"It's finally fall, Aidan. You can tell". I hear my little girl exclaim to her brother as they run to get their long sleeve shirts on. Yeh! I love the fall. And it is about time!!! I am just not a heat person. I'm sitting here wanting to play, but knowing I have work to do today. I have all their boxes ready to go. Each filled with a subject. They have art, reading, vocabulary, math, spelling, memory work, History, correcting, and a chore to do. These are their time sheets. I decided to go with this instead of a scedule strip. Each box gets a number. When they get done with their box they put the number on this poster board. As you can see there are yellow tags on the poster already. The tags are their breaks. They get a ten minute break, a snack break, a lunch break and a recess break in between their boxes. Once they fill in the empty squares with their numbers they come to a break. Sometimes I have allowed them to schedule their own breaks after they have seen their filled boxes. This works well, because it gives them a little choice in the matter. My biggest struggle with the box system is my own laziness. I HAVE TO MAKE SURE I FILL THE BOXES EVERY NIGHT or early morning. Also, timing can be a problem. We have had to rearrange break times or haven't finished all the boxes in a day. See, unexpected errands come up. Then it throws us off. I'm still trying to figure out how to work that. For example today is a beautiful day! The boxes are filled. I want so bad for the kids to enjoy the beauty of this day a bit before they get started on their boxes. But they have drama class at 2pm. Already, those two things throw a wrench into getting their work done. I guess that's when I have to decide what is the priority. Is it savoring Gods creation or preparing God children to serve. They are both important. And each day a different decision will have to be made. But for today... we will first...savor this wonderful weather. For today is the day God has made.:-) We should rejoice and be glad in it!

WorkBoxes!

Ok, I jumped on the bandwagon and began this school year with the workbox system. Totally unexpected. We had plans this year of having the kids do Classical Conversations-our homeschool co-op. Classical has been my accountability for the last five years. We meet every week and the program is structured as a guide to what subjects to teach the children each year. You know what to expect each week. Here I was at the beginning of August getting ready to plan my CC year. We only had half a payment to go. I had other curreculum lined up on my budget for math, reading, spelling ect. (Not to mention the gymnastic class, football and drama class I wanted them to participate in this year.) I was excited, too, because this would be the first year since homeschooling that I would not be tutoring for Classical Conversations. In previous years I had tutored in order to have my kids in the program. The money I would make from Classical paid for my kids. Well, last year we had saved tuition money and we made the decision for me to spend one year not tutoring, so I could see how my children are in a classroom setting. I had never before been able to be in their classes, because I was always teaching. So, I really thought this year was going to be good and allow us to bond closer as a family. We were finally able to afford for me not to tutor! And then...BOOM! All my plans died. My husband lost his designated load ( he's a truck driver for those that don't know him) A designated load is a load that is the same each week. Every week we knew how much money was coming in. Every week we knew when he'd be home. Every week we just knew. And it was great! The money that had been saved for all my BIG PLANS has ended up paying for mortage, car payment, bills and Big truck expenses. WHY!!! I asked God. Why? I thought I was doing YOUR WILL. I thought you wanted me to homeschool-to bring the children up in your ways- to prepare them to make you known. How can we do this without money! So, go the thoughts in my head. No more curreculum, no more books, no more CLASSICAL... Oh! Misery. What to do, what to do. I had no plan. Me. Without a plan. I love getting my little notebook out and planning away. Not always do I stick to the plans, but there is a plan none the less. And now school should be starting and NO PLAN! All my plans had money involved. NO MONEY, NO PLAN. It's a test. I know it. It's a test- and it is SO HARD. I'd like to say I turned to my Bible and began reading, but that would be a lie. I turned to the internet. My mind was in chaos. My thoughts were a jumble. I began exploring ideas. :-) (Let's just go all the way here.)
God's Word is the rock we stand on and everything has to line up with it. I believe he also uses other mediums to guide us to his Word, such as books, computers, people, ect..(Let's be clear..not mediums as in fortune tellers-that's not the medium I'm talking about here) Anyway, in my exploring I came upon the Workbox system. (A friend had actually, mentioned the name once and I googled it.) I'm sorry to say I haven't bought the book yet. But by reading what others have said I was able to figure it out. Hmm? I thought. Boxes. Boxes are organized. Boxes are cheap. Boxes can help you plan...I need a box. I need to just go sit in a box and maybe it will all go AWAY... Uhh? Thoughts of the grave just went through my head. OK maybe that's not a good idea. Not that kind of box!!! Boxes are compartments that can organize things. I need order. I need a box! And I scrounged up some spare cash and went in search of a box. If I had shoe boxes I would have used those but I did'nt. So, I did have to go spend some money, but not much. I found boxes on sale at Walmart. Five boxes for $3.50. It's a sign! I got 24 of them. I went home to put my thoughts in a box. I went through all my old curreculum and found old workbooks that the kids never completed. I found old books that the kids had never read. I found coloring books, computer programs and craft projects that they had never done. Hmm. It was time to clean house. We needed to finish things not finished. We needed to do what hadn't been done. Prayer. We need a lot of prayer. And here sits the Bible. It needs to be read. No curreculum stands up to it. But I just can't put it in a box... It is THE BOX.

