Life truly is a vapor. I want to learn all that the Lord is seeking to teach me through life, family, homeschooling, friends.....whatever He decides will accomplish His work in my life. May He be glorified! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 5 Nov 2007 20:10:00 -0600 Mon, 5 Nov 2007 20:10:00 -0600 I haven't been here in a while.  I have moved my blog to this site:  A Stretched Out Mom.  Come visit me!  I'd love to hear from you! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/421700/ Mon, 5 Nov 2007 20:10:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/421700/ We are counting down our last days of school until we take a much needed break!  I can't wait!  I can't seem to get my mind back in action since my trip to England.  My mind is muddy and clogged up.  The kids have done so well, but I am making mistake after mistake.  I have just started sleeping again, but it was soooo worth it all.  I really came home ready to study British History and Literature!  I wish I had known more before I spent the time in this beautiful area of our world.  This time of year, the end of a school year, I also get very eager to look at curriculum for next year.  I want to do a lot of planning and scheming for the next year.  I love this time of year and I can spend hours on the computer, looking at different options for curriculum.  In reality, I know what I am going to use next year in most subjects, but I LOVE looking!  There is so much out there and so much of it I have bought and tried only to be disappointed.  I have learned what works for us.......finally.  I will stick to it, but I occasionally find a new book that I want to use to supplement our core.  It's the search that is so much fun!  Office/school supplies......I am an addict!  I so enjoy buying new school and office supplies.  When I was a girl, the new paper and pens was more appealing to me than new clothes.  There is nothing like opening a notebook to the first clean page or using a pencil for the first time.  I know, I know......I am weird, but I also know I am not alone.  There are other office/school supply addicts out there.  Show your face!!!  Let's stand together! I have already bought a huge new notebook for lesson plans and keeping records.  I can't wait to put the tabs in it and label each section for each child.  It is like beginning again.  I love new beginnings in this area.  I hate change in other areas, but a new start is wonderful!  So the kids are tying up the loose ends and then I will do my planning and begin our school after a short break.  I can't wait for both the break and the new beginning!  Some things I want to do on break:  finishing some unfinished needlework projects; make some Christmas gifts; paint a room; clean out the attic; work on my fireant-infested and overgrown flower garden; read aloud and read my own books......just to name a few. Have a great week!  Do not grow weary in doing good! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/326156/ Wed, 9 May 2007 11:09:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/326156/ I just got back from England last night.  Our choir spent 10 days over there touring and celebrating John Newton's life and contribution to abolition slavery, as well as his wonderfully written hymns.  What an awesome place!  I loved every minute that I was there!  The only thing that would have made it better was having my dh by my side.  He was here taking care of the family for me.  We spent the first few days in London and, though, we had little time, we saw soooo much!  We had a nice coach and an energetic, knowledgeable blue badge guide to show us the sites.  Oh, I miss Nigel's accent! We also went to Wales, Northampton, Bristol, Olney........such beautiful country!  I can't even begin to believe all that we took in.  It was sensory overload!  So many historical sites......so much history!  I can't begin to get my head around it all! But I just wanted to say to all of you UK homeschoolers.......YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL HOME!!!!  I would love to go back with my family SOON!  And we will be studying your history SOON while it is still fresh on my mind! I am weary, but it is such a great tiredness! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/322005/ Tue, 1 May 2007 09:30:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/322005/ The time has come........a trip that we have been planning for almost a year...... I leave for Olney in England tomorrow morning.  I am going with my church choir to be a part of a celebration of John Newton's 200th anniversary of his death and the abolition of slavery.  My worship pastor fell in love with John Newton's hymns several years ago and began studying the life of this man.  One thing led to another and he began putting music to the lyrics of these hymns.  He has since recorded a cd and last year was invited to present a concert of Newton songs at this celebration.  The choir was then invited and his assistant wrote orchestration and choral arrangements for the songs.  Now there are 74 of us leaving tomorrow morning to go for 10 days to share the great news that Newton wrote about.  I will say this.....if you have not read about John Newton's life, I would highly encourage you to.  Our worship pastor gave us a list of books to read in preparation and the life of John Newton is fascinating!  What a story of God's grace!  I am going to have my kids read the book Out of the Depths.  It would make a great movie.......ship wrecks, love, mystery.......all about God's grace in a boy's life.  I would appreciate any and all of your prayers while we are gone.  I am leaving my kids for 10 days and that is never easy!  