Making a Choice on Curriculum.

      It's been about 6 months since I last blogged. So much has gone on this year, but this last six months has been absolutely jammed.  I did end up doing a very light, abbreviated version of school for the kids. We also spent quite a lot of time running in the sprinkler, swinging on the swing set, visiting the library, and doing a lot of art projects.  There were also a lot more movies than I allow during the school year. Summer is our wet season in the waaaay south, and it rains like clockwork every afternoon, if not all day.  We would get outside while the weather would allow, but we had to entertain ourselves indoors a lot. Raise your hand if you know how hard it is to keep a three and four year old inside 24/7. Bless your heart, I feel your pain. ;) But in all seriousness, while it was a challenge, it was also a lot of fun.

Fall arrived (on the calendar anyhow) and with it, the official start of school. While I have been using Sonlight K loosely for my four year-old, I have been doing all sorts of things with my baby (well, she's three but she is my baby). Like I mentioned in the previous post, I ordered a Letter of the Week curriculum for her. She flew through that so fast she was finished with it by the end of the first quarter. Honestly, I was thrilled and horrified. I love that she is so bright, but I was really frustrated that I'd picked the "wrong" curriculum again, and that she was finished with it already.

But wait; isn't this homeschool thing about making the choice that is best for your individual child? My kids have loved their school time, and they don't seem to think I made the wrong choice. Little Girl loved every minute of her LOTW curriculum, she just mastered it much more quickly than I had anticipated. So, where did this "wrong" label come from? Oh,  yeah. Me.   There is this huge pressure out there to make sure we do it all just right and, if we are honest with ourselves, we will own up to our own role in it.  I have never once had someone question my curriculum choice, or if Big Girl and Little Girl are learning enough. I have never had anyone tell me I am a failure as a mother or a parent because I homeschool. No one has ever said that my kids have to learn faster or more than the homeschool families on the Internet forums. There is a little competition on some of those forums, but I really think it is our own faults. We lay that guilt trip and that pressure on ourselves. Once we realize that, there is this beautiful freedom to be had. 

So once we have that freedom, what do we do with it? You make the choice that is best for your family. You do it thoughtfully, and reasonably, and you walk in the freedom that you are their parent and you know how they will learn better than anyone else in the world.  Other than Jesus, of course. ;)

I want to share some tips for planning your school year and choosing curriculum. Hopefully it will help you as much as it is helping me.

1: First step in planning and choosing: Don't!  

I don't mean don't pick anything at all, of course, but I do mean don't think you have to plan and pick everything for the whole year at once.  Who said you have to buy all your work in August? Yes, it's exciting and those curriculum companies are so good at calling you right up and helping you pick everything you "need", but just don't.  When you buy everything at once you feel like you have everything you need AND that you you have to fit it all in.  I don't have to tell you that your child is unique and special and marches to the beat of their own drum.  Just plan the first quarter, and see how it goes. You will  have to adjust the plan, and that's okay!!

2: Be Honest with Yourself!

 

Take a really good look at how your family functions.  How does your day unfold?  Are you the kind of family that likes to rise and shine early in the morning, or would you sooner blow someone up for talking to you before you've had your coffee? Do your little ones like to get out and run off their energy a bit before you start your lessons, or do you find that if you don't start right away you'll never get their attention back?  What kind of climate do you live in? Is it so hot in the afternoon that you can't play outside after 10 am?  Is it too cold to play outside until 3 pm and you have to keep everyone indoors until then? How long can your kids sit still without getting the fidgets? Do they like workbooks, or would they rather you read to them all day long?  Do crafts make the lesson sink in or does music?  Maybe it's videos or computer games that make the concept stick. Chances are, you've already been organizing your day in the way that is best for your family. If you struggle to function before ten, and your little ones really really love to watch Peg+Cat on PBS, why on earth would you pick to organize your school day to start at 8 and require you to teach math concepts before the caffeine has wakened your brain? Start when it's best for everyone. You're homeschooling: you can do that. :)  If your little one loves writing in workbooks, like mine do, then feel good about using a workbook based curriculum.  If they thrive on unit studies, awesome!  Pick that.  Do what your family loves, and own it.

3: Be realistic!

