Humble Beginnings

STOP NAIS! We have one more way to stop it...

Merry Christmas!

I hope you each are having a wonderful and joyous Christmas season.  We spent yesterday at my Dad's home celebrating Christmas with my side of the family.  We had a truly wonderful time.  My two precious children spent some real quality time with my sister and brother-in-law as well as my Dad and his wife.  There was lots of tickling and laughing!  The children wrestled with my brother-in-law and learned some judo moves.  They have my BIL really sweating!  Never underestimate the endurance and stamina of a 7 year old little girl or a 10 year old little boy!!!  They'll certainly keep you on your toes!

We had a simple and easy meal of brisket and all the trimmings (very Texas style!). 

And you know what?  We all made homemade gifts.  My sister gave us branches of their rosemary bush to dry for use this winter.  We also received some of their homegrown garlic and canned apple butter (which I can't wait to try!).  The children received homemade bulletin boards which they absolutely loved!  Each one matched my children's interests.  There were no battery-operated toys or gadgets, nor were there tons of unnecessary items.  Each item received was something to be used and treasured.  My sister also made my daughter cookie dough along with a set of paintbrushes. We have a very old Betty Crocker cookbook that has a recipe for Paintbrush Cookies.  So, my daughter plans on making the cookies today and "painting" them with an egg yolk mixture before baking.  She's going to LOVE this!  What an enjoyable Christmas!

Everything we gave this year was canned from our endeavors this summer:  Mustang Grape Liqueur, Mustang Grape Wine, Mustang Grape jelly, Hot Pepper Butter and Peach Preserves.

I just hope you each have a wonderful Christmas season, spent with family and friends.  We have more activities planned for the week, but yesterday was a truly special way to start the week.

Here's a little something for you and the kids!  Merry Christmas

God Certainly Knows ALL!!!

As you all know, the economy is drastically taking a turn for the worse.  My husband has been a real estate agent for the past 2 years and is now getting out of it.  He made minimal money last year and is tired of all the work without pay.  So, he's been looking for steady employment (which a LOT of people are doing right now).  He applied for 2 jobs with AT&T and was concerned that he didn't get either one (both of which he was qualified for).  Yesterday he found out that one of the positions he applied for was closed and they weren't going to fill the position.  So, what do I find when I log onto our local TV stations website?  AT&T is laying off 12,000 people!!!

God certainly knows what He's doing.  He knew that this was coming and knew it wasn't right for Johnny.  Praise the Lord for all His wisdom!

I know that He'll lead my husband to the perfect sales job - even if it's in another state (we're already getting rid of items in hopes of moving).  As the line says in Facing the Giants, we're preparing our fields for rain (and the Lord will provide the rain).  We just need to be ready when He does.

Praise the Lord!!!!

Homemade Advent Calendar + Turkey Pot Pie

I finally did it!  I made our very own Advent calendar out of a decoupaged cookie sheet (using old Christmas wrapping paper) and used canning lids (the small ones).  A few coats of spray paint, some stickers and magnets and voila - our Advent calendar!  Isn't it cool?!!

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

I also made a Turkey Pot Pie today from leftover Thanksgiving turkey.  It was delicious and beautiful!  If y'all want the recipe, let me know and I'd be happy to send it to you!

TOS Black Friday Sale!!!!

Are you ready?  Get set!  Go!!!!!!

The Old Schoolhouse^® Magazine is having an amazing sale on subscriptions during their annual Black Friday Sale November 26 – 30. For those 5 days only, they are drastically reducing their one-year subscription price to $7.95! That's the price you would usually pay for just one issue at a bookstore!

This is their lowest price ever on the magazine and they want all of you to take advantage of this offer and share the info with your friends.

Please don't miss out. Your one-year subscription will pay for itself time and time again as you receive practical tips and Biblical encouragement to keep going strong in your commitment to homeschooling and to the Lord. Since it's a quarterly magazine, they even have a monthly subscriber's only E-Newsletter called Teacher's Toolbox that will give you seasonal teaching ideas and a free E-Book download! It's like joining a unit study of the month club! The free E-Books alone are valued at almost $250/year. It's really perfect for people who are homeschooling on a shoestring or just wanting to add in some little extras to your teaching.

