28 August 2008

Today is:


  • Tasha Tudor Remembrance Day





  • 17 weeks until CHRISTmas Day



start working on my gift list


I Took The Handmade Pledge! BuyHandmade.org 




  • Thankful Thursday


Dear Father in Heaven,


I have so much to be grateful for.


I thank You that my family is safe and healthy and whole, and I ask You to help me to remember what a precious gift from You they are, and to treasure each and every moment I have with them.


I thank you for my home, and I ask You to help me to be a better steward of that which you have provided.


I thank You for my life and this day which You have made, and I ask You to help me to rejoice and be glad in it.



  •  The day my husband and three of my cubs travel to Saltillo, Mexico for a mission trip

27 August 2008

Praying...

for this family.


Dear God,


Please comfort them and give them the peace that only You can.

26 August 2008

In the interest of honest blogging

A blogfriend posted about pointlessness and failing at what matters most and about whitewashing it all and putting on a happy facehere in blogland (my very rough paraphrase.)


The relative anonymity of the internet makes it easier to be who I wish I was rather than who I actually am.  Like her, I fear that if you saw the real me, then you would probably not want me on your friends' list.  Unlike her, I am not on very many people's friends' lists anyway. 


I do cling to the fact that God's mercies are new every morning.  And when I get really overwhelmed and discouraged it usually helps me to read the book of Ecclesiastes.


So, as my title states...


(You have been warned!)


My house is beyond messy. no. seriously. I could be on Oprah, getting her shocked looks as the tape rolls and she queries, "But how can you let your children live like this?!"  The upstairs hall is strewn with dirty laundry, the trash in all 3 bathrooms is overflowing, there are dirty dishes stashed in my oven and moldy ones in my fridge, and so on.  This is the worst it has been in a while, but it has been this bad for a few months now, and normal really isn't much better.


I'm lazy; which explains why my house is this bad after two weeks of no lessons, during which my first priority was to declutter, clean, and organize.


I waste far too much time at the computer (without actually creating anything like blog posts or menus, etc.) and in front of the television (which i don't even really enjoy.)


I feel guilty for my laziness and time-wastiness, but instead of working at changing i generally take it out on the ones i supposedly love.  i grumble.  i yell.  Sometimes i even utter shameful things.


I don't pray for my husband every day. or my kids.


I am the chief of sinners. totally depraved.


I have so much to be grateful for, and yet i complain. a lot. at times i even question God's judgement in saving me.


So there you have it.  No good ~ just the bad and the ugly.

22 August 2008

Scripture Memory

 This is the passage that we will be working on this fall. 


Psalm 8


 1 O LORD, our Lord,
         How excellent is Your name in all the earth,
         Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
         
 2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
         You have ordained strength,
         Because of Your enemies,
         That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
         
 3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
         The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
 4 What is man that You are mindful of him,
         And the son of man that You visit him?
 5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
         And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
         
 6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
         You have put all things under his feet,
 7 All sheep and oxen—
         Even the beasts of the field,
 8 The birds of the air,
         And the fish of the sea
         That pass through the paths of the seas.
         
 9 O LORD, our Lord,
         How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

11 August 2008

The Simple Woman's Daybook

 to read more or join in please visit Peggy


FOR TODAY 

 ~ Monday, 11 August, 2008 ~



 Outside My Window...the sun is breaking through the clouds 


I am thinking...about how great my kids are and what wonderful relationships i have with them



I am thankful for...an a.c. repair company that can get out here this morning, and for clouds and a bit of a breeze this morning



From the kitchen...not sure at this point



I am wearing...my hair up in loose bun, brown v-neck t-shirt, denim shorts, bare feet



I am creating...computer files



I am going...nowhere yet, because i am waiting for the repairman



I am reading...Sabbath by Wayne Muller found at Half Price Books for $1



I am hoping...praying, actually, that the air conditioner can be fixed quickly and inexpensively



I am hearing...the dishwasher and Lulapalooza's Lego Star Wars video game





Around the house...lots of fans are going



One of my favorite things...naps



A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:  

watching the Olympics  ~ a trip to the new local Salvation Army thrift store for 50% off Wednesday to look for some skirts ~ adults only dinner with friends Thursday night ~ a special teatime with Toodles




Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...