When considering what you are going to do that year, consider what you can realistically accomplish.  If you are on a very tight budget, understand that you might not be able to do field trips to the zoo and the aquarium, buy a cupboard full of art supplies, and still afford a bookcase full of reading material.  But you could visit a local farm, the fire station, and the local historian instead, buy a few really good art staples, and become best friends with the public Librarian. You'd be surprised at the books you can get your hands on for free.  Also, be realistic in how much you can accomplish in one year. Be flexible with your kids and yourself.  See step one: If you plan a little bit at a time, you will have a much better grasp on this.  I also have to stress that you don't make lofty goals just because you are certain that you can rise to the occasion.  You probably could do it for awhile, but you will wear yourself out. Just be realistic, stretching yourselves just a little at a time. You can accomplish so much if you just keep taking small steps.

I hope that saves you a little bit of trauma and drama. What kind of tips or questions do you have?

Scripture for Little Hearts

This post was originally going to be about how I discipline my girls. I was going to tell you about how we have one major rule in our house that is repeated when necessary, but in thinking about how to develop the post, I realized I really needed to go much further.

You see, our major rule is "Children obey your parents, for this is right," which is a shortened version of Ephesians 6:1.  When the girls are acting up, I ask them, "what's our verse?" and they recite it to me. Yes, even the little one.  They pretty much always stop their behavior right away, apologize, and continue playing in a better way. It amazes me how scripture can cut through a bad situation like that.  We didn't always do it that way, and we didn't always have those good results. It was when we began pointing the girls back to what the Bible says that we saw a change in their little hearts and in our home.

Don't get me wrong; the Bible has always been a big part of our home life. We read it, talk about it, sing about it...you know, all the regular stuff you might imagine a Pastor's family might do. ;)  But we hadn't really considered that the children could memorize and apply it to their lives at this age. I don't know why this didn't occur to us; they can certainly memorize every song they hear on VeggieTales, and the eldest could recite "Where the Wild Things Are" by the time she was two.  I blame my lack of insight on the sleep deprivation.

Anyway, once we started pointing them back to scripture the change was huge. Not just in exacting the behavior we wanted from them, but in the way they looked at a situation.  When scripture is applied there is a realization that their behavior was wrong, there is remorse for the action, and repentance. And that is ultimately what we hope for with our children; repentance. 

The Bible talks about this subject. (Again, why didn't we get this sooner? I Dunno.)  Proverbs 22:6 says.
"Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."
Ephesians 6:4 says, "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."  The book of Deuteronomy is chock-full of instructions to parents to teach the word and the law to their children. Hmm...

The overarching theme here is that Scripture is integral in the raising up of our children. Not just in the times of discipline, but simply throughout our daily lives. Deuteronomy 11:19 says "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."  To apply this to our lives, we might say we should teach it to our girls while we're eating our toast at the breakfast table, when we're driving in the car, when we've slammed our thumb in the dryer door and we're reciting the fruit of the spirit through clenched teeth (what, you don't do that? ;) ), when we're washing away the dirt from their day of play, or when we're snuggling them close before bed, or when they wake up in the morning ready to do it all over again. In all of it, we are not only living scripture, but we need to tell it to them, too, so that they know that the direction of our lives is not just because we're nice people, but it is because of the direction the scripture, the very Word of the Lord, gives us.

 Please, don't misunderstand me now. I am not saying you should go memorize a few good verses to hit your kids over the head with on a daily basis.  What I am actually saying is that you should immerse yourself in the Word, and let it speak to you, and change your life. It should become such an ingrained part of you and your relationship with God, that sharing it and teaching it to your children  is a natural extension of who you are.  So, it isn't just scripture for their little hearts; It's for your little heart, too.

Learning to Love Art with Little Ones

We love art in our home-school!  My husband has a pile of kid-paintings 4 ft thick in his office to prove it.  He can't bear to get rid of any of the kid's precious projects. It is for this reason (and this reason only!) that we don't do art projects every day.  

But how about you? Do you have a love for art in your home-school?  Not everyone does, but I am fully convinced that everyone could like art if we could address whatever is holding them back.  I'm going to address three of those hurdles today, and see if we can't make believers out of some of you.

Hurdle #1- It's so Messy!

Yes, it really is. It can be horrendously messy.  But what mess can't be cleaned up?  And, really, with a little forethought and preparation, you can cut the worst of it off at the pass. 

Make a plan. Decide ahead of time what kind of project you want to do or what kind of medium you want to explore.  If you are going to be using glitter, cut open a paper grocery bag and lay it under the project. It will catch the glitter, and is stronger than newspaper so you can easily pour the glitter back in the bottle.  Keep a lint roller handy to pick up stray pieces from floor and furniture.  If you are going to paint, put your easel or table on a washable sheet to catch drips, and keep a rag and spray bottle nearby. Dad's old shirts make perfect smocks to keep their clothes clean.

