my Mystery of History! and WHAT great condition it's in PLUS all the little extras she threw in! what a blessing! i spent an hour last night reading the parents notes in the front, and i'm making my list of "other supplies" needed and figuring the best way to go about what we need (i need a new binder to put this in, but hey, i LOVE binders  )

my wish list thus far:

The Holman Bible Atlas , which reminds me to go answwer a post on my favorite cyber hangout, but this is a great tool, and the maps and all are laid out chronologically! (i'm into that  )

a good globe...we haven't ever had one that wasn't already out of date or broke

i know a few books will be on the list as well...i have to see what is available from the library and Paperback Swap first

i promise though, that i will trudge through the rest of America before i start this...Kirky

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are you intimidated about teaching Art?

you can get a free sample of Artful Advent just by answering a few questions! I looked over my pdf copy and it's REALLY neat! i wish i would have had it this past Advent! I'm looking forward to using it this year...there's nice internet linked sites, discussions of all kinds of artwork, etc...all in all it's a very nicely put together package! I encourage you to go to the site and take the survey

Artful Advent

hope this is a blessing to someone today!

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(stop that laughing!)

on my fave cyberspot the gals were discussing Mystery of History which i know i have heard of in the past but never REALLY took a good look at...until Friday

well, let's just say that i now have my dream curriculum for the rest of my homeschooling days...it seems to be a mix of all my favorite things in one spot!

i'm NOT a "classical" homeschooler, in fact i seem to be (i should say that my young ones seem to be) much more of a "relaxed" family....we LOVE to read books, we LOVE to do crafty type projects, we are very "hands on"...and MOH seems to fit right in there, despite the fact that it says "classical"...and their "Resource List"...oh MY!!!! love it! And i figure by the time the new volumes come out (#3 out of 5 should be out this spring) we'll just be ready for them

since reading "Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach" by Robin Sampson, i knew i wanted to go through the Bible in chronological order and teach history that way, not this mish-mash way of going about it...learn about it the way God laid it all out...how can you go wrong? KONOS wasn't really working with us, it was almost too much (including planning time) Sonlight is a great curriculum, but there were a few things i wasn't too happy about, one being the increasing costs of the full Cores...

so, while i'm unit-studying our way through American History this year (with units purchased from HomeschooleStore.com, linked on my side bar) i'm gearing up for purchasing MOH! i discussed it with hubbyman, who is all for it. I have LOTS of stuff to Ebay and yard sale this year, so i'm using that as curriculum cash  

we also looked at A Child's Geography for this year, but i set it aside...and it looks like iit wil go terrific with MOH, so i'm glad that i was reminded of it this weekend...it's also on my "need to purchase" list

so there's my long term plan...they ever have a Yahoo group that i popped on to get myself in order, as IF i need another online spot to hang around in

i wonder if i can get some sort of prize for the most links in a post!

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i'm always intrigued with what others feel they absolutely have to have for any given task, and homeschooling is no different! there are so many MANY cool-beans devices, gadgets, books, study guides, hardware, software, where oh where, that it's almost overwhelming!

so, if I myself had to be stripped down to bare bones essentials, these are my choices for what I consider Homeschool Essentials

-kids

(okay, sorry)

-The Bible

because what would any homeschool be without this ESSENTIAL foundation?

-internet capeable computer with printer (AND ink  )

i do SO much for school online...get great freebie printables, purchase materials, read blogs for ideas, get reviews, there are even things online for the kids to use. In this terrific day and age, i feel the computer is essential to homeschooling! (not to mention the capeability to renew those library books at the last minute  )

-a decent public library system

okay, i probably would BUY every book i have ever read if i was related to Trump, but alas, i am not...so a really good library system is a MUST for my family as we prefer "real books" and LOVE fiction, information, and my 7 yr old really thinks he's boss 'cause he has a card

-a willing heart

i know i have posted about it before, but when we first heard about homeschooling i laughed and said "NEVER!"...i have since learned to never use the word "never" when it comes to what God may have for you to accomplish in your life. God brought me, kicking and screaming at times, to this place where i would probably not ever consider using a public or private school again. Only with a willing heart, a heart willing not only to obey God's leading but also that of my hubbyman, are we where we are now. we are far from the "picture perfect" HSLDA family  but we do alright

-a good homeschool support system (outside of spouse support)

one thing i know i am lacking is a good church-based support system. I think, for our family, this can be an "essential"...we just joined a nice small co-op and that's great. I have alot of online support and that's  great too. But i miss being in a good church home with a good base of homeschoolers to have for support and encouragement. The Lord will lead there also, I know.

everything else is gravy as far as I'm concerned

how about you? what are your 5 Homeschool Essentials? I invite you to post yours on your blog and please post a link here in my comment section! i LOVE to see what others have said

Blessed Sabbath and happy weekend!