I found this photo at  stock.xchng

09 August 2008

Because everybody else is doing it

If anybody actually reads this blog, then you probably know that we homeschool more-or-less year-round; you probably also know that we do not follow the traditional school year, but begin each year in January. 


And yet...


There is just something about this back-to-school season, so...


I have been buying new notebooks and pencils and markers and glue, because they are all on sale. 


I have been tweaking our routine, because, well, okay, actually, I do that all the time.


I am adding a few new things and changing a few things up. 


So, as we begin our final term in about ten days here is what an ideal week could be like:  







































































































 



Monday



Tuesday



Wednesday



Thursday



Friday



6am-730



Mama's personal time:


morning tea, 


prayer time


& walk



Mama's personal time:


morning tea, 


prayer time


& walk



Mama's personal time:


morning tea, 


prayer time


& walk



Mama's personal time:


morning tea, 


prayer time


& walk



Mama's personal time:


morning tea, 


prayer time


& walk



730-9am



Mama: breakfast & daily chores


Take Sgt. Elf to babysitting job


Kids: morning things



Mama: breakfast & daily chores



Kids: morning things



Mama: breakfast & daily chores


Take Sgt. Elf to babysitting job


Kids: morning things



Mama: breakfast & daily chores


Take Frap to babysitting job


Kids: morning things



Mama: breakfast & daily chores



Kids: morning things



9am-1030



Monday Morning Meeting (to help us get on track after the weekend craziness)


Memorywork


Milne (read aloud)



O Special One goes to Classical Conversations


Possible informal co-op with 2 other families for younger ones



Recitations: prayer, catechism, scripture memory, poem, math facts, phonics drill


Read Aloud: Beatrix Potter


seatwork & tutoring



Recitations: prayer, catechism, scripture memory, poem, math facts, phonics drill


Read Aloud:    Just So Stories


seatwork & tutoring



Recitations: prayer, catechism, scripture memory, poem, math facts, phonics drill


Read Aloud:    Tales from Shakespeare


seatwork & tutoring



1030-noon



Math Game


&


Mapwork



Read Aloud: history


chores



Read Aloud: history


chores



Read Aloud: history


chores



Read Aloud:   history


chores



noon-130



lunch



Melodies


&


Masterpieces(art)



lunch



Read  Aloud: literature


drawing or handicraft during reading


Boys: gymnastics



lunch



Read  Aloud: literature


drawing or handicraft during reading


Girls: dance



lunch



Read  Aloud: literature


drawing or handicraft during reading



lunch


Read  Aloud: literature


drawing or handicraft during reading



130-3pm



Quiet Time:


silent readings


Teatime w/person-of-the-day 



Quiet Time:


silent readings


Teatime w/person-of-the-day



Quiet Time:


silent readings


Teatime w/person-of-the-day



Quiet Time:


silent readings


Teatime w/person-of-the-day



Quiet Time:


silent readings


Teatime w/person-of-the-day



3pm-430



snack


Monday's Marvelous Make-it Time


kids: chores



snack


Read aloud or Project or Productive Time


kids: chores



snack


Read aloud or Project or Productive Time


kids: chores



snack


Read aloud or Project or Productive Time


kids: chores



snack


Friday Freewrite & Friday Funstuff


kids: chores



430-6pm



Productive Time for kids


Mama: dinner prep



Productive Time for kids


Mama: dinner prep



Productive Time for kids


Mama: dinner prep



Productive Time for kids


Mama: dinner prep



Productive Time for kids


Mama: dinner prep



 6pm



supper & clean-up



supper & clean-up



supper & clean-up



supper & clean-up



supper & clean-up



 



 evening



 



 Sgt. Elf: drum lesson



 



 



 



 activities



 



 Sgt. Elf & J~man: puppets



 Frap: babysitting job



 




At least...


 until I change it


 


 

02 August 2008

August


 


"In August, the large masses of berries, which, when in flower, had attracted many wild bees, gradually assumed their bright velvety crimson hue, and by their weight again bent down and broke their tender limbs."

 


- Henry David Thoreau

 


photo source: stock.xchng