   If you think ahead, you can have everything you need at hand, and that takes care of most of the challenge. After the project is over, make sure the kids help clean it up.  This is a great teaching moment. :)

Hurdle #2- I don't know what to do; I'm not artistic


That's okay! There are a lot of resources out there that can give you ideas as your kids get older, but if your kids are the same age as mine, just letting them explore different mediums is the most important thing.  My girls love to paint. They'll paint with washable tempera, watercolors, fingerpaint, Colorix (which can be used wet) and even with water on their chalkboard.  They think markers of different widths are awesome! They will use them on all sorts of different kinds of papers.  Then there are crayons, pastels, colored pencils, regular pencils, pens, stamps and ink, do-a-dot markers, smelly markers, chalk...and that is just the stuff to draw with.  Then there is playdoh, clay, foam, feathers, glitter, googly eyes, popsicle sticks, paper plates, construction paper, scissors, hole punches, shape punches, confetti, tissue paper, contact papers, sand, beads, macaroni, plaster, papier mache, and wood.  Well, there is about a million other things as well, but I'm not trying to overwhelm you. Even if you just let the kids play with the stuff and take their own direction (supervised of course!) you are set for a while.  For the rest of the time, pop over to pinterest.com.  If you haven't discovered this little gem yet, I highly recommend you toddle over there and get pinning. You can do a search for kids art projects and get all sorts of results.  I like to search for art projects that go with our read-alouds. A lot of the time if you type in the book title and "craft" you can get great results.


Hurdle #3-But it's expensive! 

Yes, just like any part of home-schooling, it can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be.  Here are some of my favorite ways to save on art stuff:

First, reduce, reuse, recycle! (Am I the only one that remembers that being drilled into us in elementary school?) Reuse everyday items as art supplies. Have a sock whose mate disappeared long ago? Hey, sock puppet! Package arrive in the mail? That brown packing paper can be re-purposed for painting, and hang on to that box; dioramas are art, too.  Save the yogurt cups to make banks or instruments.  Only have 3 inches of tin foil left on the roll? Save both the foil and the roll as art supply.  Save buttons, and cut old shirts into squares to use in a collage.  See the value in old greeting cards and magazines for gluing practice.  It just takes a little imagination, but you can really glean a lot from what you already have.

Second, make what you can.  There are recipes all over the internet for DIY washable paint, play-doh, sidewalk chalk, moon dough, modeling clay, etc.  Just do a little research and make what you can. It can really cut down on the cost of things.

Third, know where to buy the rest.  Whatever you can't make with your own two hands, you can find for pretty cheap. Again, with a little planning, you can get some good deals.  Before you start the school year, think about what kind of projects you hope to do. Then make a master supply list. Put everything you could ever hope for on there. Before school starts there will be ridiculous amounts of sales, and a good bit of your list will be very cheap. Namely, glue, crayons, pens, markers, pencils, tape, construction paper, and folders (for lap books).  Pick a bunch of these up while they're so cheap.  For the rest, search for the best price online. I like to go to www.discountschoolsupply.com. They have pretty much everything you could ever hope for there, and the prices are very good. Oriental Trading Company sometimes has craft kits, too, so they can be worth checking out. If you can't make or buy everything on your list, highlight what you need/want most, and buy that first. Then go back to the list every once in awhile and see what you can find on sale when you can afford it.


Kids love arts and crafts by nature. They learn through the fun of it, and it really is worth it to give it a go. Have an art question or hurdle I didn't address here? Leave a comment, and I will do my best to give you a good answer.  ;)

Sending the Pacifier Packing

My kids had an all consuming love-affair with a little thing called a binky  boomboom bippy plug pacifier from the day it first went in their mouth.  It was a comfort to them and a panacea for every less than comfortable feeling. Tired? Pacifier. Sad? Pacifier. Angry? Pacifier. Hungry? Pacifier. Bored? Well you get the idea.  I had read a study that said that allowing a child to sleep with a pacifier reduced the risk of SIDS, so I was willing to risk the scorn and ridicule that often comes with extended pacifier use. I was not, however, willing to risk the girls' oral development.

My eldest is going to be four soon. Not only is she too old for a pacifier, but I was starting to notice an effect on her front teeth. NOT cool. So that was the first big factor in my decision to unplug. The second had everything to do with my second little one. At nearly three, she really is getting too old as well, but the real reason for her was for the sake of her speech.  When she would talk, there wasn't really anything wrong with it. She can form words beautifully, actually. But the problem was that she preferred to have the pacifier in her mouth all the time, so she just didn't talk much.

