The summer has gone quickly and it's hard to believe, but we are going back to school today.  Back to school.... meaning we are starting school.  ;o)  The girls are excited, as usual.  My son, however, is not!  Of course, that is nothing unusual either! 

DD15 will be in 10th grade this year.  I just can't get over that!  She is growing up so quickly.  She has many classes this year.  She picked out several extra electives including Essentials of Communication, Home Economics, and College Planner.  She will have a full plate!  She is all excited about starting back to school.  Last night she was ready and went to bed at 8:30 .  Funny how different kids are.

DS14 will be in 9th grade.  My, my!  2 highschoolers.... I guess, I'm getting old.  He would much prefer to go to work than sit and do school work.  He is a good hard worker. 

DD9 will be in 4th grade.  She is looking forward to her new curriculum.  She seems like she is an in between of her sister and brother.  Maybe not so enthusiastic, but still excited!   Not only will this be our first day back to school, but tonight will also be a special day for this daughter.  We are going to a mother daughter seminar.  It is meant for younger daughters, so my oldest is too old!  lol  It will be on modesty and girly stuff.  I'm really looking forward to this.  We are also going with friends.  We will go out to eat with the girls and just have a nice night.  Reminds me.... I probably should charge my batteries!  I hope I can take some pictures.

Well, the morning is getting away... I should get busy.  I'm going to try to remember to write in here more often this year.  I probably wont post as many pictures here, because it just takes more effort!  I will if I get things that are good for homeschooling.  If you want to look at more pictures.... you can visit my photography blog that is posted to the right! 

Many blessings to you.  Have a great day.

Summer is winding down quickly.  I have heard many complain a lot about the weather... which is true, it has rained quite a bit.  I find it quite funny that people just take comfort in complaining.  If it is too hot, they complain, if it is rainy, they complain, if it is too cold, they complain..... why can't we just be content?  Personally, I have found the rain to be quite refreshing.  It saves me from watering my garden.  I'm sure I can find other positives to go along with those. 

We are starting to gear up for the upcoming school year. Not too many changes to the curriculum this year.  Maybe I'll go through that at another time. 

This summer has been exciting.  At the begninning we were able to watch a mama Robin.  She layed 3 eggs which produced 3 healthy baby birds.  It was wonderful to watch them day to day grow up and eventually fly off.  I think the kids enjoyed it too... but I was completely fascinated.  Below is a collage I put together of the progression.  The middle picture is of the mama Robin. 

Let's see... oh that was so exciting that we decided to have baby bunnies.  So, we put our bunnies together and resulted with 7 baby bunnies.  They are currently 3 weeks old.  Oh so cute! 

This is a picture of 4 of them that was taken yesterday.  You can go to my photography blog to see more pictures and go back and see them right from the first day they were born. 

The older two kids went to summer camp.  dd15 chose the drama camp, same as last year.  She has really enjoyed going and being part of the drama workshops.  Below is one of the skits they did.  She is the one wearing the sunglasses.

Our son will be coming home today from camp.  I'm praying they didn't get too rained out considering they were staying in tents and cooking their own meals over the fire.  We'll see how he made out.  I'm looking forward to getting him in a couple of hours. 

I'm going to try to keep up on this blog a little better... we'll see how that goes.  My intentions are always good.  Somehow time just gets away with me & I end up putting things off.  Not one of my best qualities. 

I need to go and get a few things done before we have to leave.  Have a great rest of summer.  Many blessings!

Yesterday a friend and I went to a used curriculum sale.  Our 9 year old daughters went along.  Family Life in Bath, NY put it on.  I have been to a used curriculum sale, but on a much, much smaller scale!  We made the decision to go at the last minute and scrambled to put our things together to make the trip.  I'm so glad we went!  It was very neat to be in a place with so many other homeschoolers!  I didn't sell as many of my things as I had hoped, but I made enough to buy the last thing I needed for next year that I also found there!  God is good! 

