Happy New Years!

So here are some old Superstitions for New years day. I don't believe in any of these but thought that it would be fun to read them.

Kissing the one you love is said to keep you close all the year though. Now this one I can do!

Make sure you have money in your pocket.
Even if it is a coin. If you have money in your pocket on New Years means that you will have money all year long.

I like this one: Don't spend money on New Years day... not even to pay bills.... if you do that means you will be paying out all year long.

At midnight open all your windows to let the old year out.... or your troubles will stay with you.
Hum, Lets think about that one.

Never do Laundry on New Years day.... it means a loved one will be washed away..... What is this one about. I think that I could go a day without doing laundry this day.

I just posted a few that I have came across. what ever superstitions you believe have a great New Years Day!

Rediscovering God in AMerica Book Review

I have recently join the gang of the Blog book reviewers. Thomas Nelson publishers gave me a free copy of Rediscovering God in America to read and right a review for. I was truly blessed and amazed as I began to read this book. I have learned new things about our Great country America. Take a tour of Washington D.C. , read what the founding fathers said about God and the founding of our Country. Begin at the National Archives, then make your way to the Washington Monument, and many more.

Read the quotes like this one from F.D. Roosevelt: Freedom of speech, Freedom of worship, Freedom from want, Freedom from fear.

This book has many beautiful pictures of places around D.C. I enjoyed this book. It is something every American needs to read. This book is very easy to read, and complete in a few days. If you enjoy history, then you will enjoy this book. I get nothing for writing this review, just the enjoyment of reading this book.

Merry Christmas

Well this is Christmas week, time to make sure everything is ready for the big day. The girls preformed in our Church Christmas play this Sunday. They did a great job! All to the kids worked hard and it sure paid off. I am so proud of them. Now on to making cookies, and getting everything ready for our Christmas day. I am not sure of everything we will be doing, but we will be staying home this year, just the four of us. I am looking forward to it! Hopefully the girls will sleep in! I plan to make our annual Christmas breakfast of begnets (french donuts). Then a nice lunch, that is all the plans so far, so we will see what we can come up with!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Free download

Here is a free download of a recording of the Christmas story.
go to : http://matthewwest.com

Matthew West has record the Story from the gospel of Luke. Take time out this holiday season and listen to the story of Jesus.

you can also go to: www.thechristofchristmas.com

I pray that you enjoy these downloads.

Christmas

The Christmas Season is in full force. Time for parties. Chris tmas is a time for families. We get so busy during this holiday season that we don't take time to be with our family. We have gotten away from the true meaning of Christmas. Christmas is the time we should be celebrating the birth of Jesus. If it wasn't for him, what hope would we have in this world. Take time this holiday season and remember the reason why we celebrate!

Winter pictures

As I was browsing today, I came across this picture of ice covered trees. It reminded me of our time living in Southwest Missouri. Call me crazy, but I do miss the cold weather, the snowy days and icy nights where life just stopped and you enjoyed playing games around the fireplace. Those cold snowy nights were family nights. It seemed that on those days and nights things just slowed down long enough for you to enjoy the time you had with your family. OH, How I miss those cozy nights. I wouldn't change were we are now for the world. The Lord has blessed us. We are doing what He has called us to do, and we are here for as long as He wills. I believe I am being just sentimental today! We are having cold weather with temps. right now in the 40's (Cold for here) and it has got me thinking!

Have a wonderful time with your family, don't let the busyness of the season take away the time you spend with your children and family.

until next time,

shelby

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving..... have a great time with your friends and family this weekend.

Thanksgiving.....

As Thanksgiving approaches, I am reminded of all the things that I am thankful for. We have a tradition at our house of everyone telling what he/she is thankful for. My girls say things like... I am thankful for my mom, dad, and my grandparents , etc..... you get the picture. I am thankful for my wonderful family, but what I am most thankful for is God loving us so much that He sent his Son to die for us. What a wonderful thing Christ did for us! I have been blessed beyond measure during my life time.... I have been healed of asthma, migraine headaches, and much more. Every time I have needed something, I pray, and He has met that need... What a wonderful thing to remember this Thanksgiving day...... The Blessings that Christ has given us.
Thank you Lord for your Blessings on me.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving Day!

A Wordless Wednesday Post...

Corn maize Fun!

We had a great time at the Corn maze! Here are some pictures from our fun filled day.





Janelle posing on a bridge in the middle of the maze.

Kalyn jumping (or trying to jump) on the corn popper!

We all came home sunburned and tired, but what a great day filled with good wholesome fun.

the perfect homschooling world

Thought this devotional was very timely for my house. I just wanted to share it...