So on Sunday, I sat down with my girls and told them that they could have the pacifiers for the rest of the day, and that when they woke up they weren't going to have them anymore.  Then on Monday morning, I followed through on that.  I collected both pacifiers...

and.......

cut the tips off! When they asked for them later, I gave them to them just like that. When they discovered they were broken and that they couldn't keep them in their mouths that way, they didn't want them.  Awesome!

But then night fell, and all the success I thought I was having melted away. The little one sobbed like she had lost her best friend and I seriously had second thoughts. She's my baby after all! But I stayed strong. For the first time in her whole life, I had to get into bed with her and stroke her back and hold her hand until she fell asleep.  But then she stayed asleep all night.  It was an easier night than I had anticipated. The older one didn't have a problem at all. I would say the transition is made with her. 

So, now we're pacifier-free.  It was hard, but I think I kind of made it much harder in my head. If you are struggling with weaning from the pacifier, maybe give this method a shot.  And stay strong! :)

Body Love

When I started this process of getting healthy, I was in a really bad head-space.  I would look in the mirror, and hate myself. Seriously,  not just hating what I looked like, but hating myself. I hated what I had done to myself, that my body was broken down and didn't function like it should, and that I just couldn't seem to pull myself out of the downward spiral I was in. I was getting pretty big, and I let my size dictate my self worth.  BAD IDEA! 

I got to a point where I had enough, and I started researching nutrition. I applied what I learned to what I ate and fed my family, and I started taking supplements to fix some deficiencies I had. I saw a change so fast, I was inspired to start my exercise regimen anew. I finally had the energy I needed to do it.

It was so hard at first. I could barely complete 8 minutes on my elliptical. But I added two minutes everyday, and one day I hit 40 minutes. Then I started adding resistance to the machine, and I did it again. I just keep making it a little harder and a little longer, and going a little faster.  Yesterday, I hit a new personal best. I went 9.01 miles in a little over 60 minutes.  Those are some fast  miles!

After I had accomplished this amazing task, I started thinking about how far I've come. In the beginning of the journey I hated my body, and I had hated it for years. Not just since I had the kids and put on the weight, but even as a pre-teen I hated my body.  18 years is a long time to carry that kind of hate around; especially for myself.  In thinking about it, I had to apologize to myself.  I can see now just how awesome my body is. No, I still don't look amazing. No, I haven't reached my goal weight. But this body is capable of some amazing stuff.  It overcame medical problems and I carried two beautiful, healthy babies. It kept going, even when I abused it by feeding it the wrong fuel (and sometimes too much of it), by not working all the parts of it to keep it strong, and it is overcoming obstacles and reaching incredible goals during this fitness journey.  My body may not look amazing, but it IS amazing, and I am proud of it.

It is so easy to get caught up in that bad mindset. I could blame the media for promoting an unhealthy body images, but let's get real; I watched and read that stuff, and I didn't have to accept it. Let's take some responsibility here. As a Christian, I know where I am supposed toget my idea of self-worth. The Bible lays out what is valuable in a woman very clearly (hello, proverbs 31!) so it isn't like I didn't have any other idea of what would make me special/important/valuable.  So, I'll  tell you, yes, I have lost 30 lbs to date and shrunk quite a few inches, but don't be surprised if you don't hear much about pounds from me in the future. From now on, I am measuring my success in how awesome my body is and what kind of crazy things it can do. You'll probably hear a lot about how healthy I'm becoming (I was the only one in this house that escaped the last virus going around :) ) , and what the next goal is whenever I reach one, but I won't be weighing my success in pounds anymore. I think that is some good Body Love.

So...I'm not good at this yet. :) Let's catch up.

If you are one of the few who follow my Blog, I offer my deepest, most heart-felt apologies for not posting anything in about a millennium.  So often I say to myself, "Self, you need to get on there and update that blog you crazy nerd." I inevitably agree with myself, but obviously I do nothing about it. Truthfully, there has been so much going on in our lives that I really can't share with the online universe yet. So, it was a little taxing to try to come on here and try to mentally sift through it all and find something I could tell you about.  I'm sure you are now wondering what spurred me to finally pop on here. It was the lovely email I received from Erica over at  Confessions of a Homeschooler. Among many others things, she offers these beautiful little planners and organizers for Blogging, and today's email sent me a link to the 2012 and the 2013 versions. It was inspiring, really. (You can get them for yourself and check out her great site here.) So now, armed with a plan and a schedule in my home organizer (my giant pink binder that pretty much keeps this house running) I have come up with some ideas for posts this month. But first, I have to take care of business...I owe a book review to the wonderfully kind and patient folks over at Bethany House. Hopefully, they'll let me continue reviewing their books despite my tardiness.

