Yes, we got a dog.  Am I crazy?  That is yet to be determined, because I am not sure.  Did I want a dog?  Yes, I have to admit I did.  I even wanted one that was not too old so that we could train it and my girls could enjoy a long life with it.  Did I think about all the things I'd have to do with this added responsibility?  Not fully - although you'd thought I would have considering that we'd had 2 dogs and 3 cats before we had our children and the only ones we gave away after our eldest was born was the youngest 2 cats.....and that was after we'd lost the other 3 pets to old age, stroke, etc.

That was 8 1/2 years ago and my hubby swore he'd never own another pet.  Why?  Because we are the type of people that incorporate the pet into the family - they become an actual family member and spend little time outside alone.  We used to take our 2 doggies for walks every day and because we lived in the country and lived right next to a rarely used gravel road, they were free to roam without being on a leash - they LOVED it.  So when we lost both of them within 2 months of each other, we were devastated.  Then we lost our eldest cat within 3 months of losing the last dog.  I think that is why DH wanted to give away the remaining 2 cats - he couldn't go thru the heartache anymore.  When he decided no more pets ever again, I was sad because I grew up with a black lab and he still holds a special place in my heart.  I wanted my girls (well, girl at that point), to experience that.  But I wasn't going to push because I knew that if God planned it, He would change my hubby's heart.

Obviously, the Lord did just that.  My hubby was actually the one that pushed us getting the dog at this point in time.  Sometimes his job takes him away for periods of time, such as now.  He's been gone since August 10 and won't be home until Friday around midnight, so I guess I could say Saturday morning.  Then next week he leaves again on Tuesday and doesn't return until the following Sunday.  So his big thing was getting a dog now because of his time away being so long.  I agreed.....

This is where I am trying to decide if I am crazy.  She is a 9 1/2 month old boxer/golden retriever mix.  We really liked her when we went to the animal shelter and spent time with her in their yard.  We took our youngest two to see if she was going to be gentle enough around them because her form said she was "good with kids".  I was SHOCKED honestly at just HOW GOOD with kids!  And right then and there decided she was the dog for us.

I'd heard boxers are a high-energy dog and that they are very playful and need training but are great dogs if you do just that.  How I agreed with my DH to get a dog like this WHEN HE WAS GOING TO BE GONE is where I am wondering when I lost my mind, or if I did.  If she were housebroken, and older and didn't have SO much energy, maybe it would be more like I had envisioned.  But, she isn't and therefore I have currently become the single parent of not 4 girls, but now 5!  And I am now trying to potty train 2 girls instead of just one!  And NEITHER of them WANT to be trained!   I have told Taja (pronounced Tah-zhah) multiple times when I am wiping up urine and pulling out the shampooer that I love her and that she WILL learn to do her duties OUTSIDE; she apparently came with some issues and as soon as she becomes scared in ANY way, the bladder just releases whatever it has inside it!  UGH - wouldn't be so bad, but we've not had her long enough for her issues to be resolved so her bladder is releasing A LOT on my carpet. 

My children are already in love with Taja.  And my youngest, only 2, has shown DH and I just how much God has instilled into us when He forms us no matter what our environment.  We knew that she would be THRILLED to have a pet.  Now, she has NEVER been around a pet in our own home - we have family and friends with pets, but she's never had one that belonged to us.  This girl is NOT afraid of any pets and never has been.  In her 2 years, she has never shown fear - only squeals with delight and tries to hug, kiss and pet whatever animal she comes in contact with.  Which tells me that for whatever reason, God decided that she was going to be a TRUE animal-lover.  Makes me wonder why.......???  So needless to say, when she can't get to Taja for whatever reason (such as when she is in her cage for bedtime until she is housebroken), my youngest will say in her new words, "I pet?" while she points at the doggie.  When I tell her no, not now, the "2-year old attitude" comes out and says "NO", but that's another blog, isn't it? 

I already know I am in this for the long haul and need to remind myself that I previously had hoped my DC would have a pet to grow up with.  I got what I wanted and I don't have to train her in behavior around the children - and THAT is a true blessing.  She requires training in other areas because she is just a baby - and we all need training at certain points, don't we?  Maybe I need to remember, when I am again pulling out the shampooer, that my Heavenly Father doesn't give up on lovingly training me when I am doing something I shouldn't do, and that I need to not become angry and frustrated, but keep lovingly training her.  Eventually, she and I both, will understand the goal of the training and reach that goal in time.  Previously, He has used my children to remind me of how He treats me.  Now it's the dog.  Praise God for His reminders, whether they have 2 legs or 4!