I definitely would like to go back next year.  We aslo chuckled at the different people there.... They were definitely out on a mission!  List in hand, they knew what they were looking for.  One man came with his list and a walkie talkie.  He said the walkie talkie was his connection to his brain!  Later, we met "the Brain", his wife!  lol 

Please forgive me for my absence.  I haven't forgotten about this blog.  This one just takes more time and energy to do than my photography blog. 

What we've been up to:

Basically trying to keep our heads out of the water!  It's a constant battle trying to keep up with the school work, activities, and just daily life!  The kids are all working hard at trying to finish things up for the year.  I have piles and piles of papers everywhere in my computer room as I am organizing and putting together their portfolios.  We have our end of the year evaluations on the 9th.  I will be so glad when that is over.  I will be able to clean this room up! 

The kids are all in sports.  dd15 is in softball, ds13 is playing baseball and dd9 is in her first year of soccer.  DH has been so busy with side jobs that the running the kids to practices and games falls into my lap.  It doesn't make it easy when they all have something going on in the same night! 

I will have to take time to post a few pictures.  The kids are growing up so quickly.  Right now, I need to head to bed, considering it's already 2 hours past my normal bedtime.  I had the energy to work on portfolios and got alot accomplished tonight!  Yah!  Sometimes we have to do what we need to do when we have the time.... oh and the energy!  lol 

Hope your school year is going well.... & close to coming to an end for the  year.  It's a good feeling to get another year behind us & start looking forward to the new one ahead.  Many blessings to you. 

DD 9 was learning to measure... and what a better way to learn it than by hands on!  She had a grand time playing in the water, but then again, what child doesn't?    She had a review worksheet that wanted her to put what each thing equaled... ex. 1 quart = __________cups 

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Things have been keeping steady-busy.  The girls are both in the high school play, which will be in a week and a half.  We are looking forward to that.  I'll be glad to not have to run to town every day!  However, with that being said, baseball, softball and soccer will all be kicking into gear about that time too.  We have already started some of those practices, but only sporadic. 

We are all anxiously awaiting the warmer weather.  Things in the garden have been popping up... which is exciting.  I love to see the new growth of Spring.  I love to look out daily and see more and more green. 

Happy Spring!

It's been awhile since I've posted again.  I really like using the homeschool blogger and I especially like that it is made up of many Christian women.  However, I find that I don't post here often because of the rigamarow of trying to get pictures on here.  I usually use Flickr to upload my pictures and then cut and paste from there to put on here.  With Flickr I have reached their quota because I'm not a paid member... although I can continue to keep pictures on there the older pictures will no longer show up on this blog.  Any suggestions how to make this easier?

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We are still working on Prairie Primer, but not to it's fullest.  For the most part we are working through reading the books and we do a few of the other activities.  DS13 snapped a picture of us reading together.... although he took the picture because of the dog was snuggled up between us sleeping. 

DD9 has also been working through her Math-U-See.  She is in Beta.  She is progressing nicely & little by little she is understanding it.  She has been learning how to count money and also to add larger numbers. 

DD15 has been busy, busy, busy!  She has been practicing for the High School Play.  They practice daily.  Today her costume came in that we had to purchase for her.  She has to wear a poodle skirt for parts of the play.  She will also have 2 other costumes, in which they will provide.  Her favorite part of the costume is the glasses and the shoes! 

DS13's baseball practices are finally starting up, which he has been anxiously awaiting!  He moves up to a bigger league... so it should be exciting.   In January he got glasses, so here is a picture of him with his specs!  So handsome!

I guess, it's been nearly a month since my last entry.  The holidays are now over, sadly.  We had a nice Christmas and New Years; along with all the other activities surrounding that time.  I'll do a quick catch up....

In December there was 2 church plays.  Our youngest daughter goes with my Aunt and Uncle to their youth group and so she was in their program this year.  They basically did readings, singing and played the bells.  I love to hear them play the bells.  The second play was at our church.  A friend of mine directed it and I stood around and felt helpless helped her as much as I could.  It turned out great!  It was called "Cooking Up Christmas".  Both of the girls were in it.  The oldest was the main character.  It went extremely well.

