Picker Alert!!!

Shiloh announced during lunch (of all times) that she no longer picks her nose. I responded “Great, you’ve now accomplished something your brothers have yet to accomplish.” One brother say’s “I have accomplished it” and another “I have too, starting right now!” Her other brother honestly just sat quietly and listened (he knew he couldn’t add to the conversation since he’d been called on this just an hour earlier!)

So the conversation, unfortunately went from bad to eewww and I had to change the topic. But before that happened we all agreed to proclaim “Picker Alert” if ANYone is caught with their finger inside the nasal canal (yes we actually had to clarify the difference between a scratch and a pick )

So What’s New?

My nook that’s what!! I had a regular nook but after 6 months of issues one of the customer service rep’s offered to send me a new one or I could upgrade to the color. Obviously I paid the difference and took the upgrade. Oh.My.Word am I glad I did.

This is a whole new experience for me. I’ve never had a touch anything so this little baby has really impressed the socks off me. Not only is reading fun (it was before the nook color came into my life so yeah, it still is) but it’s also easier.

The other day I finished a book and was looking for another to read (without having to buy one) and found one of my friends on Facebook, who lent me a nook book, and within minutes (maybe even seconds) there it was on my nook, ready for me to read. UH, really? So awesome!

I can sit down and in just a few minutes be up to date on the blogs I want to be up to date on (I have hundreds on Google reader and it’s so hard to sort through them, so lately I haven’t even bothered), I can catch the latest national, world, AND local headlines, and even check my weather for snow. All of this with just ONE of my new apps (PULSE). I also have a new calendar app for all my review info. I’m just trying this out for the first time today, so the verdict is still out on this one. I may or may not stick with it. These are freebies too, I can’t even imagine how nice the ones you have to pay for would be. There are tons of these things and remind me, how did I ever get by before apps?

So lately I’ve been wondering, are we living in the technical revolution? What will the future call this point in history? It’s definitely more than just the computer age now, wouldn’t you say?

So, what’s new with you?

H.E.A.R.T. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 E.-Enrich your Marriage

Okay this week was a bit convicting at times. Especially when she talked about serving our husbands, and trying to ease the enormous load they must shoulder. I know many husbands who are far less busy than mine so I should jump at the chance to help him when he asks. Instead I grumble (usually it’s to myself but I’m sure he knows I’m not overjoyed by having him add something else to my ‘to do’ list).

In this chapter she points out the fact that children are more secure when they see their parents living out a ‘healthy’ example of marriage. They need to feel there is something in their lives that is for sure, stable, consistent, etc.  But they don’t need fake. They need to know it’s okay to disagree---it doesn’t mean you don’t still love each other. Something's they will learn by watching their parents (as listed on pages 66-67) are:

• Trust
• Sacrifice
• Loyalty
• Teamwork
• Forgiveness
• Cooperation
• Communication
• Responsibility
• Perseverance
• Joy
• Diligence
• Kindness
• Gentleness
• Grace

They need that ‘healthy’ example of what a marriage should look like. What we are living in front of them is going to impact how they view marriage in general.

“We need to point our kids toward the values of sacrifice and selflessness as seen on the cross of Calvary. This is the standard of ultimate love defined by dying to oneself and living for the lord. Now that is something worth living for.” (page 68)

One final thought, I love that she doesn’t follow the belief that we need to make our kids happiness a priority. Not that we need to make them miserable but there are so many kids in the world today that never (or rarely) have to deal with disappointment or struggle all because their parents want them to be ‘happy.’ Well, the sad part is they are going to be some very unhappy adults when they leave mom and dad and enter the real world of disappointments and struggles. A very wise friend once told me that God is more concerned with my holiness than with my happiness. I belief there is so much truth in those words!

I’m not the only one talking about this book…check out The Pelsers to see what others had to say.

Get yourself a copy of H.E.A.R.T.

H.E.A.R.T. Chapter 1

 

H.E.A.R.T. by Rachel Carman 

H: Have a Heart for the Things of God                                                     

Last week I shared my thoughts on the intro to this book and this week I’ll be sharing on Chapter 1.  As you’ll soon see each chapter will be a part of the acronym H.E.A.R.T. So this week is H: Have a Heart for the Things of God.