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well, i just whipped up a $60 order for HomeschoolEstore! (they are linked on my sidebar) since hubbyman was home yesterday, i got to revamp my paperwork, and make a tenetative school schedule for next week...and he wants us to start American History. So I perused the available units and came up with a mess of them!

in no particular order i found:

Columbus, which is good since that's where hubbyman wants us to start 

Native Americans

Patriotic Holidays by Amanda Bennett

12 American History studies in one, includes all sorts of neat people like Columbus, Sacajawea, Pocahontas, etc

Blackline Maps of American History

and a few others, including a neat freebie of the "Kinestetic Alphabet"

so things are getting back to the new normal here. I still feel at least 6 times a day like i'm forgetting something...and when i realize it's that i need to call Mom to tell her xyz, then i get a bit sad  It's been that way since the day after she passed....My uncle sent me the poem "My First Christmas in heaven" but I'm sorry to say I won't be reading it yet...I have seen it, and it made me cry THEN...i don't want to lose it right now  as I think i did enough of that for the past 6 months she has been so ill.

so i'm watching 2 Apple computers on Ebay today...Mom left me a wee little bit of money and i'd love to get a new computer. We'll see what happens with that

and it's official! the title of the last Potter novel will be "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"! It's already the top pre-seller in Amazon history! I can't wait for John Granger to update his webpage so we can chat it up about the "hidden meanings"! I'm sure that this book will be out over the summer, as she hasn't ever released a title before the book was at least in the editing phase....WHOOOOOOPIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

that's all the news from this corner of cyberspace...hopefully next update will be typed up on a nice Mac

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My First Pets Phonetic Readers (go to the link below, then scroll down on the side to "Phonics")

these are so sweet! they are a set of 5 small paperbound books (almost booklets) each with a different animal story for each vowel sound! so cute! we can't wait to start reading them!

you can find these, and lots of neat-o Charlotte Mason supplies (many written by the Queen) at Queen Homeschool Supply

you can also see their Caring Bridge page for their son Jeremiah, who is undergoing a three year stint of chemo for luekemia...he is 4 years old. They also offer a free book to anyone who has a child going through chemo that they wrote for Jeremiah.

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gee it's been a while since i actually blogged anything...that's what happens when you start reading books i guess

anyhoo, i found a few goodies that i wanted to pass on...a gal on a message board i frequent mentioned this bible study from Lamp and Quill, and let me tell you i am SOOOOO excited to get the  ones i ordered! it's just like Bible Study fellowship at home! I ordered the first quarter of year 4, which is Psalms so i can get a feel for it....but i really needed something for ME as well and this fits the bill! there are levels from 1 yr olds to adult and you all can study the same passages. There's also a bunch of supplemental things like coloring books, cards, etc. VERY cool!

i've also discovered lap booking...again, from DillyDawn, who gave most excellent picture filled directions on the message board...maybe i can talk her into putting them on her blog  (hey, she's been busy, so don't yell at her yet! LOL!)  But  i found a great little resource in StewardShip Publishing ...i got myself the "All You Wanted To Know About FlapBooks" booklet and it came with a sample all folded and little booklets enclosed, it's SO cool! they have all sorts of neat-o stuff for  hands-on kind of folks... i also LOVE LOVE LOVE this blog (of course i don't remember her actual name  ) but i have incorporated a few of her ideas into our day and it's so much fun! she's a great treasure trove of fun projects and info! of course Cindy Rushton, who blogs around here somewhere, has some great info also, but i need pictures  so i know what i have to do

another thing i ordered this week was a set of readers put out by Queen Homeschool Supply...they are a small homeschooling family who supply all kinds of fun Charlotte Mason things. If you use Charlotte philosophy in your homeschool, please support them at this time, as their youngest son has lukemia and they need the support...you can read about him at their site. But, Sandy (Mom Queen) write some really sweet and sound books, and they have a great et of books about modesty for BOTH boys and girls and other things of that nature that are short, beautifully written and biblically sound. Please see their site to pray for their little boy.