Today was one of those days that reminds me WHY we homeschool, and why He led me to use a Bible-based curriculum.

We are finishing up our Interlock, we only have 2 days left, and my 3rd dd, who is now 4.5 (that half is a BIG deal to her), says, "Mommy, can we do the school today where we learn about God's creation and the things he made?"  OH YEAH!  THAT is what it is ALL about!

How I forget that many, many days!  I let the speed of life throw me off track and take away my joy.  I get frustrated about explaining the same concept for the umpteenth time in the 100th different way - or having one of them explain to me how they can't possibly do their new math lesson because "it's TOO HARD" even though they KNOW how to do all the concepts presented - they haven't even looked at the page!  Ever experience that?

The good news - God has his hand on all of this - and BOY am I grateful for that!  Knowing that He is in control and that if I focus on Him and try to always make sure He is in the middle of it, He'll take my human presentations and use them to glorify Him thru my girls.  Don't get me wrong - there are lots of good days too - it's just those days when they all seem to want to whine about their work and every effort is like trying to step thru quicksand.  Those are the days that take their toll on me.  And to make it worse, those are the same days that my now 13-month old dd really becomes needy.  Maybe I should be glad they're all the same day?

But, when I hear one of my blessings ask me if we can learn more about the Lord, He reminds me that THIS IS WHY WE HOMESCHOOL!  Maybe I should ask Him if He could prompt my girls to ask me that more often? 

I praise Him that He lovingly and gently reminds me that my strength and patience MUST come from Him, or I will fail in whatever I try to do because I haven't committed it to Him first.  So the next time I feel like checking out which public school the girls would attend, I'll try to remember those beautiful words I heard today - from the daughter that isn't even old enough to attend school, but does here at home BECAUSE WE CAN!  God bless ~

My goodness, I cannot believe it's been 5 months since I started this.  I didn't realize that I wouldn't be able to add to my blog as often as I'd originally thought.  But I'm hoping that will change!

I've discovered the wonderful Managers books by the Maxwell family, authors of the Titus Two website.  I have included a link to their website if you'd like to look at this invaluable information!  Their 2 books that I have found to be a tremendous blessing are Managers of Their Homes and Managers of Their Chores.  The Lord led us here when we began to feel His prompting in training our girls for future care of their own homes.  I was also feeling at a loss because I was unable to manage a home, homeschool and care for my 4 girls - so the managing of the home didn't survive to my standard.  I didn't know where to begin but knew somehow I needed to start.  I purchased both books at the same time and was glad I did.  It took me 3 weeks to read through both books, but I devoured the information and was reading them with every spare second I could find.

As I read thru these books, I could truly feel the excitement building inside.  This was DEFINITELY what I had been looking for.  I was also grateful that I had read them together because it allowed me the benefit of planning my daily schedule AND planning our chore schedules together, so that I didn't plan one and find that I hadn't allowed adequate time in an area.

The other blessing?  FREEDOM!  What freedom I have discovered in having a schedule!  Sounds backwards, doesn't it?  But it is liberating - truly liberating!  My girls love it too - and my dear husband knows what we are doing and when.  Yes, I am flexible with it and don't get frazzled when we get off track, but the days that we are able to be on track, I can take my scheduled 45 minutes of "me" time and read the book of my choice, GUILT FREE!  And it re-energizes me to take on the rest of my day.  Now I can see many reasons why the Lord was prompting me and led me here.  He has, once again, blessed me tremendously and how I praise Him for it!

I love the chorepacks so much that I created one for me in addition to my 3 oldest daughters.  And they do them without complaining.  It is wonderful.  My husband even asked me to create one for him!

If you are looking for some way to incorporate a schedule and your chores, get your kids on board without fighting you and making it SO easy for you, then I suggest you check out these books.  No, I don't get any kickbacks from the Maxwells - although I'd jump at the chance to do a commercial for them!    That's how much I believe in these books!  There wouldn't be any false enthusiasm coming from me - it would all be genuine.