Plus during the Black Friday Sale, they have all kind of bonus gifts when you spend $50, $75, $100, or $150. Some are electronic downloads that you can download immediately, while other are physical products mailed from various vendors directly to your home.

AND, their Win Big contest is going on so if you just happen to be customer 67,000, you will receive a prize package valued at almost $500 which includes a $150 gift certificate to the Schoolhouse Store! Who couldn't use that? And you can qualify to win it no matter how much or how little you spend!

Mark your calendars for November 26 - 30^th and do a little shopping from your seat, not your feet at the Schoolhouse Store's Black Friday Sale!

www.TheOldSchoolhouseStore.com

Truth Seekers Mystery Series

As we all know homeschoolers tend to be more entrepreneurial than others.  They are creative and inspired and driven to fulfill their dreams.  Christina Gerwitz, one of the authors, was a homeschooler.  Her mother, Felice, also co-authored this book (and the rest of the Truth Seekers Mystery series) and she and her husband, Jeff, created Media Angels - the publishing company that publishes this series as well as a host of other Christian materials. 

And, as a homeschooling parent I love Christian books.  I have two children and we read the Bible, review Scripture, its meaning, etc.  But, I really love the idea of Christian books that they can read for fun - that exemplify Christianity and God's Word but also relate God's Word in the "here and now" so my children have examples of real life issues.  Not all Christian material needs to be dry.  It can be entertaining and still serve the purpose of spreading God's Word.  The authors, Christina and Felice Gerwitz have done just this in their book:  The Missing Link:  Found. 

I was lucky enough this past weekend to vacation in Missouri.  It was a great (and long) road trip, but it also gave me the time to read the first book of the Truth Seekers Mystery Series:  The Missing Link:  Found.  I originally attempted to read the book to my children (ages 10 and 6) but they quickly lost interest.  I must say, though, that when we first opened the package, my son was very excited because the cover had a Blackhawk helicopter and a boat exploding on the water.  What 10 year old boy doesn't like that!??!!  He thought it looked really cool and the cover immediately caught his attention.  But, the book only held his interest for the first few chapters.  It's not that the book wasn't interesting or entertaining, but that the material was over his head (as well as my 6 year old daughter).  In all the material that I read in the book and about the series, the book is geared towards teenagers.  There were a lot of carbon dating facts and science issues that would probably be over the heads of most 10 year olds, maybe even 12 year olds.  While it was easy for me to follow, it's just not for under 13. 

The story itself was written well.  It's based on a homeschooling family who happen on mysteries.  I don't want to give the story away but it involves the debate between Creation v. Evolution (and we all know the answer to that!) but also deals with buried treasure, explosions, the FBI - and a slew of other exciting elements.  The back of the book listed their sources and a glossary (which I thought was a really great idea for those who might not understand some of the terms).

The books cost less than $9 each, which is equivalent to most paperbacks these days.  For additional information, you can access their website:  www.MediaAngels.com. 

Final Thoughts: 

• Christian book
• Entertaining
• Not "heavy" but a good, light read.
• Content is geared towards teenagers.
• Overall:  thumbs up!

James did it again!

This weekend is early hunting weekend for youth in Texas.  So, Johnny and James have been out hunting this weekend hoping James will get a buck.  And boy, did he!  A beautiful 8-point buck. 

Needless to say, we are very proud of our little hunter!!  Okay, he's not so little anymore.  He's been hunting since he was 7.  This is his third year and every year he's shot each buck with only one shot.  The last two years he shot and killed his bucks at 150 years.  This year it was a 125-yard shot.  That's exceptional for a 10 year old!  And the best part?  He's supplied his family with meat.  That's a wonderful feeling (for both James and his parents!).