i've also been contemplating a few purchases from Abeka (i know, don't fall over faint) because i'm not happy with Young J's "non" progress into the fabulous world of reading. Abeka's K4 and K5 reading materials look like JUST what i need and a friend also has the teacher guides so i don't have to buy those  but for the same thing )about) that i was going to get from another company, it's a THIRD of what i would have paid! and i figured i may as well start Mr B.  on the reading road early...as my very smart friend said "all her kids are strong readers, even though they don't all enjoy it"...i know that not everyone will be a complete book-o-phile like me, but reading is an ESSENTIAL that the young ones must have!

a quick Harry Potter note (any non-Harry readers may skip this paragraph, no hard feelings!)...my essay is complete and in and will be PUBLISHED within the next two weeks...i'm very excited about this, and the "editing" process was very interesting and eye-opening, and i now realize why it takes JK Rowling two years to complete a 600 page book...when it's up i shall link you all to it, so long as you PROMISE to not raise a rukus if you don't agree with my assesment of Harry.

as far as the L2L Challenge....well, all in all, i have been better, but still have these awful outbursts (like when i'm trying to write a blog page and the little guys are fighting over SpongeBob) so how have all of you been doing? Reading the 12 Steps really puts so much of my life into perspective. Anger is another "addiction" that i have no control over. Only when i am COMPLETELY surrendered to Christ will all of these issues subside into oblivion. It's a hard walk and a hard lesson, but in Christ i have the strength to run the race to completion. I need to walk by FAITH and Not by sight. Moment by moment.

so i am off to hug the littles, take a shower and make a huge pot of meatballs and sauce and eggplant parm and what ever else i can whip up for my family today...hope everyone who reads my blog is blessed beyond measure by my Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus...and maybe by something i wrote also

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okay, since someone emailed me and asked why i switched to KONOS from Sonlight, here's the basic answer i gave...you may not agree with me, but that is fine...how boring life would be if everyone was like me!

as i mentioned in the "Why We Homeschool" post, i tried KONOS the first time we embarked upon homeschooling. I persoanlly wasn't ready for the "out of the schoolroom" box at that time. I firmly believe that if i would have used a "traditional boxed" curriculum THEN we would have been homeschooling all these years. We probably wouldn't have put the boys back in school (we never took out our dd, as she was thriving where she was)

as i see it, the beauty of KONOS is the exact thing that  can make you run screaming from it! YOU are the one who controls what you learn, how long you study it and when you feel it's appropriate! You can all be on the same subject...no buying 2 or 3 different levels (you can see a sample page at their website posted above or on my sidebar) You need to allow yourself to think differently than most of us have been raised. The best things i have ever read to show me that homeschooling was more than "school at home" are listed on my sidebar, along with the Elijah Company Catalog, which alas, i cannot find anymore! By reading about learning styles, how the public school system goes against natural styles of MOST children i started to long for KONOS again. We could see that M was struggling and would probably come back home. I had formed some close bonds with many of the homeschooling moms at our church, and i had gleaned much information and wisdom from them. That is how i became introduced to Sonlight.

Here was just what i needed! Great books, a relaxed philosophy and a GUIDE!!!! i wouldn't have to plan, plan, plan! How cool was that?  i quickly decided that the Holtzmann's were the smartest people in the world! (they are really great, and write much of the curriculum themselves) and we were blessed to be able to order a full Core in 1999 when M came home for the long haul. I have since used Core 4Alt, which i believe is discontinued now (a combo of Core 3&4), Core 5 which i was blessed to borrow, Core 7 (which is upper level American History and the title has changed) and Core K and Core PreK.

so, you may ask, since that is what this post is SUPPOSED to be about, how do they compare?

i caution you that this is MY opinion...i am not a paid spokesperson for either curriculum (although it would be nice!) and i am using only MY experiance in using both...so here it goes:

Scope and Sequence

neither one has a "traditional" scope and sequence as referred to by schools. Sonlight takes an approach to History, ala "The Well Trained Mind", learning History from the beginning. KONOS focuses on Character Traits in a Unit Study, and has a useful plan in the Compass to allow you t o go for the "traditional" approach if you desire to "stay on schedule" for paperwork purposes (some states require these things)

Subject Matter

i feel that they both adequately cover all subjects, being History, Science, Geography, Language, Social Stuff   and reasoning, etc. It's just that Sonlight is more laid out, and you have to dig around you KONOS volumes to find stuff. Since i am using KONOS now with younger kids, i have to do a bit more supplementing than i would have to with Sonlight. But i'm still learning that i don't need to have Science every other day either

Planning vs Instructor's Guides

here is the crux of the choice...do YOU want to plan out your unit? or would you rather just open up a guide, read down the list and check them off? Honestly, i spent about an hour a wek "reorganizing" the SL IG's to fit my schedule, which is okay. That actually has helped me with planning out the KONOS units. I knew if i didn't hit every single activity or book on the list, it was alright. I know the same goes for KONOS...i don't have to plan every little activity suggested to be doing a good job. I really like planning, making notes, etc. But there are some days when i wish i HAD an Instructor's Guide!

Cost

you can see at either sites the cost of both. There are myriad places to buy both used (my KONOS purchase was an Ebay windfall that allowed me to buy all three Volumes, the Compass and Index!) Many people who are blessed to buy Cores from Sonlight use them with multiple children and look at it as an investment. Since we have access to a decent library system, KONOS works for us well.  KONOS tends to be a one time purchase, Sonlight is a continuing cost. It's a diffeerent thing for each family. You need to look and decide what is best for your family at that time.

you do have to buy a Math curriculum with both Sonlight and KONOS. I feel that you have to supplement heavily with Phonics in the Sonlight LA curriculum in the lower levels. We very much enjoyed Sonlight's Science curriculum. Science is a little harder with KONOS, due to the nature of Unit Studies. Then again, there are many completely "scientific" units to choose from!

So that is my comparison of the two curriculums. I hope this was helpful to whomever has been curious about this. We enjoyed both, are enjoying KONOS right now. I would recommend Sonlight to many. The same for KONOS. It's just a matter of which fits your family better, as with any other curriculum. The best thing to do is PRAY, ask your beloved hubby and make the choice. Commit to ONE YEAR without switching. There's usually a "reorientation" mode that your kids will go into if you have pulled them out of school. Give them that time. They are worth it

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i did get up early! i didn't argue, but i stayed laying down for a few minutes and just said "Thank You Jesus for waking me up!" and hummed a hym before i opened my eyes and got up...it was almost 4:30, almost perfect! If i would have gotten UP and thanked Jesus and hummed a hymn, i would have had the extra 10 minutes before the littles got up.

the day has been pretty good to..i'm catching all our bad habits before they start to rear their heads...well, a few of them did manage to surface, but i was able to stop them before it was too out of control. the littles can keep occupied while i'm computing for about half an hour before they get antsy. So i have to limit my internet time to half hour blocks...such a sacrifice!

we started our KONOS "Obedience" unit today, starting with Authority and Light...funny thing is i seem to be following Heather in the same units by about 6 weeks, so i can peruse her blog for some great ideas! We are reading all sorts of lighthouse things...now i wish i would have kept a few of my Sonlight books, we could have reread "The Light At Tern Rock"...oh well! We'll look at lighthouses online and i asked over on HK's if anyone lives near a lighthouse to send us a postcard...hmmm, i wonder if AmyBeth has any lighthouse pictures?? We are going to memorize the books of the Bible (i'm hoping i don't have to resort to that silly Sunday School song!) we are working on the Books of the Law right now...i really want to keep up on this, so remember to ask me in a few weeks what books we are up to!  on the down side, out small lightbulb project didn't work! we were so bummed! hopefully hubbyman will be able to sort it all out

and speaking of books.....

i submitted my essay on Harry Potter to the Leaky forums. Knowing the hot topic that Harry can be, if anyone is remotely interested in reading it, i'll be happy to email  it to you. I will refrain from posting it here, but if it gets approved i'll happily provide the link!  I titled it "Harry Potter, Religion and Whatnot: A Christian Mom's Humble View"...i'm really hoping they approve it and don't want to edit out the Scripture refrences. It was fun to write and really made me rethink the whole thing all over again. What a blessing! To read more about Harry from a Christian pro standpoint, click on the link on my sidebar to John Granger's site.

and in other news...

so far today i have stayed pretty on track food-wise. i posted my ticker up top, but i highly doubt i lost almost 6 lbs in less than one week...i think my scale is whacked out!  

