I can't believe how much time has past since I added anything to my blog. 

For the most part, I didn't have anything great to write about.  I am had several months of just being a wife and mom.  I love my job, but I think that it would be boring to read about.  ;-)    Also, my husband went back to school online so the computer is being used almost every night by him.   This really limits my computer time, which is something I wanted to start doing anyway.

God's timing is so prefect.  Just this week, I came across a ladies blog that mentioned they were starting a co-op at a church here in Gaffney.  I emailed her and found out there were only 7 spaces left.  We took three of those spaces.  Starting September, we will be part of a co-op here in town.  We have yet to meet any homeschooler that lives within a hour of us, so we are pretty excited.  We are simply people that get excited with little things.  ;-)

Well, I have a math lesson that I have to teach before school is done, so I had better get off the computer. 

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We are officially on Christmas break.  Today is laundry and packing day.   We are all excited and looking forward to seeing some friends in a couple of days.  We are taking 2 weeks off from school.  I hope we don't forget everything while we are gone.  We had a little trouble coming back from the 2 weeks break at Thanksgiving and taking another 2 weeks off so soon concerns me a little bit.  But not enough to take school books with us.

We will be reading "Farmer Boy" by Laura Ingell Wilder on the road.  We are able to get a lot of real aloud books covered while in the car. 

Since my last post, I have calmed down a bit.  The world has their way of celebrating Christmas and we can chose how we celebrate Christmas here.  I have to remember that I can't change the world to be like me.   Actually, I would chose for the world to be like Christ and not like me at all.  I am not the one to model.  I just have to be at peace in my heart that we are celebrating Christmas in a way that honors Christ and his birth.    I am just very disgusted with the whole buying and spending money thing.  Next year, we are going to start early and make gifts for family members.  Less money spent in the store for gifts that no one really needs.

Merry Christmas,

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I can't believe that is has been over 2 weeks since I blogged anything.  The days go by so quickly that it makes my head spin.  I can't seem to get everything done that I need to do and then there is really no time for the 'want-to-do' things.

We just finished week 15 of school.  It feels good to be this far into it. We even took 2 weeks off for Thanksgiving.  Last year, we had finished 12 weeks when we stopped for Christmas.   Staying on top of school sure reduces the stress.  It is nice to be able to take time off and not feel so far behind.

I am still working to get a schedule.  I have no idea why this is such a hard concept for me.     I have prayed and prayed about it, but anything I try works for only a few days at the most.   

It has been in the 70's for several days now.  I am so happy that it is almost Christmas and it is so warm.  We did have a very cold night last weekend and our pipes froze.  I didn't know that was a concern here in SC.  They thawed out in the afternoon sun.   

The warm weather is making it hard to get into the Christmas spirit.  I can't believe that we are leaving for Michigan in 6 days.  I hope the snow doesn't all melt before we get there.  We want to see snow for Christmas.  Then it can go away.

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Last Friday, we went on an apple orchard field trip.  It was so nice to get out.  The best part was that we met lots of new homeschooling friends.  Most are using My Father's World curriculum.  Thanks Paige for inviting us.   I tried to upload a picture, but my pictures are too big and I don't have enough room.  I will work on fixing that problem at some later point in time.

The kids loved having the cider and donuts.  The best part for me was meeting with other homeschooling moms.  We have been in SC almost a year and this is the first homeschooling mom that I have met and they all live in NC (lol).  But not to far away.  Meeting Paige was a gift from God.  He brings people in our lives just went we need them the most.   God is so good!!!

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The two younger kids had a dentist appt. today.    We hurried to get school started today, then we left for the dentist.  We got there on time (a miracle in itself) only to find out that their appts were really yesterday.  Good grief. 

I was thankful that they were able to squeeze the kids in today, so we didn't waste the trip.  I really need to find a way to get organized. 

We did get school done today with some free time this afternoon.  So the day ended on a good note.

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Today was a great day.  I feel like I got a lot done.  We had school done by 2 pm.  We had time for a library trip before it was time to start dinner.  We also had a load of clothes drying on the line outside before we left. 

After getting home, I got the house vacuumed while dinner was cooking.  Since I was able to vacuum, it means the house was pretty much picked up. 

