.

Save In Piggybacking

In all the changes that I have made this year I have been learning the importance of "piggybacking".  Piggybacking is when you butt one thing after the other and save because it is already heated up.  For example... to dry one load of laundry after the other and save because the dryer is already heated up.  Another way I have piggybacked my savings is when I roast my coffee beans.  I roast what I need for that week...one batch after the other. A third way that I can think of right off the bat is piggybacking while baking or cooking with the oven.  Get the biggest bang for your buck by baking several things together and right after the other.  In the winter time it is also a nice way to raise the temperature a little in your house.  I guess you can say it is like multi-tasking your energy use and save.   .

Now to join in the fun of Tightwad Tuesday....

.

  Link your TWT post click on MckLinky and give exact the URL of your post.   (each Tuesday that  you join in on the fun)  

.

example of a URL ...

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Canadagirl/693425/

.

  Now go ahead link and read and comment on all these other's wonderful TWT's. 

.

 Lets save our pennies, nickles, dimes, and dollars  together !

.

"There are only a few big ways to save money but there are many small ways ....that all adds up."

Today I am grateful for.....

~Answered prayer...I have been praying about something for a long time.  This weekend I finally got the fact that I was standing in the way of God answering my prayer in His way.  I kept trying to fix/solve the problem.  Within hours of surrendering it to the Lord, He answered my prayer in a great way. 

~Great husbands.....my is the best!

~Grandparents....We had a fun time with Grandparents at our Keeper's Grandparents luncheon.

~My dog Belle....She is such a great dog and she likes me best!

Sleeping on my leg.

Poor dear, Grace dressed her up! 

Josh & I got our spacers on today. Josh was not happy about it. He still does not want to get braces. I told him, 'tough Twinkies" he still getting them .

Two of my spacers already busted. I'm going to have to go back tomorrow. Bummer! I haven't had anything hard or sticky. Some noodle soup, cookie & scrambled egg.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Regarding school; I think I have decided not to combine everyone with My Father's World Exploration to 1850. I have thought hard and long about this and would like to combine them for History, Science & Bible but I can't see when I can pull everyone together. I am going to do Bible together though. We can do that first thing in the morning like we do now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today, my dad came by. He loves visiting he grandchildren. I usually have the children do a lighter load of schoolwork on Monday because most times my dad comes and he stays for four hours. As long as we get math and language arts done with some reading we call it a school day. 

The children still need to finish. once quiet time is over they'll finish their school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The children like Time4Learning. We use it basically for Language Arts only. The program is great but I don't like how much time the children are spending in front of the computer. Annette, Caleb & Brent each spend about  20-30 minutes on their lesson and 20 minutes at the playground. The playground is online games. Some are educational and others are just for fun. Normally this would be okay since the first half is learning. What I don't like is Lance & Ethan watch all three of them. If you add that up it's a lot of watching the computer. For me computer is equal to T.V. time. I feel like half of Lance & Ethan's morning time is in front of the computer watching their siblings. I am not sure but I might pull the plug on T4L.

Annette, is doing well with it and she is the one I  mainly wanted it for. I asked her if she would still like to continue with T4L. She said either way is fine. She prefers T4L because she does not have to write. She did complete all of Level 3 and has started level 4.

Caleb & Brent REALLY like it. I do like all the phonics review. Maybe we'll continue with if for this year or half the year

I don't have time to reread my post today, so I'll have to check for mistakes later.

Blessings,

Linda<><

I know I'm hopeless, it's only November and I'm getting ready for next year. I have been racking the brains of my sweet friends at My Father's World forum. I had it all figured out for Joshua's 7th grade year.

• My Father's World for Bible, History & Read Aloud
• Apologia Science (as recommended by MFW)
• The Bridge to the Latin Road
• Character Quality Language Arts for spelling, grammar review, writing. I will omit the editing, all optional exercises since he will be getting some heavy grammar using The Latin Road.
• Progeny Press Guides or Christian Light Education
• Math Mammoth

I was going to have Joshua, use MFW Exploration to 1850 on his own. I would order this early and pre read the books so I can discuss them with him. I could write out everything he needs to do in his student planner.

I have been chatting with the ladies on the MFW forum and they have suggested I combine all dc for Bible, History, Science, Read Aloud using MFW Exp1850.

BUT here is my dilemma; I plan to use The Phonics Road Levels 1 & 2 and The Bridge to the Latin Road. These are all mom intensive. They can not be done as independent work. It would take me about three hours to get through it all.