Christmas went by quickly.  We had a nice Christmas; quiet, but nice. 

New Years we went to a friends home to celebrate.  There were many families from the church.  We had a wonderful time playing games and visiting. 

We went bowling with some friends.

Our friend is engaged to a lady from Thailand. She is actually American, but has been in Thailand as a missionary for the past 15 years or so. She came home for Christmas and came over and cooked up some Thai food for us and another family. I enjoyed it all very much!

The first pan to the left has a sauce cooking in it. It was a peanutty sauce that was for on the satay chicken. The middle pan is actually a soup that has lemon grass in it. The 3rd pan is green curry chicken. The back pan that has a lid on it has brown rice.

This is only a few of the packages she had.  I did not like the Wasabi green peas!  But I loved the other nuts beside it! 

This is Satay Chicken.  I'm not sure what the batter was.... but we grilled it on the grill for a time.  It was very cold and dark out, so we brought it in and finished cooking it in a skillet. 

She left the leftovers here.... I enjoyed them for the next two days!!!  Actually the next morning I got up and was hungry for it, so I had some for breakfast.  Nothing like spicy food for breakfast! 

This week we have been busy trying to get back into routine.  It's been hard over the past couple of months.  We have only been getting 4 day weeks in.  Thankfully, we are not too behind because we started earlier this year, but it means we wont finish as early as we had hoped.  So.... we really need to stay focused and keep those 5 day weeks going.  

DD15 made it for the High School play again this year.  So, her practices started and that will keep us busy.  The play will be the first weekend in April.  She's excited because she gets to sing a solo this year.  How exciting! 

Speaking of needing to stay focused, I should get going.  Have a blessed day! 

Memory Verse: Matthew 14:19…Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.

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I have been really bad about doing these Blogger School Assignments.  This one didn't take much thought.... .....So, I thought I could quickly make a post.  The assignment is to give a recipe that uses under 6 ingredients and is a quick easy meal.  I also like when I have an easy meal to make that everyone likes! 

Sometimes we call it Hamburg Casserole and other times Green Bean Casserole.  Unfortunately, I don't have amounts to give you because I'm a dump-kind-of-gal.  I'll give approximates.

1 lb hamburg

2 cans of green beans

6-8-10 potatoes - cubed (how do you measure that anyway??? depends on size and how much you want!)

2 cans of cream soup (mushroom or celery - or one of each is what I usually do.  However, I'll use whatever I have in the house!)

1 onion - diced

2 cups of shredded cheese ( I always use pizza cheese for everything!  mozzerella and cheddar)

Fry your hamburg up with chopped onion and then drain the grease.  In your baking pan layer or mix together the rest of the ingredients except the cheese.  Cover with foil and bake until potatoes are tender.  Usually around 45 minutes.  Once the potatoes are tender cover with cheese and put back in the oven until the cheese browns. 

I apologize, I don't have a finished picture.  Please let me know if you tried it. 

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I was just thinking there is another one that we do that is also quick and easy.  When we have spaghetti and meatballs, I usually will make extra spaghetti so that I can make Fried Spaghetti in a day or so after .    I don't have measurements only because I use whatever is left over and I go by the looks of it.

Cooked spaghetti or macaroni (plain)

eggs

butter (usually 1/2 stick)

sliced cheese (or shredded would work also)

In the frying pan, melt butter.  Once the butter is melted put in the noodles until they are coated with the butter. Then I will start adding eggs.  It usually takes around 4 or 5 eggs.  I want the spaghetti to look well coated with eggs.  Then I will add sliced cheese.  Probably about 4 or 5 slices.  Salt and Pepper.  I will fry this until the egg is cooked well.  My favorite part is when it starts to brown a little. 

We have been known to add green peppers, onions, pepperoni, ham.... The possibilities are endless.  My husband's favorite is when I use macaroni & I prefer spaghetti.  I guess it's a texture thing!  He likes to put ketchup on it.  It can be used as a meal or as a side dish. 

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You can go and visit Blogger Friend School HERE and get more great recipes!  Many Blessings!