A few things she stresses are the importance of intentional parenting. We shouldn’t react, but instead we need to respond. This means instead of panicking over big or little things, try praying. Instead of giving a sermon when you catch your child exhibiting un-Christ like characteristics/behaviors, share scripture and let the Lord penetrate that heart with His Word (it’s stronger than a two edged sword and will do more than any words you could put together on your own).

Another point she makes is to show our children what it looks like (in everyday life) to put God first. Let them see what a strong faith is. Be a living testimony in your home. Learn to truly worship Him because that’s where His glory is revealed.

As we walk with Him and grow in our knowledge of Him we begin to desire to worship Him. This is described on pages 54-56. She points out that God gave us our emotions but we are to rule over them—keeping them under control (this would include ALL of them). In the book she didn’t focus on this point but it spoke clearly to me. I’ve become more emotional as I’ve gotten older and I need to remember to “stay in control.” I am responsible for my actions and my emotions are not a scapegoat for me to use when I lose control.

She ends this chapter with the following piece of advice:

“Memorize His word all you want, but without the heart change, without true worship, it’s empty.”

Head on over to The Pelsers for the Chapter 1 links.

A Dose of our Daily Life

What does a typical day look like at our homeschool? That just depends on what day it is. Really! We do a little different each day depending on what we have going on outside the home (among other diversions). But on a day when we are home all day (with minimal interruptions) this is how we roll:
---> I usually get up between 6-7am have my coffee and time with Jesus.
---> Lucas is the first up after me. God wakes him up with His gorgeous sunlight.
---> Around 7:30-8:00 (depending on what time they went to bed the night before) I wake the rest of the family up.
---> Breakfast is usually pretty quick then everyone is sent to get dressed, make their beds, and brush their teeth. I throw a load of clothes in the wash and then we get started.
---> School is underway by or before 9am. This is where our schedule has recently changed. We were doing things like THIS up until the last couple weeks. I felt we needed to tweak things a bit because I felt rushed with the little ones.
---> The first few hours of school the little ones spend playing alone or with one another. This is the first year they haven’t been underfoot and it’s been great.
----> So our first hour is spent on Reading, individual Bible/AWANA, and Spelling. Jordan works on his alone while Josiah and I work together.
---> Once this is complete everyone grabs a snack, I put the laundry in the dryer or hang them up to dry, and we head to the living room for our favorite time of the day. SONLIGHT. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, these books. I am so glad I tried them, we will be using them again!! So in addition to reading the Sonlight history and read aloud's, we spend part of our time praying for each other’s ‘weaknesses’ and reading from Apologia’s book Who is God and Can I Really Know Him. This usually takes an hour or more.
---> Next the boys do their Winston Grammar with my help and/or IEW (creative writing). We love IEW but I haven’t been doing it as diligently as I should have. It’s so easy to just skip this if we’re running behind. I’m really hoping to work this in a lot more often in the coming months. It’s not a real burden to finish it in one year so I’m not too worried. These two subjects can take 15 min to one hour, depending on whether we do both subjects or just Winston, and also it depends on what the assignments are for that particular day.
---> At this point I’m done with the older boys and it’s usually lunch time. We don’t do fancy lunches around here (well, occasionally I’ll fix a real meal, but it’s rare). We usually have chicken nuggets, hotdogs with mac-n-cheese, sandwiches, pizza, leftovers, spaghetti and meatballs, or corndogs. I know most of my homeschool friends would cringe at this but, hey, food isn’t our top priority these days. I have picky kids (got it honest from their dad) and I’m not stressing over it now.
---> After lunch the older boys do their Apologia Science and Math-U-See. They have individual Math of course but they do their science together. They are studying Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day.
---> This is when I start the little kids with their school. We have a morning board that we have been doing immediately following breakfast but since Christmas we haven’t really done it at all. I’m not sure if it’ll fall in the afternoon now or if I’ll try to do it at breakfast. I’m thinking it’d be best to just continue to do it after breakfast. For math they are also doing Math-U-See and we work through their sheets together using the blocks to help where needed.
Last week they finished learning the last of the consonants so we will be starting a new program this week. I’m super excited too because it’s a program that I was chosen to review from TOS. I know God was in this because it’s perfect for our family. PERFECT! So perfect I would have probably chosen it above all others if money wasn’t an issue (not that it’s an expensive program, I just didn’t have any money to spend right now). I just got it in the mail today (timing was spot on, thank you Lord). The program we’ll be starting this week is All About Reading Level 1. Look for my review February 22!
So that’s a typical day in our life…not too exciting but we all love spending our days together. The only way it could be any more perfect would be to have our Daddy here with us.