Rain

I love the rain. The rain canceled runner's camp today. Not that that was good, but it left me with an unplanned day. So, guess what? We are spending a cozy day at home making cookies, catching up on homework and reading books.

These are the cookies we made. There is no flour in them. They are made from oatmeal alone. Came out looking a little funny, but they sure taste good. Aidan gave them a B+ and Brianna gave them an A+. But they are both begging for more.

Yesterday, we ate from our garden for the first time this summer. The kids helped me pick the lettuce. I also had one banana pepper that I chopped up and put in it. Tomatoes haven't come in yet. Here's the salad we made...

Today is the anniversary of D-day. Remembering my Grandpa Joe today. He was one of the 82nd airbourne paratroopers who glided into the beaches of France at night so the enemy wouldn't hear us coming. But, he got shot in the head that night. They put a metal plate in his head and he went on to perform seven more missions.

He received 2 bronze metals, 2 purple hearts, and a silver star.

My grandfather was 1/2 Apache indian, and he fought with bravery for his country.

My family and I are proud to call him grandpa and we will never forget what he did for the cause of freedom. We love you Grandpa Joe.

Nice Easter

We had a real nice Easter this weekend. I had been so worried about not having a lot of gifts and candy for the kids. I remember as a child waking up on Easter morning and having some very beautiful Easter baskets with toys and candy. My mom would make us get up very early and we would find a church that would have sunrise service. We would go to that and then find a brunch to eat at. I remember those traditions as a child fondly. I have tried to recreate them in my own home, but it never seems to work out. This Easter I had meant to get the kids a gift for Easter morning, but I'm never by myself. Since David is gone all week, it is just me and the kids. So, it was impossible to get them anything during the week. When David got home on Friday it was too late to really go to the store, because we went to church that evening. On Saturday, David and Aidan had a father and son football game, which went very well. They had lots of fun. After that we had errands to run, and we were going to separate in the store to pick up goodies for the kids. Well, there I was in the Easter isle. David had told me I could not spend much money. I look around and it was a mad house. Parents scrambling for the last remaining white chocolate rabbit. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it. God was screaming to me at that very moment that this is not what Easter is about! I left the area and found my family in the store looking at socks, which is exactly what we all needed. We don't need candy, we don't need toys, we need socks. All our socks have holes in them. So, we bought socks and I went home and cried. I cried, because I just didn't want to disappoint my children on Easter morning. I cried, because I couldn't live up to the traditions my parents were able to give me as a kid. I cried, because I forgot what Easter is about. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. He showed me that Easter is about being with Him and being together. So, we read a book together and I sent the kids off to bed knowing I had nothing for them to wake up to in the morning. So, I sat there on the couch and it occured to me that I could make them something. I had wool from my new hobby-felting. I decided to felt them a little rabbit. It came together well. They each got a rabbit and David went up to the grocery store and bought two small chocolate rabbits. We put them in an old Easter basket that we had already had. When the kids woke up in the morning, they were very excited about mom's homemade rabbits. It really didn't take much to make them happy. My kids read the Bible about the tomb being empty and we made a wonderful breakfast together. We had went to church on Friday so we decided that we would stay home together and enjoy the day the Lord had made. We are very blessed. I thank God for showing me truth when the world tries to mislead us.