Handmade Mirror for Purse

My sister-in-law's birthday is next week and I wanted to make her something unique ... just for her.  I've been playing around with different ideas to re-use "used" canning lids.  So, here's what I came up with:

I used one of the wide-mouth mason jar lids and decoupaged it with tissue paper.  Then, I hot-glued a 3" mirror on one side.  At first I tried to use watered-down glue and material, but it dried so hard and crisp that the dried material would have messed up the felt on the cover.

I measured out how large the mirror would be and cut out a piece of felt and embroidered a design on the front and then used a blanket stitch to bind it together.

I'm pretty excited by my first attempt at this.  I'd love to make more and sell them.  So, if anyone's interested, let me know and I can make one for you (or your family members and friends).  Now that I've figured out what works it shouldn't take me too long to put others together.  I think $7.99 per mirror & case would be a very reasonable price for Christmas gifts.  I've got many other ideas on embroidery designs, etc.  I take Paypal.

I just wanted to share how cute it turned out.

Helpme2Teach.com

As I’ve mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I’m reviewing curriculums and products for TOS vendors.  One of the services that I’ve been reviewing is the website helpme2teach.com.  As Elaine, the owner, states on her website, she has spent many years gathering the information and pre-screening the 2300 websites for content.  Then, she took the time to categorize these websites into some semblance of order so that it’s easy for us homeschoolers to find what we’re looking for.

I can name several benefits of this website:

o        For new homeschooling families, this is a great place to start with research on various topics:  anything from animals to world history. For our own homeschooling, I was able to find several websites and links from horses to Romans – and even lizards.

o        For those who are teaching their children how to “surf the web”, this would be a smart place to start.  The websites/links that Elaine has gathered are safe (as far as I can tell) and would be a gentle guide into how to “surf” appropriately.

o        The cost is very inexpensive compared to buying a brand new hardback book.

§         1 year = $29.95 (that’s only $2.50 a month!!)

§         3 months = $15.95

§         1 month = $9.95

§         3 days = $4.95

o       Elaine has also taken the time to create a code so that’s super-easy to figure out if the website you’re reviewing is appropriate for the age-level you may be teaching.  So, at a quick glance, I know that the P is for Primary grades and S is for secondary students from 6^th-12^th grade.

As with most homeschooling moms, I don’t stop at one resource.  I use a multitude when I’m researching topics, websites and information on whatever we may be studying.  So, while this may not be the only resource I would use, I would still definitely consider it one of the top choices for me.

The one concern that I had was that she originally did not post any Christian websites.  However, after much thought and input from the reviewers, she has since added many Christian websites.  This is just another example of how willing she is to listen to her customers.  In addition, she is also updating her websites and resources quite frequently.

With all that being said, I must give credit where credit is due.  Elaine has been very cooperative and helpful with any concerns or questions that I’ve had.  Her customer service is wonderful.  She has answered many questions and received much feedback.  At one point I was locked out of the website for some technical reason and I received a prompt reply to email fixing the problem.  She has been very receptive to input – which says a lot for her and her business.

For more information, you can access the website at www.helpme2teach.com.

But wait… there’s more!  Elaine is also offering a “2 for 1” special.  If you purchase a one-year subscription, she’ll throw in another year for free.  So, that’s 2 years for $29.95.  That’s a sweet deal!  That means the subscription would only cost $1.25 a month!!!!

New Focus

Good morning!  I hope y'all are all having a blessed day!  I haven't posted here in awhile as I've been extremely busy.  Along with normal homeschooling and work, I'm now reviewing homeschool products through the TOS Homeschool Crew and I'm also participating in the TOS Marketing Class.  So, over the next few months, in addition to my normal homesteading posts, you may be seeing more homeschooling product reviews as I go through them.  I must say there are some pretty exciting curriculums out there and I can't wait to share them with you!  I know that many of us homesteaders on this site also homeschool, so hopefully these posts will give you some insight into additional curriculums.