Days like these don't happen very often at our house, so I am going to consider today a great day.  ;-) 

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Today was a very relaxing sort of day.   It is the Lord's Day and I believe it is a day to rest so I don't mind getting nothing done.  But, it does make Monday a little bit more crazy.

I am still trying to come up with a schedule for us.  Each day seems so different that it is hard to get a rough draft of a schedule.  I get so overwhelmed by the whole thing. 

I am just talking out loud here so please understand the reason for the ramblings.

My 7 year old will sleep as long a she can.  She has been known to sleep until 10:30 am.  My 5 year old is up at about 7:30.  The 3 year old is up at 7:00 am if not before.  He has been known to be beside my bed asking for food at 6:00.  UGH!  The oldest takes after me.  '-).   

The 3 year old wants breakfast ASAP and is now able to help himself to cereal if I happen to not jump right out of bed.  About a week ago, he came into our bedroom about about 4 am (who knew that there even was a 4 am?) asking for food.  I told him to go back to bed.  My husband wandered into the kitchen about 6am to find a used bowl, cereal and milk still on the table.  The little rascal had breakfast and when back to bed.

So, my problem is, do I wake the oldest at about 7 so that I can feed them all at the same time first thing in the morning.  The good thing would be that we could start school much earlier.  The bad:  I would have a unhappy 7 year old (she is a good sport and would not be mad, but she would not be happy at all).   Also,  I would not have any time to start laundry, have quiet time or exercise. 

The other side is that I get some housekeeping things done first and the 7 year old is wide awake and everyone has had at least 1 breakfast (some have 2 by this point).  But the down side is the kids are in full play mode and don't want to start school, I am busy getting things done but feeling anxious that the day is quickly passing and we have not started school.  We start school late, we have a lot more interuptions and we run right until it is time to start dinner.

I have been praying about this for quite a while now.  I have found other peoples schedules and think "Wow" this is the answer to my prayers.  Yet, I can't seem to implement any of the ideas with success.   Someday, I will get a workable schedule (I hope).

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The weeks are really going fast this year.  Fall is really here.  There was a little chill in the air today and many leaves fell to the ground over night.

I have not posted much lately.  I can't seem to think of anything to say.  It seems like I was really tired and dragging this week.  Several days, we worked until dinner time to get school done.  But, we did get it done every day.  Hurray!!!  Other than that, I cooked dinner, did laundry and cleaned house.  Nothing to exciting to write about.  ;-)

We just finished week number 7 of My Father's World. 

Jessica made a paper canoe this week and today she helped me make bread as part of her school project.  Julia made a water filter for science today using gravel and sand.

Friday is our day for nature study.  I love to be outside with a clipboard and look for something to draw.  I can't draw at all, but I am noticing a lot of new things that I never noticed before.  The girls are enjoying it somedays and other days, they just want to get it over with so they can play.  Since I am very new to observing nature, I don't have a clue what most things are.  Funny how I always loved the outdoors, but I never really cared to identify the different types of flowers and trees.  Now, I am sorry that I missed so much.  My dad is a great wealth of information about the outdoors and I never let the information sink in.  Now, he lives 15 hours away and I am on my own.  I am trying very hard to find books at the library to help indentify things.

If you have found a book that you love and find very helpful at idenifying trees and flowers, please let me know.  I think I will have to purchase a couple, but I only want to purchase something that will be very helpful. 

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We have completed six weeks of school.  According to SC law,  we have to have 180 days of school.  We have completed 30 days.  We are 1/6 of the way done.  It doesn't seem possible.  The time really went by fast.  Praise God. 

I can really see God's hand in our school this year.  He is using the 1st and 2nd grade curriculums to grow my faith in many ways.  I am learning so much.  And so are the kids.  LOL!   The verses are really hitting home to me. 

There is no way that I can memorize these verses about using pleasant words and guarding my tongue with my 5 year old and then yell at her without feeling REALLY guilty.  It really is painful, but I am praising God that he is using these verses to bring me to the foot of the cross.  

The last few days have been wonderful.  Several times, I have been ready to say something (that I would regretted) and I have stopped -- then she says or does something that makes me so thankful that I didn't say what I was going to say.  I have been missing these special moments with her because of my awful tongue.  Lord, please help me guard me tongue because I can't do it alone.

