I'm Still Alive

Hey All!!!
 
Sorry, I haven't written in awhile.  I've had to take a little break and try to get a new routine down.  Things had not been running smoothly, so I've been trying a few different things.  So just to update you on different areas of my life right now.

~ I went to see the Maxwell's last month, with two of my "besties", Whitney and Lisa :)  We listened to two different sessions, one for Mom's on "Scheduling" and one for Dad's and Mom's on "Keeping our Children's Hearts".  They were both really good!  And totally inspired me to get back on a routine.  They do what is called "chore packs" and I will post a video at the end of this post, so you can check it out.  I had read about them before, but kinda put it off on the back burner, but we are now doing them and they are going great!!!  Teri, the mom, did say, that she thought some of her boys were going to take their chore packs with them when they got married.  I was so glad to hear her say that, because there are some days I feel like the kids may never get the simplest things ;)  They also talked in the second session about Family Worship/Bible Time and how important it was.  He gave the illustration that if you don't read the Bible to your children daily, it's like starving them for a day of their spiritual food.  He even went as far as to say, if your family forgets to read the Bible, then parents don't eat for the next day.  Then you can feel the pain in your stomach, that your heart and life is actually feeling.  It was definately a good idea to make you aware of how important Family Worship is!

~ My BFF, Melisa, and I have been working hard lately on preserving potatos (they have been on sale at our local Aldi's for .99 cents for a 10lb bag!!!).  We've also been researching and trying out different freezer/crockpot dinner recipes for our families.

~ I've been pinning alot of organizational ideas and tools lately on pintrest and going through Fly Lady's webpage with a fine tooth comb.  I've found all kinds of usefull ideas and I hope to put some of them into play very soon!!

~ I've been re-reading Large Family Logistics.  It's one of my favorite books.  Don't let the title scare you, if you have just one or even two children, it is a wonderful, wonderful organizational book!!! 

~ I read Created to Be His Help Meet.  That was an eye opener!!!  I know there is alot of people out there that would totally disagree with this book, so if you are feminist, you might need to pray alot while reading this!  But it was definately something I needed to hear!  I get so bent out of shape sometimes when I feel like Ronnie does not help me enough or isn't doing what I "think" he should be.  This book gave me a whole new prespective!

~ And I started reading Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit.  I'm about half-way through the book and it's been really convicting!!  I definately suggest reading it, even if you don't currently or plan to homeschool, it has a lot of ideas of how to deal with anger and disorganization. 

~ This past month, I went to Mom's Night Out with our local homeschool group, where we were discussing the book Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe.  It was really good to talk about our downfalls with each other and to realize we need to stop comparing ourselves to other families who seem to have it all together, when in reality, they really don't either :)


 * Things I'm currently working on:  Revamping the Schedule.  It just wasn't working, as much as I loved it, there were some kinks that needed to be worked out.  One of the things that Teri Maxwell suggested, was doing any preschool work first before you school the older kids.  Otherwise, she found, she would put it off until she was finished with the big kids and then she didn't have the energy to worry about it.  And since we have 2 "littles" running around the house tyring to interrupt "school time", we're going to start doing preschool time in the morning and regular "school time" for the big kids in the afternoon at quiet time while the 2 littles are down for nap.  I'll let you know how it works out ;)
  2nd thing I'm working on is:  Trying to stay up when I get up to get Leigha.  I've been going back to bed alot and then getting up when the kids get up.  But, it puts me so far behind on things like getting schoolwork copied and myself ready and so on.  I make to about 10:00 each morning and think, "If I had stayed up this morning, this would have already been done!  Why do I do this to myself?!?"  Well, mainly because sleep is my best friend!!  So my goal is to try and start getting to bed earlier ;)  Yeah, I'll let you know how that goes too!

A big part of being organized is realizing and taking account for what is NOT organized or NOT working in your daily life and trying to fix it!  So don't be discouraged when you have to take a time-out and step back and start over :)

Proverbs 14:1 The wise woman builds her house; but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.



Have you felt overwhelmed lately??   Do you have any great "Organizational Tools/Ideas"?  Read any good books lately? 