Our homeschool group was invited to go to another family's home for a Thanksgiving Feast.  We started out by visiting with the different animals that they have there.  The kids were able able to pet & feed them.  (faces have been blackened out on purpose, to save identity of the children that aren't mine)

There was deer.

There were Emu's.  I never knew what an Emu was until Friday! 

Funny looking birds, aren't they?

There were goats.

There was a donkey.

There was a pony.

Afterwards we had a feast.  We tried to think of things that would've been at the first Thanksgiving.  We also had other things that.... well, just sounded good!    She had a nice display set up. 

We had stuffed clam.  These were very good.

There were mussels there.  (I was too afraid to try them!)  I'm usually good about trying everything, but I just couldn't get myself to try them. 

My son has been going fishing for Steelhead fish.  So, we broiled some and took it with us... along with the venison sausage you can see in the corner of the picture.  We figured at the first Thanksgiving they would have had fish and venison.  You can also see in the bottom corner chicken. 

There were deserts.... Pilgrim hats.  I'm told these were very good. 

Below is a picture of "acorns".  They were doughnuts with chocolate, nuts and a pretzel.  Yumm!  Some other foods there was nuts, pumpkin pie, canned jellies, canned vedgies, cornbread, bread rolls & cake.

Before the feast, each of us was given names of different people that would've been at the first Thanksgiving with a little history behind who they were.  Below is my daughter.  She was "Dancing Moccasins". 

The host had games planned and also crafts for the kids to enjoy.  We had a very nice time. 

We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! 

I always read these from mominpa's blog.  I thought I'd give it a try.

The Simple Woman's Day Book

FOR TODAY...

Outside my window... There are snow flurries with temperatures of 32 degrees.  Brrrrrrrr.....

I am thinking... This is going to be a good week for soups! 

I am thankful for...  my family and friends.  I'm also thankful that I'm feeling more like myself than I have in over 2 years!  I'm feeling a sense of relief.... for whatever reason that may be.  God will show me in time.  I'm Thankful that I have a God who loves and cares for me.... just the way I am!

From the learning rooms... dd8 will be moving onto the next book in MUS (Beta) this week!  Yay!!!  We will also be moving onto Plum Creek in our Prairie Primer studies.  The older two are still plugging away with their normal studies... nothing too much to note. 

From the kitchen... I'm smelling the aroma's of cinnamon pop tarts.  But later for supper we will enjoy steak salads & homemade bread.

I am wearing... my jammies.

I am creating... things I can't talk about.  ;o)  Don't ya know that Christmas is around the corner?

I am going... to go and get ready for the school day after I finish this entry. 

I am reading...  "The Shack" by Wm Paul Young.  I just started this book this morning.  My brother first read it and recommended it, then my mother read it and lent it to me to read.  My friends were talking about it this weekend & wanted my input.... so, we'll see.  I'm curious to see what's all the fuss been!  Seems as though some like it and some don't.  I'll keep ya posted.

I am hoping... to get a full week of school work done this week!  Seems as though the past several weeks we have only had 3 and 4 days in a week! 

I am hearing... the humming sounds of my youngest daughter as she enjoys her breakfast.  Also the sounds of my youngest daughter and her brother playing a game as they eat. 

Around the house... There is a sense of peace and quietness. 

One of my favorite things... is when my kids are all getting along and I can sit back and watch them enjoy each other's company.

A few plans for the rest of the week: WE have a full week this week!  Wed- Missionette's and Royal Rangers, Thurs -Women's Ministry, Fri- Homeschool Group, Fri- Youth Group, Sat- Decorate an outside tree at Church & Chili dinner, Sun- Installation Service for the new pastor & Spaghetti Dinner

Here is picture thought I am sharing...  It'll look like this again soon.  (this was taken 10-29-08)

You can join this group here:

The Simple Woman's Day Book

I can't figure out how to add this UTube to this blog.  I'm not big on political debate, but this is worth the watch!  I think we need to stand up for our beliefs!  They are in jeopardy. 