Head over to the Blog Cruise and see how other homeschoolers spend their days.

“How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. For Your Kids” INTRO

I have joined a book study with other moms and we will be reading and discussing “How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. For Your Kids” by Rachael Carman. I’ve read this book before and loved it. In fact you can read my review here. I felt it would be nice to run through it again since this time of year I usually need to refocus and remember what my REAL purpose for homeschooling is.
So this week I’m on the Introduction to the book. Once again, this book came at the perfect time. Sunday we sang one of my favorite hymns, “Come Thou Fount of Many Blessings.” I love this song so much that I had it played in my wedding as the bridesmaids walked up the isle. At church, as I sang the last verse “Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love” I remember thinking, ‘Well that no longer applies, I have finally made it—I am sold out!---I will never leave my precious Jesus.’  I didn’t even realize I had wandered off course, again.
My morning quiet time had become a rush simply because I wasn’t getting up early enough (i.e.: before Lucas and the sun come up). Amazing what that does to me. The night before reading this I felt God telling me I needed to make changes --- I was spending too much time on myself (reading online). I felt so empty and unfulfilled. This is what ALWAYS happens when we put too much other ‘stuff’ in and not enough Jesus in. I knew what was missing---I had wandered.
So I got up early the next morning dove into the intro and the tears began to burn my eyes as she described the new heart God had given her (check it out on pages 28 &29) . That’s how I felt at that moment. God is so patient with me. My desire is to show that same grace and patience to others in my life.
I’m not the only one reading this book…head on over to The Pelsers to see what others are saying. You can also click here to read the authors thoughts.  Yes! she’s joining the book study.
Want your own copy of this book…here you go.

Christmas and then Happy New Year!!!

 

Christmas was great! We were really busy ALL of December. Actually we started working on our Christmas play every Sunday beginning in September. This was hard because Sunday is our family day. It’s a do nothing (except go to church, awana and choir practice) day. We were still together as a family but boy I really look forward to resting on Sundays and I know my husband does because he works long hours 6 days a week.

   One of our angels didn't make it for the nativity...all her practicing and she fell asleep before her cue

So after the Sunday before Christmas we were out of school, the Christmas play and cantata were done, and we (the kids and I) were free to do nothing but wrap gifts and cook for Christmas. My favorite things to do during Christmas are: go shopping with just my hubby, go shopping with hubby and all the kids to let them buy for their sibling (they draw names), and fix a “thank you gift” for our donors who live close enough for a visit.

This year our “thank you” was a pound of sausage. We all worked as a family to complete the task and then Mark and some of the kids delivered. Normally I would deliver also but I was working on another project for a nearby neighbor whose wife died this year. I made him a rocky mountain fruit cake. The recipe was 100 years old and can I say this…I have no idea how it lasted that long. It was hard to make and, in my opinion, not so tasty,   But it was fun doing it simply because I was doing it for him.

Although 2011 was a good year for our family (not because we experienced any extra special event such as a birth, wedding, or winning the lottery ) I was excited to see 2012 come around. I just love a new year. It’s like a fresh start. It’s strange isn’t it. I mean, after all, the Word say’s His mercies are new everyday so I really don’t need January 1st for a new start.                                                           

New Year's Eve party at our house

At any rate, I was happy for a new year and I made a new years resolution.  Who cares if you don’t keep it…just make ‘em and break ‘em, right? No, this year I really don’t want to break my resolution. Actually, it isn’t really a resolution. This year I asked the kids to pray about a weakness or stronghold in their lives and to let me know, sometime during the first week of January, what they chose. I already had mine picked out and was very excited when they shared theirs with me.

We have agreed, as a family, to pray for one another in these particular areas. So far, day 6, we’re doing good!! I haven’t yelled at the kids once this week, lol! I hope I can make it until December 31! I figure if I can make it until then, the Lord will have truly broken it for me. I really do struggle at times. I’m seriously considering tape for my mouth on those ‘tough’ days. I know they’re coming!! Y’all pray for me