But i had very sweet fellowship this morning, and i just hopped online now to recharge a little...i found a neat "read thru the Bible in a year" site (sorry, i forgot who's blog i borrowed this from, sorry!) I've never seen a program broken down like this one is... the readings are broken down in to seven catagories, one for each day, instead of just reading straight thru...i like the variety! so since it's only week 2, i read Genesis 1-7 this morning. Tomorrows readings are out of History books, then Psalms, Poetry, Prophesy, Gospels and Epistles...pretty cool, right? Looking forwards to staying on track with this...i think that is my big goal this year...to "stay on track" and not lose focus on what i am doing in all areas of life...when you fly by the seat of your pants most of the times, you rarely see something thru to the end. So i'm determined this year to FINISH everything that i start. And i know when all things are committed to Jesus, that'll be so much easier!

So blessings to all this week! remember to keep praying to wake up early!

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i just finished planning out our next unit! i am just so tickled by all of this (even though my kids were not as i sat at the table for 4 hrs!) This was the reason many years ago that i switched from KONOS, after having a total breakdown and watching "Blue's Clues" as our standard curriculum, to Sonlight. They do all that "planner" stuff for you!

But somewhere in my heart of hearts i knew i'd go back to KONOS...i just needed a few years of learning HOW to read the lesson planner and make decisions (i surely hope that John or Sarita aren't reading this! ) And Sonlight is a great curriculum. I'm just a tad more partial to KONOS, i really like the character focus. I find i have to supplememnt a Science curriculum, but i think it's because the boys are young. Young J would sit at the table all day and do Science projects, and watch The Crocodile Hunter...alas, i will not allow him to own a croc at this point in his life, so Math has to be tackled

So anyhoo, we are going to plunge into "Obedience" come Tuesday, since the big people don't start school till Tuesday. I actually planned out all 12 weeks (don't faint JenIG) which is why it took me 4 solid hours...but i knew if i didn't, i'd not get back to it

We have a Medieval Feast planned for Feb 12...a Valentine themed feast i might add! I have grand ideas about banners with hearts, etc, but i have to remember i DO have boys  but i'll get a heart in there somewhere

So, then i have 4 weeks worth of horses...i don't quite know what horses have to do with Obedience, and i really don't LIKE horses, but Young J does...i really wanted to avoid the dissection thing with the cow eyeball that's in the Attentiveness unit, so now i have to read about horses for 4 weeks...at least that isn't till March. I also put 2 "light" weeks in there, one right after the "Kings and Queens" mini, and one next week to get us back into the school groove...so i really planned 14 weeks of school! This for ME, includes weekly library lists, a supply list if needed for the week and 14 sheets of planner pages, which look suspiciously close to the ones found in the "Sonlight Instuctors Guide"  Hey, it worked for me, what can i say?

Now my big challenge this unit will be to incorporate B into the day...he is 3, needs to keep busy, and i think he'll have some fun with some of it. I need to make a short list of some things he can do at the table, and get a few workbooks for him to destroy...errr, i mean work on  He can certainly listen to the stories and some of the other things. Young J has taught him to count and say some ABC's, so it's definately time to have some one-on-one with him at the "school/kitchen" table. I'm one of those moms who makes liberal use of the OneEyedMonster...but you'll be happy to know that "Blue's Clues" isn't our official curriculum anymore  There's way more interesting stuff than Joe anyhow. But it's just part of our day, and when i can sneak a break and watch FoodTV, i'm happy. As a matter of fact, my Young J thinks I watch Rachael Ray too much...

so what plans have you all made for school? i'd type more, but i think Rachael is coming on in 5 minutes....