The Perfect Homeschooling World
Sunday / November 01, 2009

• In a perfect homeschool world, your children would greet you with a smile each morning and help prepare breakfast and clean up afterwards.
• In a perfect homeschool world, there would be no sibling fighting, lost workbooks, or unprepared students.
  
• In a perfect homeschool world, your children would learn their lessons the first time, eliminating any review.
  
• In a perfect homeschool world, you would have brilliant applications and visual aids prepared for every subject area you are teaching each day.
  
• In a perfect homeschool world, the laundry would clean and fold itself, so you could enjoy the evenings with your spouse.
  
• In a perfect homeschool world, there would be enough money to buy all the curriculum you wanted.
  
• In a perfect homeschool world, you would find encouraging notes from your children thanking you for being such a wonderful parent and teacher.
  
• In a perfect homeschool world, you would always have the right answer to every one of your children's questions.

Unfortunately, this world is not perfect. We live in a fallen and sinful world that tempts us (1 Corinthians 10:13). Every day I must go to the One who is perfect for strength, wisdom, and guidance to live my life as a shining example of His love to my family and to the world. I am not perfect, but He is (Hebrews 7:25-26)! I rejoice that although my homeschool world is not perfect, I know the One who is. He goes before me each day and prepares the path in which I will walk. Today, I trust Him again to take everything I experience as a homeschooling parent and cause it to work together for good (Romans 8:28).

Last week was a total bust

School last week was a total bust! It started out that Monday, I was feeling glummy and tired; so skipped school so I could relax. Tuesday came around and we did school, but I was still feeling glummy, but school went on as planned. Wednesday morning rolled around and I was down and out sick! I had been up since early that morning hanging my head by the royal throne in the bathroom :) NO school that day! Thursday came calling and I still was not feeling well, I thought that I could have the girls work on school and I lay in my bed or sit in the chair and be available to them, but that did not work out too well. Friday morning pops it head out and I am feeling better, but not well enough to deal with school, so I let the girls sleep in . So it comes to is we tried to have school this week but turns out that we did it 2 days, but don't ask me what or if my girls learned anything, cause I was too out of it to care on way or the other!
This coming week we will redo last weeks lessons, so I can make sure they have learned something! I hate it when I am sick! My hubby really came through for me though, he took care of me and tried to help with the girl's school, but he told me on day one (of the 2 days of school) that he did not know what to do to help the girls out.. :) He tried..... all well...

PS: I have the best hubby in the world! :) :) He did a great job of taking care of me this last week when I was sick.... Thanks honey! I love you.

A yucky Monday = NO SChool

This morning I woke up to a very glummy day. We had a busy weekend so I did not get to writing my plans for this week. I was just going to take the morning and write out my assignment sheets out , and then we would start school. HAh, that did not happen. It started storming outside and I just did not get to finish it all before my husband came home.
What started out in my mind as a late start to school ended up with no school at all today. Hopefully tomorrow we will be back to our regular scheduled programing.

Report cards

First quarter report cards went out yesterday. Here is how they did.

7th grader:

math 87
english 80
spelling 91
lit. 98
science 80
history 90
bible 94

3rd grader:
mathe 91
english 87
spelling 93
history 96
science 93
bible95
reading com. 98

I am very proud of them, there is some room for improvement, but that is always the case!

teacher or mom

I just wanted to sare this devotional that I recieved the other day.

Teacher or Mom
Saturday / October 10, 2009

As much as I enjoyed homeschooling my children, there were days when I longed to be only a mother. Moms have the fun job of displaying tenderness by kissing away hurts and telling their children they are wonderful, but God had an additional task for me. He also wanted me to be my children's school teacher. I had to take out the red pen and correct their papers to challenge them to study harder. Finding loving ways to critique their work and push them was not always easy. My children were forced to respect and relate to me both as mother and teacher.

I feared this dual role would create an emotional distance between my children and me. As the homeschooling years went on, I realized those fears were unfounded. The relationship I had with my children as mother gave me opportunities to minister to their personal issues and concerns. The relationship I had as their teacher provided moments for counseling college and career choices, editing job resumes, and more. I became the resource my children went to first when they needed help, and we grew even closer.

God's multiple roles in our Christian walk amaze me, too. He is our loving Abba Father, Savior, best friend, and Holy God. He commands our fear, devotion, love, and respect — all the while teaching us to grow closer to Him. He is the first person we should run to for our needs. He is both a gentle Shepherd and a jealous God who loves us with passionate, unconditional love. Praise Him today for being your heavenly Father and all you need!