New Day

I feel like today is a new day. We are changing our studies to new things this week. I'm hoping to get the kids out into the garden a bit if it stops raining. I hope we can plant some lettuce and peas. We worked all weekend on designing our new garden layout. It's going to give us more room. It was hard work, but worth it.

It's Not Easy!

Woke up this morning thinking about my friends. I am so blessed that God put them in my life. We went to the Science museum yesterday with our friends. The kids were so happy. My daughter loves to get out in the fresh air with her friends and just sing. While we were there the other mom and I began talking, as most of us socially deprived mothers do. And as usual we were talking about our kiddos. I came to a realization yesterday that a lot of us homeschool moms are in the same boat when it comes to teaching our kids. Yesterday, we woke up early. I had plans of a relaxed day. In my mind the kids would do their written work quickly and we would have the rest of the day to play. Well, that was living in a fantasy world. The minute the children picked up a pencil the whining began. I would explain what would need to be done, leave them to do it, and then be called back 2 seconds later for 'help'. It went on like this all morning with quite a bit of tears shed. As a mother you start to think that your doing something wrong. You start to think that it is your fault they are crying-that it is your fault that it is not easy. You began to think that your a bad teacher- that your a bad mother. And then you question homeschooling all together. "Am I doing the right thing?" you repeat to yourself over and over again. We came home from our science museum trip and I talked to another mom I know on the phone last night. She was having some of the same issues. Not only was she questioning, but she was angry. I know that feeling too. You get angry at your kids. You get angry at yourself. You get angry at the kitchen sink! And then... you feel guilty because your angry. On and on it can circle. I know. I've been there. Done that. And still do it. Until I realize one thing. One word. Satan. Now immediatley in my head I hear, 'Now don't go blaming Satan for everything'. That is Satan saying that!!! He wants us to think it is our fault. He wants us to think we are not good mothers, teachers, wives. He tells over and over again that we are not good enough. Here is the thing: Life is HARD. That is not our fault. Ok ,maybe in a round about sort of way. Yes, Adam ate the apple and Eve was seduced by it. Sin entered the world. Yes, yes yes, it is man's (and woman's) fault. But it is not our individual fault that life is hard. It Just Is. Sin Is In This World. Now what is our fault is how we deal with it. Do we beleive Satan? Do we believe those lies in our head-those feelings of guilt? Your guilty if you do. Your guilty if you don't, according to this world. It does not matter what you do. The world already calls you guilty. Here is the kicker: Knowing that information, knowing that life is hard, knowing that it is not our individual fault and that sin is on this Earth, we can make some choices. Deal with it! How? First and always -Pray. That is something I forget to do in the midst of trouble. Yes, I pray in the morning and I pray at night. But I need to remember to pray while trouble is happening. The minute those thoughts start to enter our mind we need to pray. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!! And then take a deep breath, take your emotions out of it, and deal with it. Do not add to the whining and crying. Let them whine, let them cry. It's ok. But they still have to do their work. We do not have to argue with our kids about doing their work. We have to stay the path without getting our emotions into it. Do not argue back! We are the parents. We don't have to convince them of our way. From so many moms I hear these words: "But so and so doesn't like this or that.... " There are many things my kids don't like. Oh well! If I think it is something that is good for them, they are going to do it. Period. No argument, no having to convince. Period. It is very freeing as a parent when you realize that you do not have to get your emotions into it. These are God's children that we are raising, not only our own. We have responsibilities to God to do the right things for our children. The right thing is not always what our kids want. Does God yell and and scream at us? I have never heard Him yelling. Sometimes He talks very loudly. But screaming? No. We don't have to yell. We don't have to scream. We don't have threaten. We don't have to bribe. We just have to expect that it will be done. And if it is not... then there needs to be consequences. These consequences need to be laid out. You don't do your homework. You don't get lunch. You don't clean your room. You don't go out to play. (Even if mommy really wants to go out to play.) You hit your sister or brother. Go to your room and you get spanked. We don't have to get mad. We don't have to try to avoid punishing our children. We just have to follow through. Sounds so easy? It is. When you realize that you have to stop trying to make it easy.