Weekly Wrap-Up: Trauma

• In my life this week…The big news this week is that I finally started my new job.  I applied in May, but our hospital has been expanding and I had to wait until the new additions were complete...then I had to wait to train someone new on my old floor before I moved to my new floor.  I actually had a good time training someone, really liked the person, and am now training under someone I really like...8 weeks of not having my own patients... think there will be trouble when I'm on my own again?  ;) It's a big, scary step for me, but something I've wanted to do for a long time.  I'm around people I really like, and who can teach me a lot.  Hopefully the "trauma drama" won't be too much for my emotions.  And above all, hopefully, I'll learn quickly all the new things I have to learn!
• In our homeschool this week… I'm not sure how I've done it, but since we've started back to school, we've managed to stay on schedule!  It's amazing, and I'm so thankful for all the help I've had from my husband and MIL.  I know without them my precious schedule would have long been long forgotten.  The girls were sick this week, so I did bump their schedule, but with K and 1st, I feel like I can be a lot more flexible.  They had 2 sick days... Mom had 2 "get it together" days!
• I am inspired by… There are certain people I know at work (and outside of) that are just incredibly intelligent nurses. They can answer almost any question I have, think quickly, and have amazing critical thinking skills.  I wish I could be like that, but my brain is not a sponge...more like a colander! LOL!
• My favorite thing this week was…  This is silly, but it was a much needed confirmation.... at work one of the respiratory therapists couldn't "place" me.  He knew he knew me, but couldn't figure out where from.  Of course, I told him I transferred, and he figured it out.  He made several comments about how bad it has been on my old floor lately (yeah, I know!).  This really made me think about how glad I was to be moving to a smaller unit with a really tight team.  But the kicker, and quite honestly boost to my confidence, was when I said to the other therapist, "I think I'll be ok down here"....he turned around and said, "Oh yeah, I always thought you would be good down here!"  Ya'll... I really needed to hear that!
• What’s working/not working for us…  Just a note to say that my goal of making Bible study the most important thing, is being carried out...and that my kids are really enjoying Stick Figuring Through the Bible (Esther) and want to continue with this Bible study.  Amazingly, they love our hymn study and Scripture memory as well! I'm so encouraged.
• Things I’m working on… The pinterest bug has hit me... about once a year I start feeling crafty and here it is.  I have accomplished a few things I've already shared, and am now working on a few more.  Today my mom and I are getting together for a crafting day.  Hopefully I'll have some pictures of things I can post.  I have a list....wonder how far down I'll make it!

For those of you who are working and homeschooling:  I've truly been amazed at how God has given me the opportunity to prove that He can do all things through me!  My husband always says that sounds "cliche`" but, truly, how else would you explain working 30-50 hours/week and still staying on your schedule?  How else can you explain this being the first year ever to keep up with your schedule and grades in an organized way (thank you soooo much Scholaric!)? How else do you explain the house only being a partial mess, and the kids being fed daily (mostly 6 times/day), and the animals all being alive??? Seriously, to say that it was me would be a lie.  I average 4-6 hours a sleep daily, some days more, some days less, and am barely functioning on any given day... but God is helping me by sending me others, giving me resolve I've not experienced before, and a loving husband who is constantly encouraging me!  I certainly am not the most creative, organized, supermom out there...but I am the most blessed mom in the world!  Even though things aren't the way I imagined them, you know, bon-bons and soap operas (hehe), they are far better....flour fights, crafts, gymnastics, Uno on Sunday mornings...bon-bon eating moms, eat your heart out!

A-typical Day in the Life

There aren't "typical" days around here.  They are all unique unto themselves.... though there are typical Tuesdays or typical Wednesdays, etc.  Due to our outside activities, each day is different... HOWEVER, I do try to keep our morning routine as best as possible.

It is supposed  to go like this....

