someone wrote me last night and mentioned that I haven't blogged in a while. I thank her for the nudge! Sometimes I need that. We were on vacation all of last week. We went to Orlando to Sea World (a new baby Shamu was born 2 weeks before we went - he was born the size of Shaquille O'Neill, they said). Tim and I also had a very lovely date at the Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba performance. It's always been a dream of mine to go there. Tim offered to give me the cash for shopping instead of going to Cirque, but I quickly decided that a cherished memory is worth more than yet another thing. :) Good decision; Tim enjoyed it as much as I did. Cirque du Soleil is located in Downtown Disney, which is a fun place to visit with lots of restaurants and shops (we went a second day so the kids could come. They love the Lego shop and the shop that sells My Little Pony). We had a scrumptious dessert at Ghirardelli's. Oh, that was good! Coming back home, we went the way of the Atlantic Ocean (the waves weren't high that day, so it looked like our Gulf beaches, only browner sand). I lived near there for a year's worth of college breaks, so wanted to show the kids some of my old haunts. We also went via St. Augustine, which was dirtier than I remember, but it was still good to see the old buildings. After a vacation, it's always a little hard for me to adjust to real life once again. But it is nice to come home to our little place. The first thing I did was hug the goat. by Lori Seaborg 2006 |
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Posted in What is Happening in Our House
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There are streusel-topped muffins in the oven (this time from a box) so I can only stay a minute. I've been gone from you for a while because my FreeHomeschool idea (a group to share homeschool items for free) just took right off! There are 535 members and more added daily. Every day there have been offers for free homeschool items, but the list has gotten really slow in the past few days and yesterday there was just one offer. For a while there, I was approving at least a dozen offer posts each time I logged on! I'm a little sad that it's gotten so slow - I think there are many we could still help - but I'll let the list do what the list will do! I got up at 5am this morning; it's 7 and the family is still sound asleep! I'm a born-natural night owl, so getting up is very tough for me. I set my alarm for 6:30am, but somehow woke up much earlier. You can sure get a lot done in the morning when you get up early! I've already gone on a 1.2 mile walk, pet the cat, washed a pan, washed and dried a load of laundry, read my Bible, wrote in a prayer journal, checked my email, checked the bank accounts, and wrote down a to-do list for this week. I need to get up early more often!! Usually, by now I'm only just getting up (if even that) and haven't done anything. If you want to get up early in the morning, read some of Laine's Letters. That girl is inspiring! Better get those muffins out of the oven! by Lori Seaborg 2006 |
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Posted in What is Happening in Our House
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Sorry to keep leaving you all! I know it's frustrating to visit a blog and find it not updated. Obviously, you've not given up (since you're reading this), and I thank you for that! I've just been spending time getting things nailed down for our new school year. It scares me spitless to have an 11 year old! For some reason, having one that old makes me realize that we can't just play all day. We need to do at least a little academics, wouldn't you think? :) My schedule (last entry) has been working fairly well, and I like it, but I am not fitting everything in because we keep spending too much time on math. Hopefully that will change as we keep rolling. For now, I'm not going to change it, but in the future I might need to do so. When I'm not teaching school (it seems that I always am), I'm working on the house, doing more decluttering and even a bit of decorating. I'd like to start a few websites that have been tickling my brain, but feel that I need to get the house and the schooling running smoothly first. I hope to visit with you again soon! by Lori Seaborg 2006 |
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Posted in Homeschooling
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I recently tweaked our schedule, so thought I would share it with you. I have been using one version or another of my schedule for about a year and a half now, so it works well for us. Your schedule will likely look much different. I have noticed that among homeschooling moms. Some would go absolutely crazy at my lack of exact clock times, but for me, I shut down if I have missed the clock time, and then we do not do school at all, so it works better for me to just have time goals, or benchmarks in my day. 6-7am Somewhere in there, I get up, the earlier the better. I walk up the hill to see the farmer’s cows and pray for my family while walking. I come back to read my Bible in what is still hopefully a quiet and sleeping house. Around 7:30 or so, I start being noisy (laundry, dishes, making breakfast, playing music), so the kids will wake up. By 8, I hope to see everyone up and moving. In this hour, I want the children (ages 11, 9, 6, 3 – boy, girl, boy, girl) dressed, eating breakfast, teeth brushed, and morning routines done. Meanwhile, I work on breakfast, getting the toddler dressed and ready, and my own morning routine. By 9, I want us in the school room, ready.
After all of this, the children sit on stools at the bar in the kitchen and have a laid-out snack while I read a literature selection at an younger level. Around 11ish, we concentrate on: Mondays: Practical Skills Tuesdays: Art, Music, and Shakespeare Wednesdays: Nature Studies and Poetry Thursdays: Science (and Library Day) Fridays: Independent Research Day (a.k.a. Notebooking from selections picked up at the library on topic of choice) Just before lunch and while I am making it, the children learn 6 new words of Spanish and review old ones. Lunch: always something easy and quick. During lunch, I read a literature selection from an older level. Quick pickup of the house, especially the school room. 1pm or so, Quiet Time : an hour of absolute quiet (this hour is vital to my sanity!). For the older two, quiet time needs to include reading from an assigned book. I usually assign 1 chapter or several pages; not too much. Quiet time choices (even for me. NO chores allowed!): Nap Write Art (nothing messy) Read Notebooking 2pm or so, Quiet Time is over (but may be continued alone) and free play is allowed. No electronics (t.v. or computer) yet. Afternoon activity choices: Playing with friends Free play Swimming and fishing Science experiments Nature walk Play with the animals Art Family business Crafting Gardening Ideally, around 4pm, I would like to have a Tea Time for character training and etiquette. We are usually too wrapped up in our projects to do Tea Time, but I hope to add it. 4:45pm I get myself into the kitchen to start dinner or we will eat tooooo late again. I always encourage the children to help in the kitchen. I hope to train myself out of a job. The children are naturally drawn to the kitchen to watch me make supper, so I also have this time written down as Musical Instrument Practice time. And then is dinner, evening routines, and an hour of Family Time (games, projects, movie, or a time to show Daddy what we’ve learned through a play or a mini concert). At bedtime, my husband or I read again to the children. (Yes, I do quite a lot of reading aloud but I love books!) by Lori Seaborg 2006 |
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