Video on Values

Memory Verse: Psalms 13:6 NIV
I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.

My Blogger Friend School Assignment:  Post your favorite fall recipe/recipes to share. 

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One of the things I do look forward to is the different types of foods this time of year.  I like to make soups, crockpot recipes & various things in the oven.  I like the smell of different things cooking, but also how it warms the house up.  I had posted about this recipe last year.... but it has been one of our favorite recipes when the weather gets colder, so I'll post it again.  (however this time it even includes pictures!)

Potato Dumpling Soup -

(original recipe from Cooks.com, but I've adapted it to our tastes.)

First, cube potatoes (approx. 8), dice onions (1 lg.) & celery (2 stalks).  Put in large pot and cover with water.  Cook this until all are tender.

While your potatoes, onions and celery are cooking make your dumplings. 

(2 Cups of flour & 2 eggs, salt and pepper.  I also add a bit of milk to help moisten it so that it forms a nice dough ball.)

Once the vedgies are moist, add 2 cans of evaporated milk, a Tbsp or two of sugar, 2 Tbsp. butter & some parsley.  I have used fresh or dried.

Turn down to a simmer.  Once it comes back to a boil, you can add your dumplings by scraping pieces of dumpling off with a fork.  I have found that if you dip your fork into the soup it comes off very quickly. 

It only takes a few minutes for the dumplings to cook.  When ready, serve!

This is a favorite for everyone in my family!  (if you know my son... that is a challenge!)

This serves probably about 8.  (give or take)

This is an easy assignment!  For the Blogger Friend School challenge we are to write about what we never leave home without.  There are 3 things that come to mind here....

1.  My purse - obviously!  This is just a necessity!  It carries everything in it that I may need throughout my time away from home.  My wallet, checkbook, chap-stick, maybe a stick or two of gum, sometimes my cellphone (however I usually forget it!), Tylenol, my calendar, my favorite pen & usually lots of garbage that it seems to accumulate!

2.  A bottle of water - I always have a bottle of water with me.  Very rarely do I forget it.  I keep the case of water by the door, so therefore as I'm putting on my shoes I usually grab one going out the door.  Yes, I like it warm.  Don't ask me why.  I remember back a few years ago.... our old pastor always drank his water warm & I thought he was weird!  lol  Go figure.  I guess, I fit right in with him.  ;o)

3.  My camera - My camera goes with me MOST of the time.  However, there are times I do leave it behind knowing I just wont have time to use it.  Ya just never know when that perfect picture will happen.... and you only can capture it, if you have the camera with you!  I love my camera. 

Oh.... I guess, I best not forget the children!  I most always have them with me. 

(Oh, by the way for anyone wondering.... ds13's shirt, thankfully got left at camp!  Honestly, it does get washed in between all the times I have taken pictures of him with it on!) 

It's so hard to believe she is 15 already.  The time has just gone by so quickly.  I'm so proud of the young lady she has become.  Here are a few photographs we have taken for this school year. 

Oh, here is a picture from on her birthday.  She wanted chicken salad and apple pie.  (not together of course!) 

This weeks assignment for Blogger Friend School is about housekeeping.  I haven't done well with the assignments so far.  The last couple I just had a tough time with.  In fact the 2nd week I typed and deleted many times and still never got it to the "press".  It was about my struggles in homeschooling.  I prefer to focus on the possitive things and therefore, I had a tough time really coming up with the struggles.  Do I have struggles.... absolutey!  Just different ones at different times.

However, housekeeping I could say is one of those struggles.  I've learned (even though I don't always like it) that sometimes the house needs to just be left go.  I was telling the kids not long ago about how Dad and I used to do a weekly cleaning.   Now.... It just doesn't happen.   The difference between then and now.... When the kids were little the messes were toys laying all over.  It was attainable to keep the house "clean", it was just cluttered with toys.  Now, the kids are older and make messes of there own.  For instance, they can cook & get into things and they don't clean it up as I would.  Difference now is the house in straightened up, but just not as "clean" as it used to be.  