On a different note, we're getting ready for winter around here.  While I didn't do much canning this summer (at least not as much as last summer), we've already started hunting season (bow season).  Hubby shot a buck about a week or so ago and we've already got it canned or breakfast sausage in the freezer.  I'd love to get a sausage stuffer for my KitchenAid as I'd love to make sausage links, smoked sausage, etc.  Right now we tend to make ground venison for chili, spaghetti, etc. or breakfast sausage.  But, I'm not complaining!!  I love venison.  Oh..we've also got the backstrap and tenderloin all ready to go in the freezer as well.

My fall garden is doing quite nicely as well.  The tomatoes are doing better this fall than they did all summer.  I think it was just too hot this summer.  We had 50+ days of 100° ... talk about hot!

Anyway, I just wanted to give everyone a heads up as to what's going to be coming in the next few months.

Used Canning Lids (Christmas Craft Ideas)

I've been looking for some ideas on using the used canning lids from all of the canning I do.  I hate to see them go to waste.  So, here are a few links to websites for crafts that others have done:

Creative Crafts

Uses for Used Canning Lids

I have a gallon size bag full of used canning lids.  I'm going to start using them for Christmas gifts.  I've got most of the Christmas gifts for my side of the family, but not sure what to do about my husband's family.  They don't like home-canned goods and I'm not really sure that they like our homemade gifts ... hmmm.  I'm trying to be frugal, though, so we'll see what we come up with.  I'll post pictures later of the crafts we come up with!

Let the Hunting Begin!

Bow season has already started down here in Texas.  And, with God's grace and Johnny's good bow-hunting skills, we have a buck!  We're going to spend part of tomorrow processing the deer - probably making breakfast sausage.  If anyone has any good breakfast sausage recipes, please send them my way!  I think on the next one we're going to make jerky (yummy!).

I've also got a huge bag of peppers that I'm going to use this week to make Hot Pepper Butter. 

And, I took the last 3 jars of frozen grape juice concentrate out of the freezer in hopes of making grape juice this week.  I'm trying to get our freezer cleaned out for the sausage and venison we'll be putting in there this fall. 

God willing we'll hopefully get a few more deer this year so we can fill our freezer.

Life has been so busy around here - but I love a busy home!

Faithful Friend / Colleague: TOS Magazine

As a homeschooling parent, I take every opportunity I can to "teach" - regardless of what we're doing:  painting, gardening, building, baking, cooking, walking, etc.  Life is full of teachable moments.  But, there are days when I am discouraged or frustrated ... when I don't always have the answer I'm looking for or feel I don't have the time to devote to homeschooling that I want or need, or when I feel that I'm not giving my children all that they need to succeed.  I'm sure that we all have those moments.  But, it's when I have these moments that I turn to a faithful friend of mine:  The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  I get such encouragement from other homeschooling families - what they do, what works for them, how they address the problems or fears I face.  Aside from that, I also get a renewed energy to continue, to strive to do better, to know that I'm not alone in this journey.  God is with my family, my husband and I are "sympatico" on what we're doing and where we're headed.  AND, I get the chance to read about new homeschooling products (which is always awesome).

With that in mind, I wanted to tell you all about The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Fall Special. You can get two years of the magazine, 6 fabulous physical gifts (no downloads!) worth over $120, plus the current issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine that is full of ideas for the new school year, so you start receiving your magazine in a flash!

It really is one of their best deals ever and you don't want to miss out. In fact, they've got a really cute Homeschooling with Heart tote bag (valued at $13.95) for the first 1000 to subscribe. About half of them are gone, but you should still be able to get one if you hurry! (They will remove the info from the subscription page when the bags are all gone.) The total value is over $212, but you receive it all for only $39 - 50% off of cover price! Plus subscribers get their online monthly Teacher's Toolbox which focuses on a different topic each month, giving you words of encouragement, hands-on teaching
ideas, book recommendations, field trip ideas, and a bonus download item.

If you have not taken the opportunity to subscribe to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, I strongly urge you to do so.  It's well worth the money ... and the peace of mind to know you're not alone in your homeschooling journey.

Whew!

Life has been an absolute whirlwind lately.  It seems that when you think life will settle down, you get thrown for a loop!  But, it's not bad ... it's great!

