Wowza, it’s been a bit since I have had time to blog. And I have missed it terribly! But, now I am back, at least for a second or so!!!

We have been so busy around our house. Every time I turn around, there is something else that needs to be done it seems. Mr. Charming is helping his parents re-roof their house, and with fall approaching, I am trying desperately to get my yard in order so that I don’t lose any of the plants I have worked so hard to save (in other words, my roses :)
School is sure keeping us hoping! Goob is flying through everything, and he’s really loving History and Math this year. He gets the love of history from me, and the love of Math from his dad…I honestly hate math with a passion! He has become obsessed with building a logo design for the fair next year. Evidently, the ones that were at the fair this year didn’t meet his expectations, so he’s out to better the display! And, of course, win a blue ribbon.

Princess’ school is going ok. She is working on understanding the concept of beginning sounds and ending sounds. She is finally getting it, but it’s been the most difficult thing she’s done this far. She has been determined to get through it, and that made me proud of her! She wants to read so very bad, and I know she will get there.

BunnyBop has officially started preschool. She has made things so annoyingly difficult for her brother and sister that I decided it was time. I don’t like her watching too much TV and she was board, so…She was very excited, although she purposely keeps getting the colors wrong and will laugh. That’s ok though, she is pretty young yet.

Myself? Well, along with all the other “stuff” I have to do around the house, I am working on becoming super organized. Not fun, or easy, for someone who is not naturally an organized person. Usually, I am the person who will set my keys down and not find them again for hours. Don’t get me wrong, my house is clean, but I just couldn’t find anything. With having the three kids, it has become a real necessity to be organized. Mr. Charming bought me a label maker, and I have been using it around the house a whole heck of a lot!

One of the greatest things I have done is make myself a notebook that has, well, pretty much my whole life in it. Everything from my daily checklist on housecleaning to my weight loss charts…it’s there. It has seemed to help a lot…especially the housecleaning lists. I went from room to room and wrote down everything I could think of that needs done for that room. The I broke them down into things that need done Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Bi-yearly. It helps me know what I have done and what I still need to do. And I so love to actually put a check mark next to stuff. Yes, I know, I am weird.

Ok, well, it’s 4:30 am and I gotta get my day started (or maybe get my butt back into bed, I haven’t decided!)

Oh, awesome site for homeschoolers…they have weekly free products to download

See ya all!

Is there anyone out there that actually likes grocery shopping? Honestly, where is the enjoyment in that? Yesterday was payday, so off I went. Stores were crowded, items were bought before I could get to them, and the lines were long. YUCK! Once good thing is, Good was able to practice his math in the produce department. Ahh, the joys of weighing fruit and rounding up the price, just to see how much will cost. He had fun. Prices and BunnyBop tried to help, but they just kept throwing numbers out at him. By the end of the produce department, he was slightly frustrated with them. Do you have any idea how hard it is to count in your head when someone keeps saying different numbers?

It felt good to get home. The grocery store is about 30 minutes from my house, so I actually get to relax a bit in the car as I drive home, before I have to hull the groceries up the stairs. Now, it’s all put away, and my freezer, pantry, and cupboards are stocked! And I saved $14.30 with coupons!

Today, we are going to be making up for things not done yesterday. Another reason I hate grocery shopping is that it throws my whole week of chores and school off. So, today we will make some of that up. Mr. Charming has to work for a bit on Saturday, so I can use that time to finish up whatever isn’t done. I actually have daily and weekly checklists that I make myself go through. Otherwise, I just go in circles and nothing ever gets done. It’s very frustrating!

Well, hi ho, it’s off to laundry I go.

Have a good day!

And....GO

Ok….about 10 minutes until my day will official begins. Meaning about 10 minutes until I have to start chores with the kids. Dang, shoulda gotten a shower earlier…Oh well. Anyway, 10 minutes to…well, blog? So, 10 minutes and I get writers block. Really? Come ON!

Ok, block gone. Wanted to share about a Bible Study I’m doing. “A Mom After God’s Own Heart” By Elizabeth George. I love the books of hers I have read. Well, the parts of the books of hers that I have read. I never seem to actually get through them all, probably because they start convicting me of something! The chapter I am reading now talks about how we, through our attitudes and actions, show God to our children, and how what we do reflects on God. Ouch! So, every breath I take is teaching my children how to view God. No wonder people always have a messed up version of our Heavenly Father. I mean, come on, when was the last time God told you “Just a minute, I’m doing something?” When was the last time you watched God get frustrated because the house wasn’t clean? Honestly, I don’t think He does. God’s always there, ready to listen to you. You can praise, ask, talk, or even complain, and God will listen. He never tells us that He’s too busy because he’s “got stuff that HAS to get done.” And I am supposed to show that to my children. Seems overwhelming, doesn’t it? We, as sinful beings, are supposed to show our Perfect God to our children. Tall order huh?