Heavenly Father, thank You for the many ways You bless me each day! I worship You as my Holy God, adore You as my Father, thank You for being my Savior, and treasure You as my friend. Help me to enjoy Your love today and walk in the blessings You provide. In Jesus' name, Amen

School update

What has been going on this week? Hummmmmm, well I have been asked to pre school a little girl. They have been after me for weeks. I have decided to and the extra income will be nice. The girls are excited, but I am worried about how my day will go, working with 3 children.

Janelle has finished her first lit book, Anna of Green Gables. In the beginning, she did not like the book. As she began reading it, she could not stop! She finished the book 2 weeks ahead of time! Whooooo! She loved the book and now I am letting her watch the movie. Unto the the next book.

Kalyn is doing great. She is doing better in spelling since I have changed her spelling curr. The Last 2 weeks she has made 100's on spelling. Her reading has improved, she really loves her history reader.

Well, that is all the happenings from this week. Report cards come out in 2 weeks!!! Truth time for me, (wonder how I did teaching them this quarter).

Until next week,
me

With the First Quater almost over......

I am wondering what to do with the girls as a celebration. The girls have been working very hard and I would like to reward them. I would love to take them to a museum as a field trip this year. Maybe the museum and then dinner somewhere would be a great way to end the first quarter. With only two more weeks before the end, I better start planning!
Now on to what has been happening around here lately. We had too much excitement around here Thursday night, that when Friday morning came around we decided to take the day off and go shopping! We need to get away ( and go out of town). Small town life is suppose to be boring! Not here! AN old explosive box was found Thursday evening in the Public school (that is right in our back yard). With bomb squads, police and fire out and camping in our front yard, we were asked to leave for our safety. Of course we would leave, who knows what else was in there. well, we were able to get home again after midnight and tryed to go to bed, but who can when they are still out side walking around and had huge flood lights shinning in your windows....needless to say a shopping trip was what we needed Friday.
We had fun and found great deals on things , so all is well.

We made homemade Bread!

Kalyn is reading about the pioneer days in her history reader. I thought it would be fun to make some bread. I told her that the pioneers did not have a store to go to buy bread. Here is some of our pictures of our fun time baking bread. Janelle joined us, and I had her read the recipe and follow it by herself. Her bread did not rise, but hey she did it on her own and making bread does take time to learn. I think some skill may be involved with bread making.

Here are a few Pictures of Kalyn working hard. I think she enjoyed getting her picture taken more than working!

Janelle working on her bread.

Our finished bread!

This has turned out to be a great rainy day project. I made a beef stew to go along with our homemade bread. Boy, do they love it!

Devotional From AOP

Broken Promises
Saturday / September 19, 2009

"Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths" (Matthew 5:33)."But you promised," whimpered my ten-year-old daughter. "You said we could go swimming if we finished all our schoolwork." Although the words were softly spoken, they echoed in my ears as she left the room."Only a little disappointment," I justified to myself. "She'll get over it." Little did I know this broken promise also broke my daughter's faith in her mother's word.
While homeschooling our children, we sometimes make promises we don't keep. Each day we may attempt to motivate or discipline with words we don't really mean. Unkept promises disillusion our children, and unmeant threats instill fear and doubt. Not following through on phrases like, "If you work hard on your math, I'll give you . . ." or "When your father gets home, he's going to . . ." leaves children wondering if they can trust their parent's word. What can we do as homeschooling parents to guard our mouths from these foolish utterances?God's Word in James 5:12 says, "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation." God says not to make promises or threats with your words, especially when you have no intention of keeping them. Your children need to know that you mean what you say. Before you speak idle words again today, stop and consider the price — the broken heart of your child. "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment" (Matthew 12:36).
Lord, forgive me when I say things to get a quick fix to a problem at home with my children. Help me weigh my words and remember to honor all of my commitments — no matter how small. In Your Son's name, Amen.

Character Taits

I have been working on another character trait lesson. I need to get it done, but school has taken up most of my time. lol I am almost done with it, mostly because I want to do it with my dd this next week. It is on Diligence. Being Diligent at work, play, or anything. I have not come up with a bible story yet. Who was a diligent worker in the Bible? There are may scriptures that deal with the subject so we will just use those and see if she can name some Bible characters that fit this trait.
Instead of making a lap book this time, we will make a notebook. I am getting pictures of the beavers, and stories about them to put in the book. She will have fun making it, and after it is done , we will tie it together with string. Just something different to change things up a little.
I will have it posted soon.
until then.

Why is it so Hard to get back into the "Groove"?