As many of you may (or maybe not) know, we live up the hill from my in-laws.  I love my family, all sides of it, including my in-laws.  They are wonderful people who would do all they can for our children.  I won't say anymore about it, but it's time to move.  We've been searching and praying for the right place for us to go.  We literally have no ties to this area.  Okay ... not exactly true.  We have our families our (both sides) and Johnny's real estate business is picking up.  So, with that being said, we simply cannot afford this area of Texas anymore.  It's expensive.  The housing we can afford is in the undesirable and rough parts of town.  The land is about $20K an acre (no joke) and that's without a septic or well (which is about another $20K for those).  So, before you even begin to build, you're already spending a pretty penny. 

We have thought and prayed about this for quite some time and have decided to move to Missouri.  We've discussed it before and after looking at other areas of the country, this is the best place we've found for the money.  We really love Missouri and their homeschooling laws don't seem so bad - pretty good actually compared to some other states.  We've found a house on a quarter acre in a lake community that's VERY reasonably priced.  We finished the pre-qualification process today and so we're good to go on that end.  Hubby has a closing in the next few weeks so once that's done, we're headed up there to check it out.  God-willing this will work out for us and we'll be able to purchase the home and move.  It'll be a slow transition while we move but we'll get there (probably within the next six months).  That'll allow us to do some fixing up and moving larger pieces, etc.  Plus, that'll give Hubby a chance to find work (plus transfer his real estate license) and that gives me time to talk to the office about either continuing to work from home (in Missouri) or leave it behind here in Texas (which I'm really praying for). 

I'll miss my family, especially my Dad.  Right now he's only 20 minutes away.  But, I know that he's in good hands with my step-mother.  Plus, this gives them a chance to come visit us in Missouri!!  We'll be right at the lake and they can come and go fishing, etc.  We haven't told anyone yet as we're waiting to go visit the property, etc.  But, even if it's not this property, it'll be another up there. 

Of course, our families will think we're nuts, but then again, they've always thought that as we've never gone with the crowd - always done something different (like homeschooling!).

On a different front, our oldest turned 10 this past Saturday, so we spent the weekend at Enchanted Rock (climbed it twice in one day!!).  It's a HUGE granite boulder that is full of caves, rocks, crevices, boulders, etc.  It's great fun to climb.  Here are some pictures below of our trip.  Also, our youngest lost her first tooth this weekend!  Talk about a very busy weekend!

This is one part of Enchanted Rock we climbed.  This picture doesn't do our climb any justice!! 

The sun was blinding us so we look a little goofy!

Taking a break under a boulder.

Lauren was watching for her brother & Dad!

At the top.

Lauren's missing tooth.

Canning & Baking Bonanza

This week on the New Harvest Homestead forum, there have been questions on canning beans and how to do it.  I have been canning our own beans for about a year now and truly love having the convenience of home-canned beans instead of spending my money at the grocery store.  I don't know ... call me crazy, but if I can can beans and save us money, then I'll can beans!

So, after some discussions and answering questions, I thought I'd go ahead and can up some more beans today.  I made a small batch of baked beans (5 pints) and about 9 or 10 pints of red beans (I can't remember right now as they're in the canner).

That wasn't enough, so I went ahead and made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake, a double batch of buttermilk biscuits and I plan on making two batches of cookies:  Snickerdoodles (hubby's favorite) and Chocolate Chip Cookies (munchkins' favorites).  I should be done with all the baking by early afternoon. 

I just turned off the canner so once the canner de-pressurizes, I'll get those out. 

I haven't done much canning this summer (not compared to last summer).  Since the cucumbers didn't make it, I didn't can any pickles.  But, we had TONS left over from last summer to carry us through next summer.  Yep, that's how many we had!

Also, as the tomatoes aren't all ripening at the same time, I've been roasting and "food milling" tomatoes in small batches and putting those in the freezer.  I made a batch of homemade spaghetti last week using some of the roasted tomatoes and man, oh man, was it good!!!   I used our fresh basil and our dried oregano, fresh garlic ... mmm-mmmmm.  Talk about yummy.