I even have scheduled computer time, which is something I needed.  My schedule has allowed me to add in the freedom of doing the things I enjoy, in moderation.  I am hopeful that with scheduled time, I can get to this area more often; making my posts not quite so long.   I need to change our chorepacks a bit and our schedule because the baby, now 10 months, has decided to change her nap schedule.  But, that is okay.  I am actually looking forward to taking on the task rather than dreading it because I know it will only help us.  And doing our chores is easy because the time to do them is scheduled.

I am jealous that others are winding down their school year and we are still going strong, but I must remember that we chose to school year-round because it provides our family with the most flexibility that we have discovered we really need.  My husband's work schedule can change every 3 months and in order to be able to keep up with school and then take time off around his schedule, we need to school year-round.  It really does work best for us, and we do take extended time off, just not along with everyone else.  I need to keep that in mind. 

This is our second year of homeschooling our oldest daughter (7) and the first year we've incorporated teaching the next two (5 and 3).  Add in the newborn who made her arrival in July and we DEFINITELY have an adventure!

It has been challenging and at times, rather discouraging.  But then I will overhear the girls playing, incorporating something we learned and I realize, "Hey, they DID learn something!"  I am aware that many, many others also experience these times of discouragement and frustration and that alone makes me feel much better.

I am teaching all 3 of them using the Weaver curriculum (unit studies).  We are currently using Interlock for everything (other than math and language arts) and I LOVE the fact that I can teach all 3 of them Bible, science, social studies and art and they are all learning the same thing!  This hands-on approach is the way to go for my middle 2 girls as they are DEFINITELY hands-on learners.  Being able to focus on one area and teach all 3 of them even though there is a total of 4 years between them has been a real blessing - and fun!  It makes my heart sing when they ask me "Mommy, when are we going to do school today?"

Our oldest is a negotiator and loves to try to negotiate "how much" individual school she will do.  They all love the part of school where we are learning the same thing, but the individual stuff can become tricky.  I've convinced daddy that he needed to help in this area, so he has taken on math with the oldest.  That has been hard for me because math is my favorite subject!  But I get to teach the younger 2 so I'm going to have to be grateful.  This is also a challenge for me because of their learning styles.  They are both JUST LIKE my husband, so he thinks and understands the way their minds work - not me!  My oldest is a lot like I am so explaining things to her is much easier for me than explaining something to the next 2, but God is stretching me and I am learning to think "outside my box".

I've learned to judge my days based on whether everyone seems to be content and I know that I accomplished at least one task that I had planned.  I've also learned to lighten up in the "mess" area.  We bought a very long desk that I have called the "project desk" and that has helped.  It has a laminated top and the rest is wood.  It was used at a daycare center that was closing and I realized it was PERFECT.  I don't care if the top gets paint, marker or whatever on it and play dough doesn't stick!  :)   So using it for our projects has been a blessing for everyone - mommy is less stressed and the girls don't have to be SO careful!  Now I am actually giving them glue and scissors and letting them figure out how much glue is "too much".  That was a difficult one, but it has made them much happier as they all love to do their projects by themselves.  I keep telling myself the more I let them do these things, the less messy they will become - I just have to be patient!

We have also begun lapbooking and that has been a challenge - but something the girls and I are enjoying at the same time.  It is a learning process and I think it will become easier as time goes on and we all become more experienced.  As we finish our lapbooks, I will try to take pictures and upload them to share with you.

I'll try to keep things current on what we are doing and learning.  These are the curricula we are using:

Weaver - Interlock

Wisdom Words (Weaver's Grammar)

In The Hands of a Child (special unit studies)

Daily Language Review

Horizon Math

Horizon Penmanship

1-2-3 Read

Hooked on Phonics

There are others I would like to incorporate and will eventually do so, even if it means our unit studies will stretch out into more days than originally planned.  I'd like to incorporate the following:

The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide

Trail Guide to Bible Geography

Draw Write Now

Spanish (but daddy has to teach)

Eventually we'll have the system down that works for our family.  For now, we are doing what we can each day as we try to figure out a schedule with a baby as part of the family.  Having her can take my planned day and completely turn it upside down.  Thus, the way I've considered my day a success has had to change.  That is why, for now, I consider my day a success if everyone appears content and I know that I accomplished one task that I had planned.  In another year or so I am sure that will change and we'll be looking again for another schedule.  But for now, I'll try to remember to be content in where I am, knowing that God has promised to not give me more than I can handle (with HIS help).  After all, this is His adventure for our family and I have to make sure He is the one leading us down this path.