Tapestry Of Grace

It has been so long since I posted, I have been so caught up in my school planning and so excited about our new curriculum! We have chosen to use Tapestry of Grace redesigned year 1.(TOG) I have been reading and making up student notebooks because I want this to work, with as little new start up confusion (what the seasoned users call the "fog") as possible. TOG is such an awesome curriculum and the ability to teach all my kids together is exactly what I was looking for. I love the classical approach along with the Charlotte Mason ideals mixed in. My kids love reading books that go along with what they are studying and TOG has a great selection of them, so much so that I must remember to go through the buffet of books and pick a few and not load our plates with more than we can handle and cause both my kids and I to become discouraged with goals that are not reasonable. Let alone the fact that I want them to enjoy learning this year.

Happy Memorial Day

And I 'm proud to be an American,

where at least I know I'm free.

And I wont forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me.

Lee Greenwood

God Bless all our Military families! Today especially I pray for those families who have lost men and women to keep us safe here; Father God wrap your arms of love and peace around them, they are NOT forgotten.

Blessings

We are coming back from the world of sickness and as you might expect sickness can hit one of two ways here, either all of us at once or as I like to say, a slow meandering train, When one gets sick then when that one is almost well the next one gets "picked up" for the sickness train. :) Well these last few weeks the train has been rolling through the house! then as the last child was finally better the train decided to speed up and run Mom over! I was down hard for two days leaving 10 kids to "run" the house and take care of each other. Today I woke up feeling much better and took survey of my house and kids. The kids thriving and happy, the house well its still standing. The crafts supply cupboard is all over the house BUT I have beautiful cards. the dishes are done and put away, we wont mention the floor but I really do have LIGHT colored tiles most days! As I stood in the center of the house I smiled as I thought yes the house needs some cleaning the laundry mountain is high, but my blessing: the kids took care of each other they took care of me and I remember to look to the goal and not at the circumstances right now. Yes I am blessed.

Kids Say...

Kids say the funniest things. One of the children got in trouble and had to sit in a corner for a time out( names not used to save the one in trouble from ultimate humiliation as they said!) Well in this particular corner is a wooden bunny statue. OK the stage is set here is the conversation

Child 1: don't talk to " ? " he is in trouble and has to VISIT with the bunny!

so now Kaylee my 2 year old grand daughter will yell at the nearest child who even bothers her a tiny bit "go to visit meemee's bunny!"

now this has become the funniest thing in this house at the moment and you will hear the children tell each other "go visit with the bunny" often and the twins relish the ability to tell the child who has broken a rule to "visit with the bunny"

Time Flies

Today I am supposed to be planning...planning our school for next year, planning our schedules and chores. Instead I have been reading some E-books that I downloaded from The Old Schoolhouse Store. WOW! I have to say these books are EXACTLY what I needed! The First one a WeE book: Time Flies While History is Written by Deborah Wuehler. Time does fly NOW, now that the kids are older, now that I can look back on a "past" for our family, now that I am 50. In the beginning when the older ones were all under 10 the workload was all consuming I was not as purposeful in my direction. I want more for my younger ones. Like Deborah says, "I want my history to be better than my firstborn son's history. I want my children to remember a joyful mother of children and not a tired, worn-out nag" I so want this! This little booklet has helped me see how I can "start over" with purpose to rewrite our history, by recognizing my sins and move from failure to victory. As Deborah says, "since time really does march on and today turns into yesterday faster than we can keep up, we really should be making our priority one of knowing the word of the Lord." I agree with Deborah and she has written a powerful booklet that reminds us of the larger story- His Story. This booklet is a must read for all of us Mothers from those just starting families to us "older" Moms still writing our history with the younger blessings the Lord has given us. This E-book is on my night stand to re-read

HomeWork: Juggling Home, Work, and School...

Ok many of us have thought of working from home or seriously considering it, the question is can we stay home, keep our homes and homeschool? Oh and have some sanity. :) Well this E- book is for you! This E-book: HomeWork: Juggling Home, Work, and School Without Loosing Your Balence, is a compilation of several families who are working from home AND homeschooling. The question asked was how do you you do it all? the answer... We don't!! these are their stories each one different with insight into their own ups and downs. None of them "do it all" they depend on family , their family. Each story is unique and a window into that families life. Giving their take on how it works for them, what didn't, what they have gained, what they had to let go. Much, much, more than this you will see what it takes to run this course. You will see how they keep house, do school and run their business. There are links to all the business and to the families so you can contact them or go "look-see" on the internet and I love this..how fun to see what others have accomplished with what God has given them.

I love this book packed full of advice, hints and personal stories. My older teens have been asking how they can earn some extra income, and I have printed this book for them each to read, so we can discuss a home business as seen through these "windows" of others families.

The Fall Harvest: Where is The Fruit?

I have been going through a time of reflection, a time of changes. As I ponder this season of my life with 5 grown children and 3 teens, 3 elementary age and 2 preschoolers I wonder what I have done right and what I have done wrong, what should we continue and what needs to be different. My heart longs to see all my children walking with the Lord and to see fruit in their lives. This second WeE- book: The Fall Harvest: Where is The Fruit? by Deborah Wuehler left me feeling like I had just had a wonderful conversation with someone who understood my desires to see that harvest of God's goodness in my children's lives. She talks of this through the example of a garden, of soil preparation and watering. Deborah gives some wonderful thoughtful steps on how to prepare and water the soil of our children's hearts. This little booklet has reminded me that I need to be consistent in planting the seeds of God's love and goodness in these little ( and not so little) lives still at home. She reminds us to not let busyness -laziness keep us from an intentional deliberate plan to soak our children in the word...it wont happen by accident!

This e-booklet is a wonderful reminder to all Mothers of HOW to be purposeful in our training. This E-book will be joining the Time Flies While History is Written booklet on my night stand :)

Family Time

In our day to day ongoing life we can get so busy just "doing" our daily things that before long days can go by without really spending any time just being family and enjoying each other. We remedy this with family nights. My kids love to watch movies especially movies about dogs, so as soon as a "dog" movie comes out they want a movie night. Well today Hotel For Dogs came out and we rented it at the red box. I love the red box! We can rent a movie for $1 and have a great family time. I love to watch my kids all sprawled out over our living room enjoying a movie. Secretly I crave and enjoy the quiet while they are all involved in the movie! (LOL) So I am off to enjoy a movie and my wonderful family!