We started homeschooling last week and it seems to be going pretty good so far.  We've changed the way we do our homeschool this year (as far as the way we homeschool) and we're accomplishing a lot but it doesn't feel like it...maybe because we're not doing the "busy work" we were doing last year.  We'll see how this year goes!!!

I hope y'all are all doing good.  God's blessings!!!

Homeschool Memoirs: Week # (Routines)

As you know, I participate in Homeschool Memoirs.  This week's assignment is to post our "Homeschool Routines".  So, here goes:

6:00 - 8:00 a.m.:  Wake up and work 2 hours

8:00 - 9:00 a.m.:  Wake up children, have breakfast, let them finish waking up (takes them awhile)

9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.:  School work (no real schedule on what's done when - we have set items to accomplish during the day but the children decide what they want to work on first, second, etc.).

For James he decides the order to do the following:  math, literature reading (includes history, geography), journal writing, formal writing instruction, Latin, Bible study (Jonah), programming, science (Antarctica - goes along with the book he's reading)

For Lauren, she decides the order to do the following:  math, copywork, phonics, reading, Greek, formal writing instruction, Bible (Jonah), science (tigers this month)

Now, we don't do everything every day.  Some items we only do once or twice a week and others we do every day.  We work like this Monday through Thursday and then Friday we have a more relaxed school schedule that includes art or something like that.  We're still fine-tuning our routine this year so we'll see what happens.

12:00 - 1:00 p.m.:  Lunch & clean up from lunch

1:00 - 4:00 p.m.:  I finish my work for the day.  James & Lauren play quietly, do puzzles, run around outside, etc.

From then we just do what we want to when it cools off outside (it's been too hot to really do much during the heat of the day). 

Well, that's our typical day & routine!

Rag Curlers

I have always had curly hair.  Lauren used to call them "tangles" when she was little.  Yesterday when we were combing her hair she said I was lucky because I didn't have to come my curls.  So, I told her that after her bath that night, we would put her hair up in "rag curlers" - the old fashioned way - that way when she woke up in the morning she would have curls.

So, yesterday I cut up an old pair of flannel pajamas so I could make the "rags" for the curlers.  Here are a few pictures of how it all turned out last night.  Now, keep in mind that I've never done this before, so I'm pretty sure I can do better the next time.

You should have seen how sassy she was last night after her curlers were in her hair.  She was swaying and swinging her hips...very feminine...not sure where that all came from, though!

And, in the morning, this is what it turned out to look like:

Last night, with curlers in her hair, Lauren sits up in bed & says:  "I'll look just like you, Mom!"  Well...I think she does!

Fathers

Last weekend I fully understood the importance of fathers - my own father.  He suffered a minor heart attack and was in the hospital for many days.  They had to remove a blood clot from one of his arteries and determined that another set of arteries had already hardened and they were considering another bypass.  He had one 9 years ago.  He's 74 years old now and I was scared about them doing another bypass when he's so much older than he was last year.  The doctors finally determined that he wasn't going to have to have the bypass.  Dad simply needs to exercise more and eat better.  I prayed for days for Dad and now he's going to be fine.  I'm sure that his entire family was praying for him.

My Dad is very dear to me.  There's a long story behind my Dad - one I won't delve into here, but let me just say that he didn't have to raise me when Mom left, but he did.  See, Dad's my stepfather.  He & Mom married when I was four months old and he raised me as his own.  I'm the baby of the family - out of 4 children.  Two are "step" and one is "real" - whatever that means ... they're all my siblings as far as I'm concerned.

When Dad looks at my daughter, he always says it's "me" all over again.  I can see the softness in his eyes when he plays with her ... like he's reliving my younger years all over again.