I will admit, I am guilty of getting in the mode of: I gotta clean, I gotta do laundry, I gotta….you get the point. And yes, all these things have to be done. But our children should come first. Whether it’s because they need to talk, or need to be talked too, or just need a nap. They come first, always. I pray that God will show me and work with me on that, because all too often, I let the “gotta do’s” get in the way of “need to do’s”

If you don’t think your children mimic you in what they see, here’s a quick story from my life. This weekend, I was working on cleaning out my linen closet. I was standing there looking at the best way to go about this with my hand on my hip. BunnyBop comes up to stand next to me. I glanced down to see what she was doing, and sure enough, she was standing there with her hand on her hip, looking at the closet. They only difference is she had pumpkin bread in her other hand. She was promptly sent back to the table where she could eat without crumbs getting from one end of the house to the other. But that little act of hers made me realize, once again, that my children will do what they see. May God grant me the wisdom and the ability to mimic Him, so that they will follow my footsteps.

Ok…five minutes….

Have an awesome day everyone!

I may need professional help...

So, yesterday, I finally decided that fall has come. That means it’s time to start gearing up my yard for winter, and I am sad. I had refused to even consider it for about two weeks, but with the rain and winds we have been having, I knew it was time. I had some roses still blooming, and I nearly cried as I snipped them off, because I knew they would be the last ones of the season. I mean, yes they were going in a vase, but sill…I was arranging them on the porch when I had what I call a “brain fart” Basically, I had an idea. Why not, my unselfish side asked, give them to your new neighbor? They just moved in, so I’m sure they’d love them. Then my selfish side piped up “WHAT? THESE ARE IT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME???” I actually thought this over for a few minutes. I knew that if I put them in the vase I’d keep them. All of my vases have significant keepsake value in my mind.

Wait! I’ve gotten ahead of myself a bit. To understand my possessiveness with my roses you have to understand how hard I’ve fought for them! We moved here almost 3 years ago. I didn’t even know that these sorry looking plants were roses. They were THAT messed up. There are four roses. This year was the FIRST year I have been able to get them all to bloom. I have spent hours upon hours looking up stuff to help them. Hours pruning them, weeding them…. They also helped me realize how much I love working with plants and gardening and such. So, this year, I actually got to claim victory over them meanness of the previous residents of this house who didn’t care enough to take care of them. Sadly, I will admit that I had several conversations in my head where I told them off. Hmm…Maybe I need help….. Anywho, I love my roses.

So, maybe now you see my relationship with my beautiful roses. I feel a lot of (God help me) pride when I look at them.
Back to the story…long and short of it is…my neighbors will get cookies at Christmas. My roses are on my table…Call me what you will…as long as you keep your name calling to yourself!

Good Morning!

Hope everyone is having an awesome day! Ours has just started. Late night last night, so late getting up, darn it! I haven’t even gotten my first cup of coffee in me all the way yet!

School is going good for Goob and Princess. We did our new schedule for Goob (Two subjects Monday, Wednesday, Friday and the other two Tuesday, Thursday). He seems to work better with that. Goob is smart, but once he gets going on a subject, he really hates to stop. I’m hoping this will help him. Princess is doing awesome in her math, and working hard on Phonics. She wants to learn to read so badly and keeps asking me when she will be able to.

BunnyBop is having an awesome time making things difficult for her brother and sister. Taking pencils, paper, coloring crayons, and climbing up in their laps. I have been giving her “worksheets” but she’s so little that she scribbles on them for a few minutes and is done! I’m thinking I may have to break the “no toys in the living room” rule and let her bring stuff out to play with while the other two are doing school. She has toys in her room and downstairs in the family room, but I’m thinking she doesn’t want to be alone...

I pulled out my crock-pot yesterday. With the days getting colder, and our family getting busier, I decided it was time to start using it. I also decided it was time to learn how to use it. I’ve used my lovely slow cooker maybe 5 times in 8 years. I am determined to find some good recipes and use it a lot this fall and winter. In my determination to find good recipes, I went looking on the web and found this awesome blog “A Year of Slow Cooking”. Wow, I am impressed! Stephanie really knows what she’s doing! I tried her “Cranberry Pork” recipe yesterday. She has several, so be sure to click on the title for the recipe I used. It came out awesome! I cooked it for 9 hours, but I should have stopped at 7 hours, but that I was me not her! Still, the inside of the pork was a lot moister then I can ever get it! She'll even tell you when the recipe doesn't come out right! I really think everyone should use her blog!

Oh! I made pumpkin bread yesterday too. I had to run an errand after making it. When I came in the house, it smelled like Christmas! Between the smell of the bread and the smell of dinner, it was heavenly! Although, I am nowhere near ready for Christmas!

Ok, gotta get to work…days half over!
Have a good one!

Mother May I

Go back to bed I even slept in late, and I am still tired. I didn’t get to bed on time last night and it’s killing me now! I think I need a better schedule, but that will come with time!