I wonder why is it so hard to get back into the groove of things after a holiday? We only took yesterday off, but it seems that my youngest is having a hard time doing her school work today. Right now, she is washing the table to finish her school work, but she is taking her time, and playing. I would like them to be done in a little while, but that seems unlikely! I do pray that tomorrow is better.

Edit:
Have you just had one of those days??? No today was not better than yesterday. It took 2 hrs. for math and it was easy. lol Praying that the rest of the week is better.

Beginning of week 3 How many More to go??

We are at the beginning of week 3 of this school year, but I am wondering how many more do we have left to go? :(

Today we were all dragging. NO one wanted to get out of bed. No one wanted to eat breakfest. No one wanted to get dressed. NO one wanted to do any type of school work. NO one wanted to do anything.
Looking at what I just typed: I think this is pretty funny! It was just one of those Mondays!
Well I can say 2 weeks down and 34 to go! Hahahahaha I do love homeschooling!

Beautiful Show in the Sky

As we drove home last evening, we were greeted with a beautiful show in the sky. The sky shown wonderful flashes of lights. We could see them for miles and miles. My hubby decided that he needed pictures of it. So he took out his cell phone, while driving, and started to try to capture the show. My daughter states that her phone viv camera could take better pictures, so we we go with two trying to take pictures, and me holding the wheel from the passager side, just in case hubby gets side track with the lights. Wait could it be!! RAIN hitting the windshield. I have completely forgot what that looks like. Yes, it is rain. Wow! Now we are driving in the rain still trying to capture the beautiful show of lights in the sky. I know crazy!! But what can you say, it has been so long since we have seen lights in the sky, and rain. Hubby finally captures one picture and whooo, now we can concentrate on the road. DD has long ago given up on getting a good picture. By now, it is raining so hard that hubby is driving slow, (50mph) and I am in awe at all the water that has gathered on the side of the road. It seemed to just come form nowhere! As we enter the edge of town, we notice that water has covered all of the road, except the middle. Our whole town's roads are covered with water! We creep home having to be creative on the roads. Now How are we going to get all the walmart bags in! OK, everyone grabs what we can, yes in the rain, and start to walk for the front door. Walking ever so carefully, I am almost there when Kaka yells "I'm sinking". Her foot has sunk a little in the mud, daddy helps her and all is well. Or is it! I come to the same spot, not knowing because it is dark and raining, and sink down also! OH!!! As I walk in the house I yell "take off your shoes by the door". The lights get turned on and guess what: Yes they took their shoes off but there feet were muddy and now the carpet and floors are a mess! Looking out the window I could see why: The grass less yard has turned into one big mud pie! ;)

I Love homeschooling!

Have I stated this before, well I will say it again: I LOVE HOMESCHOOLING!
This morning my girls woke up and decided that they wanted to make muffins for breakfast. Who else but homeschoolers, can take the time and bake before we hit the books. Kaka baked banana nut muffins, and Janelle made chocolate chip. They love to cook so why not! By the way, they are the best muffins I have eaten in a long time. Maybe I am being partial, but who knows :)

We have been at it for almost 2 weeks and boy has this yr, been fun! 7th grade math is: yuck!! But don't tell Janelle I said that. English 7 is wow! Did I have to learn about modifiers? lol Good thing we are taking it slow. With math and English, I have figured out that if we cover 4 lessons a week we are on track. Its a good thing for us, since we are having to redo some lessons until it "sticks". Kalyn is doing well. Some days she decides not to read right so we are doing some timed reading. If we try to see how many words she can read in a minute, that pushes her to try harder and then she reads better.
Well it is time to hit the books, so until later.
me

we have finished our 1st mini lapbook

Here we are at the beginning of making our first lapbook. (which I am calling Mini lapbooks). She is having a blast!

Today we finished it!

We did a character trait lesson on Loyalty. I combined the Canadian Goose with it. We learned how the goose is a loyal parent and mate. Did you know that when a snow storm comes, instead of leaving there eggs a mommy goose will die to keep them warm and safe. Now that is loyalty!!

I used the story of Ruth in the Bible to show how she was loyal to Naomi, her mother in law.

Kalyn had a blast learning about how to be loyal. What trait will be next week? hummmm

First Day of School!!

As I am typing my girls are hard at work! We have started our first day of school. They are having fun working in their new books. Janelle ,who is in 7th this year ,has a full load on her. But I am confident that she will be able to handle it all! Kalyn, my 3rd grader, is having to get back into the groove of things. She will come around by the end of this week! This morning has been a great blessing for me. It has reminded me of why I homeschool my girls. Well the morning is almost over, and we have gotten quiet a bit done. What a great start to the year!

Happy Homeschooling!