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i know that's probably wrong, but it's one of my few limited German phrases...heeehehe!

i found a cool little freebie download

http://www.byki.com/download_viewer.shtml

it's Before You Know IT language software...found in my frustration over looking for sites where i could learn a few Dutch words, without the "naughty" words do we really need to know how to be vulgar in two languages??? but i digress....

this is a really neat little thing that you download then download a few lists...it then tells you how to say and spell the word, and you practice till you get it. very cool...you also can sign up for a weekly email list....i think we will have alot of fun with this !!!

tomorrow we are eating Mayflower foods...nothing but crackers (hardtack), butter and water...i really don't like beef jerky, but maybe i'll see if hubbyman can pick some up for the boys to try...should  be an interesting day...Young J is sleeping on the floor in the living room  for the rest of the week, he thinks it'll be fun...wait till i tell him he can only have one blanket and no pillow  and NO HEAT!!!  then again, the Pilgrims left in August, it probably wasn't too cold on the Mayflower

KONOS is  too much!

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not that anyone is actually reading, since no one has answered my last 2 posts ...HINT!!!!

just kidding, i know ya all love me/think i'm wacky

anyhoo, i had to hop on to do a little research for Young J on the diseases the colonists in Jamestown had gotten which, incedentally all have symptomatic diarhea...and YoungJ's comment (after much laughter and gross "drama" effects, thanks KONOS) was "too bad the didn't have "Unlce Gizmo" to help them feel better"...which is better known as "Pepto Bismal"

or, as JenIG would say

"asdfghjkl;'asdfghkll;'asdfghjkl;'

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the books i won on Ebay all had the bindings cut off, which was cool, as i would have done  the same had i gotten them new. But, they were cut in such a way that i can't 3 hole punch them...so i bought page protectors and whichever unit i'm using i will put in my working binder in the page protectors

But what to do with the books themselves you may be wondering (or not, but since it's my blog, i can say that!  )

well, here's what i purchased at Walmart

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v235/poconobarb/2005_0919001.jpg

each book has it's own expanding folder box, in which each unit has it's own section...pretty good, eh?? there's even room in there for my own notes, extra craft notes and the timeline figures (which were included in the auction) I am so excited about all this, and my hubbyman has heard this all weekend now, so it's your turn!

i already have my unit chosen and in the working binder...now i have to schedule the daily stuff...funny thing, this is what kept me from using KONOS all this time...i really couldn't get a handle on t he planning the very first time i tried to homeschool (see my "taking the KONOS plunge" post) because i was so stuck into what "school" looked like...i even had a school planner book (which i know some people use with great success, i'm not knocking it! ) it just didn't work for my "out of the box" kids...looking back now, i wish i would have asked for more support from my friend who was KONOS-ing and loosened up a bit...especially since we lived in NJ, which is one of the easiest HS states to live in...now, here in PA, i'll have to report and do portfolios...but i have 2 years before i have to do that with Jonah, so i should have my scheduleing/record keeping down pat by then!

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oh, the madness has set in...i have my initial plan for 6 weeks laid out (complete with printable calandars from Donna Young's great site!) i have a booklist for my hubbyman to bring to the library by his work (a much better one than what we have up here in the mountains) and now i am down to the actual planning out of days...now i'm stuck!

okay, there are several ways to go with this, as anyone who uses KONOS knows about...so i have to really think and pray on this one to make the best of the unit (Early Settlers/Thanksgiving) i'm so into "they need Math every day" and maybe they don't...i have to really learn to "let go and let God" on this KONOS journey...and i'm so excited about that!

(BTW, anyne who reads this and uses KONOS be glad to share what you do...i'd love to hear about it!)

we had a really great weekend...my 6 yr old was in our  new church's "Festival of Praise" Sunday evening. we have only been at this church for 2 months...and not even very consistently due to car troubles! And they asked Jonah to be in the "Rainbow Choir", which is the kids choir...they are so loving and accepting! Jonah is not a typical "sit still and obey" type kid...he's more of a "wave to the Pastor while he's in the middle of his 3 point sermon" type kid...and you know what? The Pastor waves back!

unfortunately this is a smaller church with an "elder" population, and then a small bunch of younger families with young kids (under 13) so my older boys will not come. My oldest son will at least come to the services though. But i think we have found a great place to heal and grow.

so i'm off to shower and then start the school day...maybe we'll take in some air out on the deck and water the bean plants...after all tomorrow can be another Math day!

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