• The Bridge 40-60 minutes (Josh & Annette)
• Phonics Road Level 1 20-30 minutes   (Ethan & Lance. I might also wait another year, depending on Lance how mature he is and how far Ethan has gotten with Christ-Centered Phonics)
• Phonics Road Level 2. (Caleb & Brent) There are three parts or sections and each takes about 20-30 minutes 

If I combine when would I ever get to MFW?

I do want to continue with The Phonics Road to Spelling & Reading. I already see improvement in Caleb's & Brent's reading & spelling. I think it is worth the time and effort.

The Bridge to Latin Road is also something I don't want to give up. I truly believe it will give Josh & Annette a strong start in grammar. It looks to be a very solid program. I also want to use The Latin Road for High School credits (can't believe I'm talking about high school credits)

I still have the rest of my children's subjects. Annette, can do a lot on her own. Not sure where Caleb & Brent will be regarding reading.

I'm thinking out loud here. We can all do MFW Bible together in the morning. Do The Bridge with Annette & Josh so they can be set loose to finish their other subjects after we are done.

After that I'm stumped . I think that once I have the Teacher Manual for MFW Exp1850, I can get a better handle on how to accomplish everything. I can figure out if it would be better for Josh to do MFW on his own or if we should combine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today we went to Mr. Jim's Pizza for lunch. We actually picked it up and took it to the park. It was pretty windy. The leaves where falling everywhere. Pretty but some of them hit your face pretty hard.

The children had fun playing. I was busy looking at the Scope & Sequence of CQLA & The Bridge. trying to figure things out. We then came home and the kiddos are napping and here I am.

As for school I still need to correct papers but other than that we are done with week 9. Amazing.

I almost forgot. Joshua, is going shooting with Lupe, this weekend. Yesterday they took a class with some men from church regarding firearms. Josh, was so excited. My boy is growing up .

Blessings,

Linda<><

Today I am grateful for...

~love...faith...and continually answered prayers

~a beautiful teenage daughter who helps willing around our home

~two sisters who play together and claim to be "best friends"

~a husband who diligently prepares our home for winter, he is the best!

~a Friday tea party with loving Grandparents.

~health!  We are all so healthy! Thank you Lord!

I am blessed!

You can find me over here...

at Sunny Scholars.

I have decided after much prayer that I need to close Show and Tell Friday.  It has been wonderful connecting with so many ladies this way.  I feel like I need to scale back some in my life.  Thank you all who have joined in ALL on the fun over the last couple of years. 

The whole of creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth as it awaits its final redemption from the effects of the fall. ~Romans 8:22

As my grandma lay dying a year and a half ago, I was struck by how her suffering reflected the pains of childbirth. I felt as I watched that she was somehow being "born" ino heaven, passing out of the pain of this world to be caught up in the loving arms of her Savior on the other side, as all the angels stood by watching in joyful anticipation. I even had this Norman Rockwellish image in my head of the whole event. While it was very sad for all of us, there was a certain beauty in the process.

Yesterday, this thought came back into my head as I was reading from a book called Blessing Your Husband by Debra Evans. After quoting Romans 8:22, Mrs. Evans goes on to say, "Though it is easy on difficult days to forget our ulimate goal, our labor and groans are deeply productive where God's eternal purpose for us is concerned.  'For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18' "

Not much is said about the symbolism of childbirth in the Bible, but there it is, an answer to the question of suffering and a picture of our salvation, put into words that only a mother could fully understand. That's just an awsome thought, isn't it, that God is speaking specifically to us who have gone through the pains of childbirth? Just picture the whole of creation groaning in the midst of labor, and then that final moment when the child arrives and there is instant and complete relief, and overwhelming joy. Our labors are over, our sinful natures are gone, along with all the pain that accompanies them. Amazing! And not just us, but someday "the whole of creation" will feel that relief. Don't you long for that day?

Today I am grateful for~

~full days...filled with grace, love, hope and joy!  Many activities and lots of smiles.

~daughters with tender hearts.  Grace and Elizabeth came home from Awana's wanting to send their favorite stuffed animals in the Operation Christmas Child boxes.  They have a shopping list started for what to send. 

~faithfulness....a faithful God who always their to speak loving words to me.  A spouse that is faithful in so many ways.  Children that are faithful in their learning.  Parents who are faithful and taught me responsibility. 

~a warm home and warm bed...

I am blessed!