First day of school went ok...not perfect by any means, but ok. I am learning how to teach two children at one time and it’s a bit of a challenge. I have thought of some ideas to help that out at least, so I am looking forward to trying them out! Princess realized today that school is no longer something she does until she is board of it. Now, it’s something she has to do every day, and I am not too sure she is thrilled with that idea. Goob is doing his typical “I am going to try mom’s patience” routine that he does every year when school starts. He’ll come back around though, and that always makes things go smoother.

Our oversight teacher was changed late yesterday for Princess. Goob had the same teacher last year that he has this year, but Princess was assigned to someone else. Luckily, the school called yesterday and is putting princess into Goob’s class. This is going to make my life so much easier.

Today’s agenda, if followed and accomplished (yeah, right!) is to get school done, do laundry, and try very hard to get my craft area up and running. Mr. Charming made me an awesome place to do my crafts and I need, let me emphasize, I NEED to get it organized! Right now, it is somewhat there, but it looks like the Rubbermaid store blew up. So not pretty. I’m on the lookout for ways to make it look pretty and be organized at the same time.

OH! Speaking of which, I found this awesome idea! We go through a LOT of cereal boxes around here…mainly because I’m never awake enough to make a “real” (as my kids call it) breakfast. Hey, don’t judge, at least its healthy cereal…most of the time….Anyway, back to the cereal boxes. We have a lot of them, and I am all for re-purposing stuff…lots of stuff. So, I was looking around for ways to do that with cereal boxes and found this I made one using scrapbook paper and it came out awesome! I’ll try to get pictures up later.

Well, off to start the day! Have a great one everybody!

And so it begins...

Yep, today is the official start of the school year! Part of me is excited, part is a bit apprehensive, and a large part of me just wants to go back to bed! For this family, life doesn’t ever stop, so starting school doesn’t make my days easier. It actually makes them shorter! So, up earlier I go. I get up around 4:30-5:00…and today, I am not ready for it! Coffee, here I come!

Our books came in the middle of August, and we actually started doing some school then. Math especially was review for both Goob and Princess, so we got the first unit done and out of the way. Yay! Now, we are going to start Language, Science and History. Right now, our schedule looks like this: Language and Math, everyday. History is every Tuesday and Thursday. I love history, so I am excited about that! Science is every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I hate Science, so I’m not excited about that! However, doing it three times a week will help us spend more time on the experiments and such. Art is Monday and Friday.

So, goodbye to all the sun (it’s currently raining and cold, with no end in sight). Good-bye to lazy days of playing outside and gardening. Goodbye to all the pretty flowers (ok, that actually makes me a bit sad!) Hello to crisp days. Hello to new leaf colors. Hello to later sunrises! Hello to my kids, who I get to watch as they learn something new every day!

Why??

We have been homeschooling for three years. Goob has actually never seen the inside of the local elementary school. I am ok with that! Yet, even before we had him, we knew we wanted to home school. I am asked why a lot, so I thought I’d get the explanation out of the way before we get too far. :)

Why…well, honestly there are several reasons. No, I am not a “religious freak who brainwashes her children.” Yes, I get told that a lot. Religion does have something to do with it though. I do not agree with what the school system in our area teaches, not only about Science, but also about moral issues that I take opposite stands on. Yes, I teach these stands and beliefs to my children, but I also work very hard to teach them about love and acceptance of others, even if we don’t agree with them. I have learned the hard way, we are ALL sinners, and I am NO better than anyone else! We all have our downfalls, and as children of God, we need to show grace and LOVE to everyone…no matter who they are or what they believe.

Also, I honestly don’t think my kids would get a good education in the school system. Goob is a very active 7 year old, and he would probably drive his poor teacher up the wall. At school, he wouldn’t be able to do his work standing up, which he does here. He wouldn’t be able to read sitting upside down, which he also does. I understand why these actions wouldn’t be possible because the poor teachers have a large amount of students they are trying to teach and there needs to be order, for her sanity as well as the rest of the class! There are a lot more reasons on the education issues, but I am not going to get into them, because I don’t wish to put the school district down. They try their hardest, and I do understand that!

For us, having our children in school was totally opposite of how both my husband and I were raised. I was pulled out of the public school system when I was in third grade; my husband was pulled out in sixth. It’s normal for us to have our kids around.

I will admit there are days it would be nice to send them off to school…we all have those days, but in the end, I love having them here. Seeing the light in their eyes when they finally grasp a topic they were struggling with is worth it to me!

People also ask about socialization, and they ask about it a lot! My kids have a lot of friends. There are kids in the neighborhood they play with, and they do to a Wednesday night program, as well as Sunday school. They also have a very large extended family that we spend a huge amount of time with. This may not seem like a lot, but it works for our family very well. And honestly, when in life are children only going to be around people their age? School is the only time that will happen, and I don’t see that as a good way to prepare them for real life. In real life, you deal with people of all ages, usually at the same time.