Here's the Chore Pack video.  This is Courtney from Women Living Well.

 

 

I'm linked up to:  Growing Home, The Modest Mom, and Raising Homemakers



I love you.......Be Careful!

  Five little words, I say every morning.  I have said them every morning for over 9 years.  But this morning when I said them, they had a whole new meaning, and Ronnie new exactly what I meant when I said this morning. 

  "I love you.....Be Careful!"

  For those of you who don't know, my husband was in the military for 9 years (4 years of which was before we were married.)  So this is just something military wives say, especially before a deployment.  But he has been out for almost 4 years now.  And this morning, I said these words with the most sincere heart ever!  And I didn't even realize until it was out of my mouth, but we totally knew.....

  Ronnie had to go back to work today, for this past week our world has been turned upside down.  My husband lost his best friend, and my best friend lost her husband. 
   He was a lineman at our local REMC and while doing a routine poll load up, the pole jumped off its cradle and killed our dear friend instantly.  And nothing in our lives have been the same since. 
  He was an amazing man, and he didn't even know it.  He was an elder at our church, but he preferred to be called an "overseer", because he was so young. ;)  But he was sooo wise for his age!!!  Our preacher kept describing him this week as gentle, and that is about the best term I can come up with also.  About 6 months ago, Ronnie asked him to be his mentor, and he gladly accepted, and has been that and more to Ronnie ever since!  Personally, our lives have not been the same since he and his wife has entered them.  We have hung out and went out to eat numerous times and Ronnie is like a teenager all over again around them.  He would just laugh and laugh, and I would apologize because I said he never acted like that, and my dear friend would just smile and say, "Don't worry about it!  We love you guys!"  He and his wife were leaders of our small group at church, and I have watched my husband become this amazing man because of them. 
  And it's not just us that was affected, he was this way with everyone he met!!!  We had just become so close in the past year, that this hurts so deep!  There are a million other stories of how he touched others lives! 
  I keep looking at the couch, where he used to sit when they came over.  And I keep looking at the wood stove, that he just helped move in this past weekend and the little pile of ash in the yard, that he dumped out of it before he brought it in. 
  Ronnie has been so lost, he wants to call him, but.....    And my heart just breaks for my friend, his wife.  I can't take my mind off of her.  She has been so strong and an amazing woman of faith!!!  She just keeps saying "You just never know!  We always need to be ready!"  Yesterday, she whispered in my ear, "Love on that man of yours!  And go do things as a family!"  And she's right, she's totally right, because this life is just a vapor.  And I've never seen it more clearly, even when we lost Hannah.  But on the inside I'm aching for her.  She says, "Love on that man!", and I say, "But, that's not fair, because you can't now :("  She and I have shared everything over that past year.  (Along with my other dear best friend Melisa).  She is sooo much like me!  (We don't always agree, but we still love each other!)  And I just keep thinking, I don't want to hurt her by her seeing me with Ronnie.  I know it's silly, but your mind does silly things in a time like this! 
  We have had a some other couples over from our church and small groups this week, that were close to all of us.  Ronnie and I would just walk around our house looking at each other, like "where do we go from here?"  And he didn't even live with us!  It's killing me thinking about her having to do the same thing!!!  All of our other friends said the same thing at their houses, so it was nice to pull in together like that and cherish each other for a few more moments, because you just never know when it might be one of them!!!
 
  Anyway, back to this morning, now that our lives have turned upside down, we've been doing some soul searching.  And we want to make sure everyone is ready for that day!!!   Our friend was sooo ready, he was an amazing Christian, inside and out!  He was a great leader, great husband, great father, everything!!!  We want to make sure we are doing what we are supposed to!  Also, realizing that either of us could go at any time now, we are trying to get all of our affairs in order.  Looking into life insurance, naming guardians for the kids, making sure we're raising the children right, etc.  Because, no matter how careful we are, it's God's timing, not ours.  He can take us home whenever He decides too!  So we want to be ready! 