On a lighter note.  This week was a catch-up week.  Because of Labor Day, we were one day behind.  This week would not be a full week because of getting ready to leave and then leaving on Friday (tomorrow).  So we used this week to finish last week's schedule and then we spent some extra time doing book basket, Bible verses and individual reading. 

I have really enjoyed reading many blogs lately.  I have spent to much time on the computer, to be honest.  But,  I really like seeing how God is working in other lives.  This is my new hobby.  Those pictures are NEVER going to get into a scrapbook at this rate.  LOL!

Until next week,

Kerry

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Today was so peaceful considering the last week.  I am so thankful that God is helping me.  Some days are good and some not so good.  But this was a great day.

If I would just remember to take a deep breath and think before I opened my mouth, every day would be like today.

Praising God for today,

Kerry

Our new Bible verse is:  Proverbs 16:24

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." 

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We have had some fun this the projects that are listed in My Father's World curriculm.  Since we are studying about Native Americans, today, Jessica and I made tepees.  Yesterday, she made a wigwam. 

Last week,  Julia was studying sorting and patterns for math.  She helped me pick out candy to buy.  We bought M&M and Whoppers.  All 3 kids sorted and made patterens like crazy.  They were laughing and playing while learning.  In the end, they got to eat their project.  ;-)

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Here is a picture of our classroom.  It is also the kitchen table. 

My mom found a shower curtain with a world map on it.  We use that to cover the table during school.  Somehow, the table always has sticky spots even after being washed off 2 and 3 times, and this covers any missed sticky spots.  Also,  it is great to just point to the area on the map while reading instead of getting up and going over to the map that was on the wall.  Since we have traveled back to Michigan (from South Carolina) several times the last year, the kids know the route and the states and can find them on the map.   They also have fun pointing at different places and asking the name of the place.  We have had so much fun with this map because it is within reach.

My husband hung the white board on the wall just a couple weeks ago.  The kids love it.  I don't write on it very much, but they write on it all the time.   Jessica wrote her Bible verse on it yesterday JUST FOR FUN.  The girls are teaching Joshua his letters with this board also.  All this learning is happening while having fun. 

This is something that I really love about homeschooling.  I get to watch them learn while having so much fun.

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We have finished 3 weeks of school so far this year.  I am so happy.  Usually it takes us some time to get going, but this year just clicked.  I love the new curriculum, My Father's World, that we are using this year.

I found some neat childrens books that the library.  There is a whole series by Carl Sommer.  Each book teaches a virtue in a funny and easy to understand way.  We have read about obeying parents (No One Will Ever Know), learning to share (Tied Up In Knots) and about how helping others makes us happier (Can You Help Me Find My Smile?).   All the books use animals to teach the lesson.  My kids are loving them and we are going to keep getting books from this series.

Well,  I am off to make some Chocolate Zucchini Bread with some zucchini that needs to be used.  It is so good it.  It is more like dessert than bread.  It is the only way I can get the kids to eat zucchini. ;-)

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Last night we found a small turtle in our front yard.    I think it was probably carried here by our dog.  The shell was chipped on one side and we thought the turtle must be hurt.  We put the turtle on top of the hose cart to look at it closer.

During dinner, the turtle disappeared.  We doubted that the turtle was alive so we were very shocked that it was gone from something so high.  It would have fallen about 3 feet to get off the hose cart.

Julia, our 5 year old, loves animals with every ounce of her being.  Any shape, size, color -- she loves them all.  She has wanted a turtle for a long time.   She was heartbroken that the turtle was gone.  She spent all evening, right up until bedtime looking for the turtle.  During her bedtime prayers, she asked God to bring the turtle back.

God once again proved how much he cares about the prayers of his children.  This morning when I walked out to the garden.  The dog stopped to look at something and then very quickly walked on.  I stopped to look and there was the turtle. 

Julia watched the turtle for a long time.  She draw a picture of the turtle for her nature project that is assigned on Fridays.  We looked it up and my best guess is that is was an Eastern Box Turtle.   After a long time of watching it, we put it in the garden.  It was gone the next time we went outside.  I wish I would have thought to grab my camera, but I didn't think about it until later.