My work boxes.

All right, I seen these work boxes on another blog and told her that I was stealing here idea. So here is what I came up with. I have put all their assignments in each file, and an assignment sheet with it. Here is the picture of the assignment sheet I have made up.

Each day they will do each assignment in the order it is in. Below is a picture of the workboxes I have made for them. All of the work is in there, and I hope it will be easier to keep track of all their work and all they need to do for the week. All there work will be graded and put in their binders.

This year should be more organized and we will not have work everywhere!

More Character Trait Lessons added

I have been busy writing my Character trait lessons. So far, I have been able to write one a day! Please feel free to use them, make changes where you want to.
I have posted the otter story to go with the responsable lesson. Check back often, I will be adding to it as I finish each lesson.

Character Trait Lessons

I have posted lessons for character traits. They also have contained in them animal science. This is not all my information. I have posted where I have gotten the facts from. (I hope I have is all sited.) I will review the lesson and make changes where it is needed. This is the first time I have done this sort of thing so please be paitent with me. I am learning how to add html to my doc so next time it will not be like the first one.
enjoy

schedule for next year

Well, I have finished my schedule for this comming year. This is what it looks like.
Janelle 7th grade:
Every day :
English/ litature (rotate between english and lit. every other chapter)
Math
Spelling
History (we will be studing Texas History)
Science
study scripture
Piano practice

Mondays: piano lesson useing The Piano by ear DVD
Tuesday and Thursday: Bible curr. Studing God's word
Fridays: sewing lessons

Kalyn 3rd grade:
Every day:
English
Math
Spelling
Reading
Science/ Animal Science (switch b/w every other day)
History
study scripture
piano practice

Monday and Thrusday: Bible lessons using Studing God's Word
Tuesday: piano lesson using The Piano by Ear DVD
Friday: health studies ?
EDIT: I NEED TO FIND A SPACE FOR HEALTH STUDIES FOR KAYLN

My plans are to inter mix a charater trait lesson with animal science. Hopefully I will be able to find animal I could relate to the Character trait I want to study.
Well, Now that I have this done, on to finishing my lesson plans

school curr. ordered!!!

Today I finally ordered my school curruclium. Now that that load of off me, now i can work on my lesson planning and my calender. Don't know when I will start school yet. I might start after the first of September. I don't know, so much to do and so little time.
ttfn

Gathering School Supplies

I have noticed something the other day. School supplies are not as cheap as they were last year. I don't know why, but spiral notebooks last year were 5cents. this year they are 25 cents, still not real expensive but paper is paper; notebook paper is 75 cents. Ok, I'll quite complainiing.
Just a thought here:
Many people say they put their kids in public school because it cost too much to homeschool. But with all the supplies you buy for ps, it is just the same price as homeschooling. Ps here have each child buy computer/ copy paper, tissues, contruction paper, and on. not to mention the reagular stuff you always buy: penicals, crayons, sissors. You wind up spending the same after you buy ps uniforms and all.
Anyway, that was just a thought that ran though my mind while shopping for school supplies.
until next time

Character Sketches

I have found some cool books called Character Sketches. Each book has a character trait that is discussed with an animal. It collates the animal science lesson with that of a character trait from the bible. I am thinking of doing lapbooks for each animal/ character trait. It should be a fun way to learn how we should live our lives to please our heavenly father.
The books are huge and I have only been able to find Vol. 1 and 2. So I am off to ebay to look for Vol. 3. My girls are going to love these books, (since they love animals). Off to do more searching,
so until next time,
shelby

Texas history

Just received my Texas history textbook. Wow, they cover alot of info for one year. Now I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed at the thought of having to come up with lesson plans,tests, and quizzes for it.
We are using a older public school textbook, so naturally I need to come up with the tests for it. Does that mean I have to read the book? :) (complaining a little) Yeah, that means I need to get cracking and read and study my Texas History. All well, I love history and I love to read.
My goal is to get most of my tests written out before school. Times a waisting!!!! Get busy and read, read, read, read.
Janelle will have fun with this! he,he,he,he (not with all the reading she will have to do!)
until next time
Shelby

Welcome !!!

Welcome to our adventures!
I have decided to record my homeschooling experiences this year. School does not start until the end of August for us. But with that said, we are already looking, planning, and buying this years stuff. I am going to be doing lapbooks with my 3rd grader this year. Planning will take a while, but I have found great sites with lots of information. I will post pictures also. (i hope!!)
Grab a seat and enjoy the adventures of homeschooling.


Look at the links on my page. Helpful resources for any homeschooler or Sunday School teacher. More to come, so stay tune!