• Wake up and quite time for mom... (0600 every day baby!) LOTS OF COFFEE!!! Sweet time with the Lord and planning out the day happen at this time... I also check email, FB, and other stuff.
• Wake Hubby and kids (0700ish)  Sigh.... wish the quiet time would last all day!
• Every day it is my HOPE that in 1 hour they will be dressed have finished chores and finished breakfast...I cook while they clean (or Hubby does the cooking sometimes!) We rarely make it in 1 hour!
• Then we start school with our gratitude journals, hymn study, Bible, and Scripture memory.  This usually takes about an hour, but I don't limit it...ok... I do clock watch, always hoping to be done with school as early as possible!
• Then we split and Bean Boy goes onto his independent studies while I work with the girls. ***Survival mode so far has meant a focus on Bible, math, reading.  And I try to finish those by lunch (1200). I used to do nature study, composer study, art, etc.... maybe one day.... sigh
• After lunch I try to work with Bean Boy on things that he needs a "grown-up" for...  Some days though he gets left behind because Mom just needs a nap... I'm working on this!!!  This is also when we do our science lessons. 
• Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons are our gymnastics days... Monday afternoons we go to the chiropractor.  Thursday is the only I don't have to leave the house, but we usually do end up out somehow or other...  

The last couple of weeks we've done a good job reading in our Apologia Science book, and I even got creative and found a documentary on Netflix that we are really enjoying...one part at a time.  We watched that one night before bed with Hubby.

We are going to take a break for at least 2 weeks.  I plan to plan!  I'm really hoping to ramp up our history and get better at doing some of the activities SOTW recommends, since we seem to have gotten the rest under control. I hope to add in some of the readers too.  It is hard for me to do all of those extras.... being a Type A and wanting things to be just right, put in their place, and already dealing with so much out of place (refer to School Room- The Ugly Truth), knowing the activities require messes and "things" to be pulled out, and then knowing that it will take TIME.... oh well, do you get the picture?  I tend to find it more stressful than enjoyable.  I know my kids don't though, and that the memories of both the fun times and the lessons learned will be worth it.  This is one of the areas I refer to when talking about self-sacrifice...I'd much rather be a textbook/workbook mom, but that's just not who we are as a family and I believe my kids would hate it...except maybe one.  I wonder if I could have a little fairy come along and pick up after us so we can move right on to the next activity!!!

Every so often, we take planned breaks from school. During this time I re-evaluate what is working, what isn't, and try to gear up for the next go round, fixing what's not working along the way.  Every so often, we have unplanned breaks from school.  Someone gets sick (though unless puking, I tend to make them do some school work so our days off are fun days!), someone outside of our home needs help, or last minute plans come up with family or friends... I'm flexible.  Every so often, we take mental health days for mom's sake!  Every so often, you can find me hiding in my room with the door closed...the kids are so good at hide and seek though...it never lasts long enough! ;)

*Of course, all of this is altered any time I have to work during the week or on a Sunday night!  But, we're flexible! And, I'm ever so grateful for the opportunity to be with my amazing chilies!

I'm really looking forward to reading what others are doing and gleaning some insight through this bloghop

Weekly Wrap-Up: Surpassing Survival!

Survival at Its Finest...
Well, we've survived again!  I'm just so glad that I've decided this year is a survival year, cause then, when we have great weeks like this one, I can say I've surpassed my goals!

Monday I "survived" on 1.5 hours of sleep!  Actually I thrived.  I managed to leave work almost 2 hours late, run some errands, get home, nap (hence the 1.5 hours), run another (unsuccessful errand) and get our free JCP haircuts.  Well, mine wasn't free, but the 3 chilies were!  Hubby showed up and got his cut too!  Who new haircuts could be a family affair!?  Then, I planned, organized, put together all the amazing things for our "Back to School/Not Back to School" party!!! Whew... it was 2300 before I made it to bed! By Wednesday I was dragging!

Back to School/Not Back to School Party
So.... I guess you're wondering about our "Back to School/Not Back to School" party.  I started feeling guilty reading all these blogs with people who have great back to school traditions. We have just always started... no fun, no traditions, no frills or lace.  So, I thought I'd do something fun for a change! Well, my God-daughter and niece both go to school and one of our homeschooling friends follows the county schedule too.  And we, as you know, have been schooling since June... so it's a back to school/not back to school party.

At our party, I set up stations.  At one station, each child had their foot outline drawn, weighed themself, cut yarn to match their height, and put all of that on a piece of construction paper.  Another station had different "About Me Printables" and suggestions to add to them.  And, at the last station, each child painted their hand print onto a piece of construction paper.  Next year they can pull all of these things out and compare how much they've grown.