I am having to say good-bye today to them and tomorrow I will do the same with my darling husband!  May God go before us all! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/316852/ Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:54:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/316852/ It appears that the cold weather is out of here for a while.  Spring has arrived and with it, spring fever for the teacher.  I am so ready to "be done" with school, but we have a ways to go.  Basketball season wipes us out and makes us move slower in school.  It's at this time of year that I have to remind myself how much we enjoyed watching him play.  The kids seem to have great attitudes, so I am masking my struggle in front of them.  We are just trying to read out on the front porch, plant some veggies and flowers, yet get all of the other studies done as well.  They seem motivated and are getting everything done each day as well as helping with the chores. Maybe part of my struggle is knowing that I am leaving to go to England on a special choir tour with my church next week.  I will be gone for 10 days and don't want to spend my last week here with the kids doing school.  I would rather play with them or take them to climb Mt. P.  Maybe I can work out doing both.  I still have to shop and pack, though, and I am feeling the crunch!  I also think that leading up to time for me to leave, it will help them if things have been "normal" and in our regular routine.  Hopefully, they will be able to continue while I am gone.  My MIL (right "next door" on this dirt road") is going to keep them, so that they can practice their instruments and do school (as much as possible) while I am gone.  They have learned to do well on their own for some things, so we'll see.  Anything that they get done and understand will be worth it to me........one step closer to taking a month's break! Math-U-See calls........I wonder if we can watch MUS videos outside???? http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/313280/ Thu, 12 Apr 2007 09:32:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/313280/ Yes, I am trying to give up sugar.  I have done it before; as a matter of fact, I was able to completely get off of sugar and caffeine last November and stayed off of it for 3 months.  I felt great!  I am still off of the caffeine except for the chocolate I love so much.  Why am I getting off of sugar?  My main reason is for health reasons and I am totally enslaved to it.  Doesn't Scripture talk about being enslaved to sin?  I know that sugar in and of itself is not sin, but my pull to it is.  I find myself thinking about it and finding ways to sneak away to enjoy it.......I say "enjoy", but I never find it as satisfying as the thought of it.    Go figure!  Isn't that the way with sin?  The thought and enticement of sin is much greater than the actual enjoyment of it.  Yet there is a greater long-term enjoyment of obedience.  Why doesn't that entice me?  I see this as more than a health/weight loss issue.  It is really about denying myself.  Self-control is part of the fruit of the Spirit.  Yet I don't exhibit that fruit in my life.  I long to!  I feel that this sin has become such a part of my life that I have learned to justify my enslavement to it.  Yet what does Romans say?  I don't have to be enslaved to sin anymore!  Christ has freed me from that!  The victory has been won!  So why do I continue to CHOOSE to sin with my self-indulgence?  Why do I feel that I have the right to eat what I want, when I want to?  Why do I continue in this acceptable sin in my life yet claim that I desire to walk in a manner worthy of the calling in which I have been called?  James would tell me that it is because of the selfish war within myself.  I am self-centered, self-absorbed, prideful.  I need to learn to deny myself of the things that aren't in and of themselves sinful, but can be in the way I choose to submit to the temptation of them.  The biggest trigger of this temptation for me is junk food.  How can I teach my kids to eat good when I don't show them by example how to do it?  What a hypocrite!  I want them to eat "right", but don't do it for my own body which is the temple of God!  I think that right eating would affect so many areas of our lives in a positive way........school, allergies, medical bills, energy, food bills, sleeping, concentration, skin troubles.....and the list could go on and on.  Lord, help me to learn to deny myself one thing each and every day.  Maybe, with Your help, if I practice this self-denial, it will become a habit.  It has been said that if you do something for 30 days it becomes a habit.  Could it apply to this?  I don't want to try on my own strength because that is a prescription for failure.  Lord, I want You to help me call upon Your strength, Your power.  May You be my total satisfaction in life!  May I desire nothing......not food, finances, relationships, fun......more than YOU!  Help me not to give up what I want most (fruit of self-control) for what I want now (self-centered eating..........chocolate)! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/312180/ Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:24:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/312180/ HALLELUJAH!  THE LORD IS RISEN! THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED!!!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/311082/ Sun, 8 Apr 2007 07:04:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/311082/ We did get Bible time done yesterday and a whole lot more!  Isn't God good? Today.......Friday, April 6, 2007........Good Friday.......why is it "good"? I have been trying to meditate and read about the seven sayings of Jesus while He was on the cross.  