It hit me hard that I'll lose Dad one day when he goes Home to be with the Lord.  I'm so thankful that He believes and that the Lord is preparing a mansion for Him beyond those pearly gates.  I'm also thankful that I'll get to see my Dad again when I get to Heaven.  But, the idea of not having my Dad around saddens me.  He was my rock growing up - the steady force when Mom left.  I call him (not as often as I should) and I go see him (not as often as I should).  But he's always there to answer gardening questions, laugh at the kids antics, crazy stories and wild adventures.  I think we're the bright spot in his day.  It will be a huge void in my life when he goes Home.

My husband is this same force with our children - the steady strength, the wild adventurer, the carefree spirit who wrestles and plays with them - guards them from the dangers of the world - teaches them right from wrong.  He reminds me a lot of my Dad.  He's a wonderful father for our children.  I am also thankful for that.

From a daughter's standpoint, go see your father.  Call him, mend fences and build the relationship that a father & daughter should have.  Don't take his presence for granted.  Pray for him.  Love him and above all - tell him that you love them.  He won't be around forever.

God's blessings,

Meredith

Homeschool Memoirs: Week #2 - Homeschool Agendas

This week for the Homeschool Memoirs, we are to discuss our agendas & plans for this school year.  Wow!  I've been fluctuating quite a bit on what exactly we're going to do so now is as good a time as any to put them into words.

For both children, we are going to be shuffling it up a little bit from previous years - which mainly involved established curriculums and workbooks.  This year, though, we're going to focus on reading and writing.  How?  Well ...

James (4th grade):

He's an excellent reader already although I don't know if he's "advanced" or not (we don't test the kids reading levels), but he can read extremely well.  He's mainly interested in battles, wars, military excursions, military vehicles and aircraft.  He loves a good scary story and enjoys R.L. Stein (in his spare time).  However, I do want him to broaden his horizon and read about other topics.  So, this year we're going to simply pick "living" books from the library and let him dive into them.  We're going to do this for most of our topics this year:  science, history, geography, etc.  Whatever we're studying about will be added to the history timeline book we created (and have really never used).  Depending on the book we're reading at the time, we're going to look up the geography of the area.  We may even use some of this material for art (haven't figured out yet).  He's also going to focus on writing more.  He's going to write 5 minutes every day in his journal - either by topics I decide or he thinks of (whichever works better).  We love the Math U See program and have it used since he was in first grade.  We'll continue to do that as well.  He's in the Epsilon book this year and learning fractions.  By the way, did I mention that he's a year ahead in math?  We were going to learn Latin this year and we may start on it.  I downloaded the Road to Latin program last week which contains a sample to start with - like the first few chapters.  We'll get started on that and go from there.  We just don't have the money right now to buy the full curriculum.  I'm also going to focus on more specific writing assignments and paragraph structure this year.  I think that James needs to really focus on the writing aspect more.  He's lacking in this area and hopefully by the end of the year we'll be able to do a better job.  Art's always been our weakest area - we study it some but not regularly.  I hope to do more with that this year.  And, as for science, hubby has a degree in Environmental Science so walks, etc. become a science classroom.  James has been practicing his archery this year - he hopes to one day kill a buck with his bow.  So, I consider that to also be part of "P.E.".  We're debating on putting him on a flag football team but can't justify the $95 fee right now.  So, he may have to wait until Spring.

Lauren (1st grade):

Lauren is also progressing quite nicely in her studies.  We'll continue to use the Math U See Alpha book with her this year.  She started on it last spring and didn't finish the first year (she was still in kindergarten so I didn't want to push her too hard).  We're also going to continue reading through the McGuffey series with her and we'll also do copywork and spelling out of the McGuffey readers.  As she progresses, I plan on bringing in other books for her to read.  Some of the history books, etc. we'll also listen to as James reads and go over the geography, history, etc. as he goes through them.  We may try to do a few lapbooks with her.  Sometimes she likes to do those and sometimes she doesn't.  I'm also going to have her starting on Greek (just the alphabet this year and the sounds of the alphabet).  That's how we started James.  I already have the curriculum for this so it won't cost us anything.