We had pizza, this amazingly cool cake I made (though it wasn't as pretty as the picture) and we debuted the first "First Coast Kids News" video! I had mentioned that I might post that here, but the kids' first and last names are in the video, and I'm just not comfortable with that. So, you'll have to believe me when I say it was so amazing!  It was phenomenal, and while I was ready for it to be over with, I am motivated to engage in another project, and I think the kids are too!  WOW!!!
















School
Well, aside from the party- Hey, public school has party days too!!!  Aside from our party day, we did very minimal school.  This is our last week with Crazy K before she goes back to PS.  We did have Grommy tutor this week, Bean Boy is doing great with LOF and has kept up with it, we had one science lesson, and I didn't really work with the girls much.  The kids did learn about opposable thumbs, and walked around for about 10 minutes with their thumbs taped to their hands!  They hated it!  So, I'm sure that will be added to the list of things they are thankful for!!! We didn't necessarily do "Bible" but we have sung our hymns and Bible verses...we even sang our verses while we were preparing for our party!

I'm starting to fizzle out, and will need a break soon I think! I looked at the calendar and figured out we've done 8 weeks of school already!  We started, did 2 weeks, then took 2 weeks off...one for VBS, and the other to recover from VBS! We've done light schooling for sure, but have had a great summer.  I think I'll be taking a week or two in the near future, to clean out my school room, work a few extra hours to pay for some things, and to just have a break.  I never take off long because the kids drive me crazy when they don't have scheduled activities! 

Other Miscellaneous
We had hair cuts, eye doctor appointments, movies again, and gymnastics, and gymnastics!  Gymnastics already takes up so much of our lives, and there is more to come I'm sure.... Crazy K, Little Bit and I will be at Yes You Canvas again Friday, and if I have time, I'll post pics...they are doing koala bears this time.


Crazy K
Crazy K has had a tough life.  Things are really looking up for her.  I can really tell a difference this summer compared to previous summers.  Her mom swears she's moody and frustrating....hey Bean Boy is 3 weeks younger and I want to strangle him more often than not... but this year, I've enjoyed K more than any other!  She gave her life to the Lord last school year, and I can really tell the Holy Spirit has calmed her heart.  She has been a major blessing to me and our family, and I am truly sad to have her going back to school!  And, not just because she won't be here to make lunch anymore! LOL! She's added so much to my life!  I am excited that she said she'd continue with her Thankfulness Journal and will email them to me...and I promised to email her our singing verses! I'm so proud of her, and am sure God has big plans for her.  How blessed am I to get to watch her journey!  I'm adding that to the list!!!

Work
Well, I'll be working 3 in a row this weekend and next weekend.  That is including an actual overtime shift.  Hopefully that will help pay for the dog's tooth extraction (probably 3 he goes in on Friday morning) the eye doctor, glasses, and contacts for me and Bean Boy, and groceries!  So, you probably won't hear from me until Tuesday when I link up with Time-Warp Wife.  I'm working on another piece on gratitude... maybe it will be done by then!

Have a great weekend!!!


Wrapping up the week with Kris again!

Spilled Praise

At the suggestion of a friend, I listened to an incredible sermon by John Piper.   It was a sermon based on Psalm 145:4.  You can read it or listen to it here.  The verse is a simple command; One generation shall proclaim your works to another and declare your mighty acts.  Piper does an excellent job of explaining our responsibility as the "one generation".  He then delves into how we need to be infatuated with the Kingdom of God in order to be effective.  In other words, we aren't just teaching our children history, or even just HisStory. We are to model a burning, ravenous, all-consuming love for the Kingdom of God.  Our hearts should be so filled with the treasure of God himself, that it overflows out through our mouths (Luke 6:45). 

Piper had an amazing phrase that made my heart quicken... Spill over in praise to the next generation.... Words that God has had on my heart for some time (just not worded as well as Piper did!)! It goes hand in hand with the Deuteronomy mandate... I've been purposefully looking for ways to share with the kids God's goodness, specifically His goodness to me and our family. Ways to make God "real" and personal, not just a list of stories and facts...