 So, finally, I give you my thoughts on "To Love and Cherish" by Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller. 

The book is described as following on Tracie Peterson's website :

When Melinda Colson's employer announces they'll be leaving Bridal Veil Island to return to their home in Cleveland, Melinda hopes her beau, Evan, will propose. But Evan isn't prepared to make an offer of marriage until he knows he can support a wife and family. Evan works as the assistant gamekeeper on Bridal Veil but hopes to be promoted soon.
Letters strengthen their love, but Melinda remains frustrated at being apart from the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Then she learns of a devastating hurricane in Bridal Veil and knows she must give up her position as a lady's maid and make her way back to Evan.
The destruction on Bridal Veil is extensive, meaning every available person is needed to help with cleanup and repairs. Melinda finds a new job on the island, but Evan seems even busier than before, meaning she still never gets to see him. Has she given her heart to the wrong man?
And when Melinda overhears a vicious plot against President McKinley, who is scheduled to visit the island, is Evan the one she should turn to? Will Melinda and Evan ever get the chance to stand at the front of a church and promise "to love and cherish"?

This book is the second in the Bridal Veil Island series. I didn't read the first book, "To Have and To Hold" but "To Love and Cherish" was written in such a way that it didn't really matter. The setting was the same but the characters were all different, so I wasn't lost in some previous plot, nor did the authors have to rehash the plot of the previous book. I like that. It annoys me when the first half of books I'm reading are catch-ups to other books...but I digress.  I felt the characters in this book were very likable, though they seemed fairly modern to me. They presented interesting points of view on marriage and how men and women see things differently.  The thing I didn't like about this book was that I didn't get the sense of history I usually get from Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller's work. There was certainly some mention of historical markers, but I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more. Over all, I did enjoy the book and if I were to have the chance to read the third book in the series I would certainly do so.


And that's it for today folks. The littlest one just woke up from her nap and is now snuggled up in my arms. That is wonderful for my mommy-heart, but it makes it super-hard to type with any kind of accuracy or speed.  My plan is to post more tomorrow. If I do, make sure you cheer for me. :) What an achievement it would be!

It begins...

     Wow. I've typed and re-typed this first sentence of my very first blog about ten times already. Somehow, when I was reading other people's blogs, I thought it would be so much easier to write my own. :)  Reality check!  Suddenly, when there is a chance that someone might (and I use the term "might" purposely here) be reading my own written thoughts, I am a little more cautious...go figure!  

     So, why am I writing this blog anyway? Pretty much because I feel like it. :)  That, and like I said, I have been reading blogs from other Christian ladies and I have felt impressed to start one as well.  I've titled it "Laughing Through Life" because my favorite verse of the Bible right now is Proverbs 31:25.  We've all heard verse 30 until it rings in our ears, and it's true "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." But I like verse 25 so much more. It says, "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."  The strength and dignity I have has been well earned, and I couldn't always laugh at the situations we faced, but the Lord has done a good work in me and I have come to place of trusting Him.  I'm certainly not perfect, and I most definitely am a work in progress, but because of the Lord I can face what comes with joy. And to quote my favorite movie , Pride and Prejudice (the Keira Knightley version of course) "...I dearly love to laugh."

     I do quite a bit of laughing. I have two beautiful little girls who are such a joy. My older daughter, who we'll call Big Girl, is about to turn three next month. She loves to laugh, too, and is usually doing something hillarious. She is also unbelievably smart and really keeps me on my toes.  My second daughter, Little Girl, is thirteen months younger than her sister. She is so sweet. She does absolutely everything whole-heartedly and with great joy. She reminds me everyday of the verse in Colossians 3 ("Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord...". I want to be "all in" just like her.   I've been married for 8 years to a wonderful man who loves God, loves us, and loves the church he pastors.  I'm very blessed!

   In this blog I will be sharing about my journey as a mother, homemaker, Pastor's wife,  homeschooling family, and a woman who loves God and loves to laugh. I hope you'll join me in learning how to clothe ourselves in strength and dignity to become the women God desires us to be.