Scheduling:

Wow.  We kind of just wing it.  I've been keeping track of their work and schedules in the Homeschool Tracker  but as far as a daily schedule, hmmm... I also plan to use the new Schoolhouse Planner (which is way cool).  I hope to put everything down on paper this weekend.  We'll try this schedule and see how it goes:

Daily:

• Bible reading
• Math
• Reading practice for Lauren
• Journal Writing (James) and Copywork (Lauren)
• Latin or Greek
• Archery practice or running outside and being silly for awhile (maybe bike riding)
• Science - working on an experiment from an array of books James has or studying nature
• Reading/history/geography:  "living" books - I'm still working on a list so that's not ready yet

Weekly:

• Art / Music (maybe learn to play the guitar) - I have a book on that

We used to take Fridays off every week, then two weeks at Christmas and one week at Easter and one for Spring Break (sometimes these are combined).

I'm also pretty excited because the month of December is going to be preparation for Christmas - reading Christmas books about Jesus' birth, crafts, activities, putting all the Christmas presents together, etc.  We've never been able to do this and fit it around the other curriculums, so I plan on having a full month of Christmas this year.  That should be exciting.

Homeschool Memoirs: A Little About Me

The basics:  I am happily married to the most wonderful man in the world.  We celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary in July and have survived beyond the odds and despite what many others thought about our marriage.  We had a whirlwind courtship that lasted 9 months from our first date until the day we got married.  Johnny proposed 6 weeks after our first date.  But, I find it amazing how strong your marriage can be when the foundation of your marriage is God. 

We have two beautiful children - James is 9 and Lauren is 6 (both have birthdays this fall so they'll soon be 10 and 7).  James is starting in 4th grade this year and Lauren will be in 1st.  We have been through many homeschool curriculums over the years and have shed many grief and tears while working through those curriculums - but we have finally found our groove (so to speak).  I discovered that I brought the public school mentality into our homeschool and it wasn't working (duh!).  And now the children enjoy school (okay, not every day and I still get the whining but they are doing so much better!).  I don't think it matters if children are homeschooled or in public school - some days they just don't want to do school!

This year we are taking a break from workbooks and planned curriculums.  We are focusing on reading and writing and using living books for our studies - more focused towards the Charlotte Mason method.  For math we are using Math U See (I love this program).  I would love to start the children on Latin this year but the budget is pretty tight this year (at least right now).  James and I worked our way through Hey Andrew!  Teach me some Greek! over the past 3 years and we're taking a break from it as well.  I might start Lauren on Greek this year since we're not starting Latin.

We chose to homeschool for many reasons, one of which was Columbine.  I think I was due or James had just been born when Columbine happened.  It really scared us to think that our child could one day end up in a situation like that.  Then, a few years later James was in a speech program at the local elementary (before he was in Kindergarten).  We went through 3 speech teachers in 1 month and the last speech teacher and James had a conflict.  Many weeks later (after working through the situation with James and the speech teacher), the speech teacher and I were waiting for the principal & Kindergarten teacher to come in so that James could be released from the speech program (he'd finished and was where he needed to be with his speech), the speech teacher told me he homeschooled his own children.  Wow!  In the meeting that followed were the speech teacher, the kindergarten teacher, the principal and myself.  The kindergarten teacher had been telling me what they learn in kindergarten and after the meeting, the principal asked me if they'd be seeing James in the fall for Kindergarten.  Without even thinking, I told him, "No.  We're going to be homeschooling James."  That was it.  I told hubby when he got home that night and we haven't looked back.  He'd been wanting me to homeschool James anyway so this was great news to him.

Also, I love to work in the garden, can, cook from scratch, quilt, read, spend time with my family, researching homesteading, planning our new home and how we're going to build it, helping hubby with his real estate business and I love to bake.  I bake all of our breads, cakes, muffins, cookies, deserts, etc. from scratch.

In addition to homeschooling, I also work about 30 hours a week from home for an insurance company doing their marketing, some programming, risk management, presentations, etc.  I long for the day that hubby's real estate will take off and I can focus more on the homeschooling and less on the work!!  So, if anyone is buying or selling their property in Central Texas, contact me so that you and Johnny can talk .