Just this morning I was telling God how my head is usually swimming with thoughts....This is what I wrote in my prayer journal this morning:

Oh how slow I am to learn Lord!  I feel as if I have one of those brains that can't think beyond what is in front of me, which often means I'm not thinking about you!  How many opportunities have I missed to thank you, praise you, talk to you, ask you for help, meditate on your Word, (share you with others-namely my kids), etc.?  But Lord, how can I change this, especially so that my kids can see my good example more than my bad!  How can I "think" about you more so that my love for you flows out of the over-abundance of my heart and others may see it? Teach me.  Guide me.  Show me and help me! My head swims with thoughts of what needs to be done at home, in school, and work...the how to's and what to's and need to's of my life.  But, I want it to be swimming with the things you have told me, how great you are, and what is lovely, pure, and noble, etc....

I admit, I'm not as infatuated as I could/should be and that my other thoughts so often push thoughts of Him out. It is an area He and I have been working on.  So, with God's help, I will continue on my journey of thankfulness.  I'll continue to put good, namely God's Word, into my heart so that it becomes the treasure of my heart, and from the abundance of my heart, my mouth will speak.  (Luke 6:45).  I will rely on the Holy Spirit to continually renew my mind, to shift my focus, and to guide my heart.  I will continue to be purposefully looking for opportunities to share what He personally means to me, has done for me, has given me, and spoken to me, and loved me, and been good to me, and faithful to me, and how is is just absolutely wonderful and worth more than all I could ever give with my babies, and others.  I will do this as often as I can remember, and pray that God will continue to remind me more and more often.  I want my kids to see my love for Him and have no doubt that He is worth it!

 

Singing Verses

You may remember, I wrote before that my main focus this year was to have a consistent time of Bible study with the kids.  Part of that includes our Hymn Study and our Scripture Memory.  I'm happy to report it is going well.  There are times, like this week, that we'll miss a couple of days of Bible because I won't be there, or I'll be sleeping due to work. But, for the most part, I have been sure to make this the last subject we skip, instead of the first.  I do that just as much to remind me that God's Word is more important than math, as it is to show the children that God's Word should be a priority in life...

Several years ago I was blessed (and have been many times) to hear Pam Tebow speak.  One of the many gems I picked up from her was that they put their memory verses to music.  What a cute idea, right?  Well, my son absolutely loves this idea too and is such a great help at coming up with song suggestions and helping me to fit the verse into the song.  Now, sometimes the verses are short, and we just use motions.We are using Simply Charlotte Mason's Scripture Memory System to keep reviewing our verses and it is working really well!  SO, we've taken two great ideas, and combined them!!!  I thought I'd give you a list of verses that fit easily into some popular kids' songs.  There are others that aren't as easy to fit, so this will not be an exhaustive list of verses that we have done, but some of the easier ones.  Maybe you can have as much fun as we have!

Tip: I write/type the verse on one side of the index card, and put the title of the song we use on the back.

Phillipians 2:14-16 (Jingle Bell Rock) *repeat 1st line at the end.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 (The Birdies in the Treetops)

Acts 2:17 (Jesus Loves Me)

Luke 11:13 (Keep Walking- from Veggie Tales)

Psalm 46:1 (God is so Good)

John 4:24 (Pizza Angel- from Veggie Tales) *speak the address at the end

Colosians 1:16-17 (Keep Your Tongue From Evil...which is another verse!)

Psalm 56:3-4a (Big Bad Wolf)

Psalm 22:28 (3 Blind Mice)

Revelation 4:11 (Doe a Dear) *This verse fits such that you sing it twice and the second time through starts at so (a needle pulling thread).  I really like this one!

Judges 5:3 (Jingle Bells)

Deuteronomy 6:18 (Row Row Your Boat)

1 Samuel 16:7b (London Bridges) repeating the words so that the first sentence is verse 1 and the 2nd verse 2.

My personal favorite:  The Great Commission fits perfectly into.... Yankee Doodle!  Matthew 28:19-20


*Disclaimer* Some of these verses were put to songs by one of our very talented teachers from CBS.  Others my son and I did. 

Have fun!

Curricula Corner: 2012-2013

Our local homeschooling conference is this weekend.  This will be the first time since my oldest was 4 that I will not attend!  It is kind of sad in a way, but I did get to go to our state conference, and I really don't need anything else... plus, instead of going, we shipped off our beloved chilies to a friend's house, and are enjoying the time alone!!!! WOW- that RARELY happens!

It seems that conference times bring planning times, and there is a lot of that going on with my friends, and in the blogging world.  So, I thought I'd share what we are doing around here.

I've put the girls together. They are in K and 1st...