We do go by chore charts.  We have found that this works best.  Usuallly, after about 6 months or so they need to be revamped because they get bored with the same things.  (Which reminds me that they need to be revamped because I notice the kids aren't keeping up with them as well.)  This helps to keep the daily routines done and the house straightened up.  The hardest thing with this is, we do chores after school & sometimes schooling goes into 3 and 4 o'clock.  It's then supper time and in the evenings is family time.  The chores at times get pushed aside & then of course build up.

Another thing that I have found is that occasionally when the house is getting really bad is do a 1/2 hour pick up.  We all will pitch in and clean anything that seems to need cleaned.  Anyone found being idle will have 5 minutes tacked on to the end of their time.  The kids like this & there is an end in view.  The house usually looks a lot better when it is done and it doesn't take long with everyone pitching in. 

I'd have to say that I really like the memory verse for this week, "Be deligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress." 1 Timothy 5:15  What a great reminder! 

Blessings!

I know I haven't posted for awhile.  It's just been crazy busy.  I started a photography class last Monday through the internet.  How exciting it has been!  dd14 is also taking it, but struggling with the amount of work.  I usually do it early in the morning (like I should be doing it right now!).  It has beent taking me several hours to complete so I can get the most out of it.  I try to do it before the kids get up so that I have quietness so that I can concentrate. 

So far, we have learned the history behind cameras and photography.  We have also studied many photographers throughout history.  We are now moving into the Image creation and design of photography.  Our first photograph assignment will be due next Monday.  That will be exciting! 

If you may be interested:  http://www.scphoto.com/moodle/

Anywhooo... just wanted to let you know that I haven't forgotten about my blog(s), I've just been busy learning!   Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks!    I certainly hope so. 

Well, we just finished reading Little House in the Big Woods.  We still have a few more things to finish up before moving into Little House on the Prairie. 

Yesterday we worked on making a poster on the "new" Food Pyramid.  This will help when we have to talk about the different nutritional things when we come to them in the books.  I like visuals. 

We also learned about the old folk song, "Oh! Susanna!"  It was written by Stephen Foster & first published Feburary 25, 1848.  We listened to a couple of performances on YouTube.  dd8 decided she really liked this song and walked around singing it the rest of the day!  We looked into the history of the song and also the life of Stephen Foster. 

I also worked on a Timeline book for dd8.  The older two kids have had there's for a few years.  When they remember they add things to their timelines which help to give them a visualization of when things happened in history.  This will be an ongoing book throughout their homeschool education. 

Well, off to get things done.  Many blessings!

When blessed with a pile of peaches.... what does a person do?  Anything they can think of!    dd8 and I spent the morning experimenting. 

We made peach cobbler....

and then we tried making jam using my bread machine.  It was quite nifty!  Definitely would do that again.

We also made a pie.  (Yes Mom, I really did do that!)

When we were all finished dd8 used the left over pie dough and made a Bread Dough Ball?  She baked it.   She dressed all up and had a tea party with some of the peach jam on it.  She said it tasted yummy.

Assignment:  Feelings of Trials and Triumphs of Homeschooling.

"What a feeling?  Homeschool.... WHO ME???  NO WAY!!!  There's no way, no how, can't do it!  You've got to be kidding!" 

That' is how I felt when the thought was suggested to me.   My aunt years ago had homeschooled my cousin for a couple of years (or so).  That probably was the first that I "heard" of it.  However, during that time, I didn't pay any attention.  I knew she homeschooled him, but I really couldn't tell you anything else. 

I have a friend that I went to church with that homeschooled.  (She graduated her last this year!)  I was always so impressed with her girls.  They were so well behaved and their disposition was extremely pleasant.  Although, I looked up to them and admired them, it still wasn't even a "thought" or an option. 

My brother and his wife started homeschooling my niece when she was in first grade or so.  So, I would say probably in 2002... maybe.   Again, my thought was it was great for them, but still not an option for me.  Both my brother and my sister-n-law tried suggesting it to me... which planted the seed.   But I refused saying, "I could never have the patience & there's no way, no how that "I" could homeschool.  I'd love to have them homeschooled, but only if someone else would do it!"