God is so good to us.  He cares so much about the little details.  He showed himself faithful to a very happy 5 year old girl today.

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Here is the picture of the ships for history class.  It was a very fun project.  Joshua (3) was still in pirate mode for the picture.  Julia is 5 and Jessica is 7. 

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We made boats for history class.  Jessica was studying about Christopher Columbus so we made 3 boats for history class.  All 3 kids had a great time with this one.  Joshua is all boy so he decided that his was a pirate ship.  I guess every good story needs a bad guy.

We decided to try them in the bath tub.  I didn't know if they would even float.  The girls' ships both floated and they had fun racing them down the tub.  Joshua's boat sank right to the bottom, but even that didn't stop the fun. 

I had a picture to post with this, but I will have to work on that a little longer.  The picture was so huge, you have to scroll way over to see the kids.  I will get this up as soon as possible.

Kerry

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I got this information from an article in the August 'Answers in Genesis' monthly newsletter and I thought it was very interesting.

As a homeschool teacher, I have covered the information about the reasons for the day, the month and the year time periods.  They all have reasons based on astronomy, but the 7 days in a week can't be explained using astronomy.

From Answers in Genesis article, "What we find is that the seven-day week has no basis in astronomy whatsoever.  It actually comes from the Bible.  Its origin is given in Genesis chapter one, where we're told that God created everything in six days and rested for one."

I had never thought about it before, but it sure is a neat piece of information.  

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Being a homeshooling teacher has made me ask a lot of questions that I never thought of before.  I am a rather simple person and I take a lot of things for granted without digging for details.  I think this is a blessing and a curse at the same time.

Life tends to be black and white for me.  My husband is the opposite.  He questions everything.   This is good because he asks a lot of questions that I would never think to ask.

I have a child just like my husband.  She questions everything.  As we read our books about history and science, she wants to know how did they figure that out? why is that?  how is that?  do they know for sure?  is it really that way? ect.  And this was only kindergarten!!!

For me, it was because it said so.  Of course, I used the Bible as the authority but beyond that, I didn't question much.  Now, I have to question everything to try to get an answer for her.  Now, I am starting to notice how many books, that are supposed to be non-fiction,  have evolution theories scattered throughout the book.  If I don't believe the evolution parts, how can I believe anything else that the book has to offer?

Psalm 1:1 says, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers."  

Recently, I have begun to think that  reading a book to the kids that obviously goes against Scripture, such as evolution, is giving the kids counsel from the wicked.  Mainly, because my daughter questions everything so much and wants to know that what we are reading is for sure the honest true.    She also loves fiction stories, but she has to know up front what type of story this is. 

After going to the musuem last week and seeing so much evolution presented as fact, I have done a lot of thinking.  I believe the creation story to be the only truth. I just always ignored evolution.  Now, I have to search for details to explain it.  My daughter is completely blown away, thinking that the scientists say that they "know" how evolution happened and yet it is not real according to the Bible.  The kids have the knowledge that God created the Earth and everything in it, but it causes a lot of confusion to see so much evolution presented as fact. 

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Today we did the first day of week 2.   Jessica is in 2nd grade and Julia is in 1st.  Joshua is preschool and more excited about the title than doing any work.   I only have him do work when he wants to be at the table with us.

We started school 2 weeks ago, on July 31.  We did Monday and Tuesday then we left town for a long weekend.  After we got back, we finished the week by doing school on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (last week).

This year I switched curriculum.  We are doing My Father's World this year.  Today is only day 6, but I love it.  After the first day,  Jessica thanked God for helping us find this new curriculm.   Both girls really love it.

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We took the kids to The Schiele Museum of Natural History in Gastonia, North Carolina.   The displays and layout of the museum was nice.  The animal displays were great and we like the Native American room.    The price was not bad either.

I was quite dissappointed in the evolution theme that was over much of the museum.  I believe that God created the heavens and earth.  I understand that not everyone shares my belief but I don't care to have their belief pushed on my family.  The museum even had a whole wall of displays dedicated to how humans evolved from the monkeys.

We did take a nice walk through the outside nature paths that they had set up.  We enjoyed that.

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