Bible/Hymns/Scripture Memory
My one main goal this year has been to have a worship/Bible study time.  The past few years we have attended Community Bible Study which I HIGHLY recommend for a great in-depth Bible study, a wonderful homeschool program, and kids program.  BUT, with my work schedule, we struggle already to get our school work done, so one more day out of the house just isn't a good idea for us.  SO, I searched high and low for something my 6th grader reading on a 9-10th grade level could share with my K/1st graders.... I didn't find much.  What I did find was Bible Study Guide for All Ages.  It was really inexpensive, so I figured that if we don't like it, I haven't wasted too much money.  It is a little childish for my 6th grader, so he does all the oral readings for us.  AND, what I've noticed that is just the added benefit, is that he is helping the girls, we have more community in our family, and the kids are growing closer.  We also use a Scripture Memory box/system like the one described here.  We put most of our verses to music- some of our favorite Veggie Tale songs, nursery rhymes, hymns, etc.  One day I'll have to blog those to share with you all!  And, we do a hymn study using 101 Hymn Stories by Kenneth Osbeck, and following the monthly schedule set out by ???? the url is not on my printout and after a long time of searching, I am unable to find it- though we don't do the handwriting with it. 

Math
Right Start Mathematics  *my son absolutely loved Right Start, and I even learned so much the first time through. He is taking very slowly the Geometric Approach level.  It will be interesting to see what I learn this time around with the girls.  We actually have 2-3 lessons in level A to finish up, then on to level B.   Baby T may need some remediation, but she seems to be catching up.

Bean Boy is also using Life With Fred Fractions and will have that finished next week already and be on to Decimals.... He was having problems with these in his day to day work.  Now I will never be allowed  to leave the Life with Fred series.... He LOVES them!!!!

Reading
My other BIG goal is to get both of the girls reading mostly independently.  Little Bit has really struggled in this area. Baby T has really excelled in this area.  We have used an eclectic approach to this to try to find ways to help Lydia.  I have used Spell to Write and Read, Simply Charlotte Mason's Delightful Reading, flashcards, and just any beginner book we can put our hands on.  Unfortunately, Little Bit still hates it... I keep praying that will change! 

Science
If we could just do science, I would be a happy momma!  I'd love to do daily nature study.  I would love to get through all of Apologia's science curricula, and probably their other stuff too.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE their books.  This year we are doing Land Animals of the Sixth Day.

History
I truly have a love/hate relationship with history.  I LOVE to study it, read about it, teach it.... but I know so little of it, it makes the teaching part difficult.  Since we are in survival mode this year, I went with Story of the World, Level 3.  Both Little Bit and Bean Boy are listening to the CDs and doing some workbook pages, and such. We haven't really done any of the projects, though I would love to extend our days to 50 hour days so I could do more of this too! Baby T pretty much does gymnastics as quietly as she can while the others are listening...


Computer Programming
Despite my having started a blog, and what you may think, my poor kids have been cursed with having parents that are technological idiots!  Seriously!! If you're not sure, look at my posts that have videos in them... I digress. I am confident one day my son will take over as our technological expert!  He wanted to learn about programming, so I found KidCoder when we were at our state conference.  He loves it, and is motivated to keep going, learning independently.  I did ask the vendor, and yes, he can call or email them for help so I don't have to learn this!  This makes me happy!!!  He is motivated, because in the 2nd book, he will learn to program games!  Happy all around!
I also read aloud from various books.  Right now, Bean Boy and I are finishing up a book that I can't wait to be done with....Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped.  Ugh.... I don't like it!!! Anyway, as soon as we are done, we are going to read.....drumroll please!!! The Hobbit!  We are both very excited about that... then I will unleash him on the trilogy on his own!

The girls and I are reading many short, fun books, as well as the Thorton Burgess Bird Book for Children.  We finished his Animal Stories and really loved it!

We do practice handwriting daily, but usually just from printouts we find on the web, or cards we are making for friends, or something to keep us practicing....

Well, I do believe that about sums it up.  You can read about our Olympic study here.

Link-up here with your plans in the curricula corner, so I (and others) can get more ideas!
I'm linking up to Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers too!




If you use Apologia, check out Sarah's blog. She has linked up with other Apologia users to help share ideas...
Also linking up with iHomeschoolNetwork