Everything Has Its Time

Ecclesiastes 3 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

² A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
³ A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
⁴ A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
⁵ A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
⁷ A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
⁸ A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

 

 

 

Because of their privacy, I've not said their names in this post, but in your prayers please pray for my dear friend and her children.   Also, the surrounding family.  Specific prayer requests:  strength, wisdom, understanding, and healing!



Our New Schedule 2012

  Well, it was that time..........time to come up with a new schedule.  We all were starting to get stressed and just needed a pick me up!  So here it is.  We started yesterday, and I don't think Satan liked it, because he sent every possible distraction.  But we're going to stick to our guns and pray without ceasing today :)


5:15 - Mommy wakes up and gets Baby Leigha (the child we baby-sit) and puts her in bed.
   *Then depending on the night, I either stay up or go back to bed for an hour or so.  (My plan is to stay up, but if you have too high expectations, you will just feel like a failure when you can't fulfill them!)

6:30 - Wake up Ronnie and fix his breakfast and lunch, kiss good-bye and send off to work.

7:00 - Jump in the shower and get ready for the day.

7:30- 8:30 - Put dishes away from the dishwasher, fold a load of laundry, check e-mail, write blog post, read devotional, and start breakfast.

8:30 - Wake up children/Breakfast

9:00 - Morning Chores (I'll give a break down of chores and daily work routines later)

9:30 - School with Derek (Lindsay plays with the babies/watches Leapfrog)

10:30 - School with Lindsay (Derek continues any extra work and starts his spelling and typing on the computer)

11:30 - 10 min. toy pick-up, Lunch Prep

Noon - Lunch

12:30 - Babies go down for a nap (Lindsay has to lay down until Leah falls asleep, this gives her some rest time and makes her feel like she's helping Mama ;)
* Rest time for Derek consists of listening to an audio book while laying down.  After Leah falls asleep Lindsay may lay down with Derek and color or read.)

2:30 - 3:00 - Babies wake up/Snack Time

3:00 - 5:00 - Free Time / Afternoon Chores

5:30 - 10 min pick up and Get ready for Daddy :)

Depending on the day and what's scheduled, we normally have some kind of Evening Activity and then Supper.  If not, we all work outside while it's nice then supper.

Then Bathtime, Get ready for Bed, Family Worship and Bedtime!!! :)

No, I'm sure we will not stick to the time just exactly, but it gives us a good standard to try and live up to.  And it also lets the kids know what's coming up next.  And my children do soooo much better on some sort of schedule.  All children need boundaries, depending on yours, depends on how strict a schedule you may need. 

Do you have a schedule?  Do you keep the same one?  Do you start a new one every school year? 


I'm linking up at:  The Modest Mom, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, and Raising Homemakers 

First Day of School

  We actually school year round since I got sick last fall and had to take some time off.  It's easy for us if we just stay on schedule all the time and take off when we need to for holidays, fair, and just whatever.  We pretty much took the whole money of July off for 4-H and we just got back into the swing of things two weeks ago.  We started most of our new curriculum, except for finishing up some history from last year.  So my kids moved up a grade level in reading, math, and such.   Lindsay is much farther ahead than a regular kindergartener, but for 4-H and sports purposes, she is "in" kindergarten. 

 This was a cute idea I've been seeing a lot of homeschoolers do, so I thought I'd try and do this every year for their scrapbooks (that will be done one day when they all move out;). 

  Derek has been very adament about being a conservation officer for sometime now.  That is the motivation that gets him through his schoolwork most days, when he feels like it's too tough.  When ask what she wanted to do when she grew up, Lindsay very quickly said piano teacher.  She has been working so hard on her lessons here lately, and I know if she keeps up the hard work, she will make a wonderful piano teacher someday!

  I'm sooo very proud of how my kids are growing and maturing everyday.  Trust me, we definately have days where we all feel like we may pull out our hair, but overall, I can truly see God's blessings in my precious children!!

I'm linking up at The Modest Mom "Not" Back to School Blog Hop

School Room or Not?