God continued to work in me and my thoughts. 

My daughter was having a lot of problems in school.  Every year, I would talk with the teacher and explain the "issues".  Every year, they pulled her through.  However, I was seeing where she was lacking and struggling.  My son begged me to homeschool him.  He struggled socially.  Still I wasn't convince that I should homeschool my kids. 

Finally, when my oldest was in 4th grade I met with the teacher and again went through what my daughters struggles were.  I had meetings.  I asked them to test her for reading disabilities, which they told me they would.  (that was in October)  I waited and waited.  She continued to struggle.  Her teacher was extremely supportive and seen the issues that I seen.  Still homeschooling wasn't an option.

One day, I went to get the mail.  In the mail was a flyer on Cyber Schooling.  It caught my attention.  Hmmmm... maybe I could school at home!  I started researching.  My husband and I discussed it.  He told me I was crazy, but he'd support my decision.  I went to the information session and signed my oldest two up.  I would finish the year out and bring them home the next fall.

Finally on the last week of school, they decided to test my daughter.  Remember, we set the test up in October?  Here it was May.  Seems they made her priority!?!  By this point we already knew that she wasn't staying there, but in fact coming home to cyber school in the fall of 2004.

God provided a stepping stone. 

We cyber schooled the first year.  It was good, but still not what I expected.  I had got my hopes up to "tailor" it the way I wanted.  That wasn't so.  I thought we would have time to do projects I wanted to, but that wasn't so.  They were busy.  I'm sure if we did it now, we'd be fine... but it all was new for us. 

 He opened my eyes and left me know that "I Could" homeschool my kids.  The rest is history.  We've been homeschooling since 2005. 

You can read more about my thoughts on stepping stones HERE.

Our Homeschooling Adventure...

...has gone through many ups and downs.  Some days it's smooth sailing.  Other days, it's extremely rough.  Some days, we get caught up on a rock and need to just stop and take a break.   God continues to bless this homeschool.  It's so important to just stay focused on the fact that HE is in control & not me.  This is HIS school, not mine.   When I keep that in focus, things go well. 

I think the hardest part that I find for myself is that it seems as though I wear so many hats that it overwhelms me.   I continually to question whether I'm "qualified" to homeschool these kids.  However, the more I question it, the more reasons I find to keep them home.  God is so faithful and continues to provide.  He once directed me to the story of how Abaraham was tested.  God told Abraham to take his son up to the mountain and sacrifice him.  Abraham didn't question it... he just did it.  Why?  Because he knew that God was in control & he trusted Him.  He had no clue that God would provide a ram for him to sacrifice, he just obeyed.  The fact was, God wanted to see if Abraham was faithful & if he had the fear of God.  He had plans for Abraham.  Did he trust God?  Because Abraham did without questioning, God blessed him.  God provided for him. 

 "So Abraham called that place, The Lord Will Provide.  And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."   Genesis 22:14 

Through this lesson God showed me that if He has asked me to homeschool these kids... I need to trust that He will provide whatever it takes to get them to the place He has called my children - HIS CHILDREN.  I just need to be obedient and obey.  Does that make it easy?  Nope!  But I know that God WILL PROVIDE!  Whatever it may be that I need.... encouragement, patience, motivation, ideas, self-discipline, school supplies, and the list goes on and on.  All I have to do is ask for it.  You can read my original entry on this lesson God was teaching me and situation that I was going through at the time HERE.

Here the kids are today... (or a month ago)

I was browsing blogs yesterday and came across A Pajama Mama's blog.  She just joined Blogger Friend School.  I remember seeing this last year, but after they had already started, so I didn't join.  I'm just in time to start classes with everyone else!  I'm looking forward to having a challenge, but most of all just ideas on what to post about.  They are also having a giveaway!  I'll look forward to joining in and meeting new blogger friends.  The school bell rings tomorrow... and I'm as nervous as a school girl!  ;o)

I challenge you to join me!  ~Let me know if you do.