It is a new and fresh way for me to focus on this season that could so easily become rote and rutualistic for long-time believers.  Every year, I pray that God refreshes my heart to the wonderful truths I learned on my parents' knees.  Each year, He does just that.  Each year Satan tries harder and harder to distract me, too.  The busyness of the weekend at church (good things!) plus family get- togethers are usually the culprit, but this year he threw some new stuff at me.......conflicts in relationships.  Isn't he "crafty"?  I find that I am no match for the devil and his schemes, but I am so thankful that I belong to THE KING Who created him and knows him well and yet gives me victory already.  Today as I was reading about John Newton and William Cowper, I was reminded in one of their poems/hymns how much Satan hates it when believers fall on their knees before their God.  So today, I do that.  I go to prayer to ask my heavenly Father, my King, my Lord, my Saviour to go to battle for me in this moment, this weekend.  Convict me of sin, forgive me of falling into the temptation and make me clean so that I can worship from a pure heart tonight and Sunday. I am going to muse on the words of the book, "Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross" by A.W. Pink this afternoon.  May God use it to prepare me for worship and communion at church tonight.  "Open my eyes that I might see glimpses of truth Thou hast for me.  Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit Divine." http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/310409/ Fri, 6 Apr 2007 15:49:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/310409/ As I look around my house right now, my rug is dirty, laundry is piled high (and I've been doing laundry everyday, all day this week!), bathrooms need cleaning, phone calls need to be made (to see if I am going to get my passport in time to go to England!!!), school needs to be completed and enjoyed, books need to be read (yes, "need" for the England trip), VBS materials looked over before a meeting today, the treadmill is calling my name, dinner needs to be put together.......but then I think of my agenda vs. God's.  What is most important to Him?  It's time for family Bible time.........I think that is what He desires most.  Then I know that He will help me accomplish what He desires me to accomplish for His purposes.  I also anticipate Him showing me things on my agenda that were not His plan for me.  Lord, make me willing to let go of what I deem important.......my checklist!  Help me today to enjoy YOU, my husband, my kids (even through schooling), and whoever you have me come into contact with.......may I point them all to You and encourage them in their walk.  Make me salt and light! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/309754/ Thu, 5 Apr 2007 09:19:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/309754/ After a long time, I have decided to change my template.  I sure wish I knew more about computers so I could really personalize this blog.....one day......some day. We were able to get a lot done today.  Three of my kids were struggling with sickness, so we didn't go tonight to church.  That gave us a bit longer to work on school.  They were working a bit slower and needed some breaks for resting, but we did get some stuff done.  Two of the kids have sinus infections; another has allergies that sounds like it is headed to a sinus infection.  We started out the day with a bit of extra sleep since they were coughing so much last night.  DD12 made waffles for everyone and as they were eating waffles and drinking hot chocolate (it was a bit colder here today), we watched "Oliver Twist".  My kids had not seen the really old one (1948) and I had gotten it from Netflix.  It is a tough movie to watch, especially for my sheltered kids, but a good one.  It led to several really good discussions........gratefulness, honesty, life situations for other kids, stealing, standing up for what is right, unfairness, etc.  So many themes, so many questions........it was really great to hear the older two answer the younger two's questions.  After the movie, the kids really hit the books well!  I was so proud of them.  DD8 struggled with some math, so we spent a little longer with MUS today, but she finally got it and I loved seeing her smile when it clicked!  The best part of the day was outside time!  We have a new puppy and the kids love playing with him.  He is 9 weeks old and is so playful!  So cute!  If I can figure out how to upload pictures on this blog, I'll put a new picture of him on here.  I just can't seem to get it to upload. Tonight we had a good dinner and some down time together.  All of the kids were able to complete a full day of school, plus chores, play time and down time.  It was a good day!  I have found a new website for free ebooks.  I was roaming others' blogs randomly and there was a free download, so I went to the site and 30 minutes later had bought a couple of downloads.  I saved them and printed them off this afternoon.  I can't wait to begin.......one on learning the presidents in order, another on the moon and the last one on composers/artists.  I hope the kids enjoy them as much as I am looking forward to them!  Go check them out!  Apparently, they frequently have free stuff!  It's worth looking! Enough for tonight.  Good night all!  I am going to head to a good book before bedtime.  http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/309597/ Wed, 4 Apr 2007 21:32:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/boo4baby/309597/