  I have a friend that has the cutest little school room in the whole world!!!  It's not like a whole classroom, but a room away where she can store her school stuff and a table for the kids to sit around, a couch for reading, and a computer area and such.  It's adorable!!!

  However, in our house, there is no extra room for that here (even though my hubby has some really neat ideas on how to add one), so this is how we school....

  For the most part we school around our dining room table.  All memory work, math, phonics, handwriting, and such happen here.

Sorry for the mess and indecency, but this is how we school in the mornings ;)



All our schoolbooks are kept on the bookshelf and

games are in the drawers under our computer table.

All reading, bible, catechism, history and some science happens in the living room on the couch.

  Some schooling even takes place in the bathroom.......

Sometimes, school happens in the kitchen........

Making snow ice cream last winter.

  Yesterday, school happened at Spring Mill State Park. (Sorry, I have no pictures, my camera ran out of batteries :(  We loaded up our books and grabbed some lunch and went and found a picnic table by the creek and had an awesome time doing our schoolwork out in God's amazing creation!!!  Once the kids were finished up with their work, I took a timeout of my own and worked on lesson plans while they played!  We are definately going to be doing a lot of this, this fall!!!  (I promise to get some pictures :)

  The main thing is, it doesn't matter where your school takes place as long as you put God first and the children are learning something new each and every day :)

  Do you have a schoolroom?  Where is your favorite place to do school?  What does your schooling look like?

I'm linked up to:

The Modest Mom "Not" Back to School Blog Hop

Raising Homemakers



School Year 2012-2013

  Well, it's almost that time of year again, for the most kids to be heading back to school.  So it's time to start getting lesson plans ready and picking out which curriculum to choose!  My favorite time of year (along with convention time, when I get to purchase new curriculum!) 

  This past year we decided to mainly homeschool year round.  This gives us the opportunity to take a week off here and there whenever we may need it.  We found out last year when I got sick, how quickly we can get behind!  This way we can stay on top of things and give a little leeway for life :) 

  For the most part, I use Heart of Dakota for everything, I kinda pitch in a few things here and there, but I use their manual as a guide.  So here's the run down of what we have been working on so far and what we will be doing for this first sememster.

Derek - 2nd Grade

Bible, History, Science - Heart of Dakota curriculum

(which includes:  Christian Liberty Press History and Science)

Math - Singapore Math 2A & 2B

Reading/Phonics - Heart of Dakota's Emerging Reader's Set

and Christian Liberty's Adventures in Phonics Level B & C

Handwriting - A Reason for Handwriting Book T

(I suggest this book for learning cursive, it has block print and then moves on to cursive)

Spelling - Heart of Dakota lists

English - BJU English 2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lindsay - Kindergarten

Bible, History, Science - Heart of Dakota curriculum

Math - Rod & Staff Math 1 Workbooks

Reading/Phonics - Finishing up Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

Adventures in Phonics Level B

Handwriting - A Reason for Handwriting Book A

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leah - Preschool

Rod & Staff Preschool Set

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Well, that about sums it up for the year!  I'm excited to see what God has in store for us this year!  And I hope you all have a wonderful school year also!!

What curriculum will you be using this year?  Do you use a complete set or a different variety of curriculums?  Are you struggling in a certain area?  Do also like Heart of Dakota?

I'm linked up to The Modest Mom " Not Back to School Blog" Hop

My prayer

As I sit here in the quiet of the morning.....

The children are all still sleeping....

I wonder what God has in store for my day.

I pray for strength, wisdom, and patience....

For I know, it will not be an easy road.

Because I am a horrible, wretched sinner....

And it is Jesus that I was my children to see,

instead of me.

I pray for my oldest, a son, to one day become

a stong, Godly, man. 

To desire to do what is right and a yearning

to help and love others with his whole heart.

I pray for my two beauties, that one day

they too will crave God over fleshly desires.

I pray for Jesus to shine through their hearts

so that everyone can see Him and not theirselves.

I pray for my husband, the man of my dreams...

I am so blessed and thankful for who he has turned out to be.

I pray for strength, wisdom, and patience...

For I know, it is not an easy road.



Linked up at:  www.themodestmomblog.com