Homeschool Video - I WILL SURVIVE

You must check out this video sung to 'I WILL SURVIVE'. Click HERE. It must be video day!! This video is funny and has everything to do with homeschooling.

Enjoy and God Bless,
Lisa

FIREPROOF!http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

You so need to check out the preview (here), I was in tears watching it. It opens up this weekend in Elgin and Warrenville (the closet theaters in our area). I do hope that it will last in the theaters!

They are the creators of Facing the Giants (click to see a clip). If you haven't seen this one, I highly recommend it. The kids and I love this movie. I needed a box of tissues when I watched this for the first time.

Have a great weekend!

LIVE THIS DAY...

Live this day as if there was no one to impress.
Focus on God. Simply be.

I just read this from Proverbs 31. I get their daily devotion during the week via email. This week the devotions has been very honest from the heart. All I can say is, "WOW". Amazing women sharing their lives with us. To see how God works in others just amazes me to the fullest. I love seeing God in action! I want to start following the motto above.

I will be praying for all women that have gone through what Lysa TerKuerst has gone through. It is so true that no one speaks about 'abortion'. We all have strong opinions on the subject. If you have the time I suggest reading through the comments the readers have left. It truly enlightened me.

Genesis 50:20 says, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (NIV)

Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (NIV)

“I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant. Their faces are never covered with shame.” Psalm 34:4-5 (NIV)

Q & A with my kids

I got these questions from my friend, Becky (blog). I thought it was cute and I had to copy. She got it from another Lisa (not me).


1. What is something your mom always says to you?
A-To clean my room
J-Wake up (and that is what he just did.)

2. What makes mom happy?
A-By doing my chores.
J-Picking up
M-They both got this one right!

3. What makes mom sad?
A-By not doing my chores.
J-When we don’t pick up.
M-They are on a roll.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
A-Your phone makes me laugh.
J-I don’t know.
M-Ouch! I guess I don’t make them laugh.

5. What was your mom like as a child?
A-You had curly, poofy hair.
J-You had short hair.
M-What does my hair have to do with my childhood?

6. How old is your mom?
A-41(on the nose!)
J-I don’t know.

7. How tall is your mom?
A- 5 feet (and an inch!)
J-I don’t know.
M-I think I lost Joshua with all these questions.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
A-Teach us school.
J-Doing the computer.
M-I like to knit, can and read; yes, I do love to teach the kids!

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
A-She does laundry.
J-Knitting. (That’s my boy!)
M- Laundry? I’d rather be doing other things.

10. What is your mom really good at?
A- Taking cool pictures.
J-School

11. What is your mom not very good at?
A-Jump rope.
J-Picking up rooms
M-Picking up rooms??

12. What does your mom do for her job?
A-Teach us school.
J-Do homework.
M-Thankfully, I like my job!!

13. What is your mom's favorite food?
A- Sloppy Joes.
J-Meatloaf.
M-Both wrong. I like pasta.

14. What makes you proud of your mom?
A-By being my mommy. (Ahh, that makes me happy.)
J-
M-I think I lost him again…

15. What do you and your mom do together?
A-We go to Classical Conversations together.
J-Play games.

16. How are you and your mom different?
A-By our hair and that she is taller and I am smaller. (Anna needs to work on her vocabulary!)
J-I’m a boy and you’re a girl.
M-I knew he would say that.

17. How do you know your mom loves you?
A-Because she takes care of me. (Boy, my daughter is straight to the point. Simplicity runs in the family AND she doesn’t get it from me!)
J-You just love me.
M-I just love them both!

To TV or not to TV....

I have wanted to post about this topic a while back. But, Lindsey over at passionate homemaker beat me to it. Plus, she wrote it so eloquently that I'll just send you to her blog. I love the thought provoking questions and why her family chose NOT to TV.

Some of you may know that we have only ONE TV. I know it sounds crazy. I would love to just get rid of it! We also don't watch television during the week. I don't even watch it. Karl will watch it after the kids and I have gone to bed. That is OK with me because this way we eat together and play together as a family!

The kids do not complain nor do they miss watch television during the week. I have found that they become creative in their play. They also play WITH each other. I do not have to entertain them every minute. We do play board games during the day as a break from school. I love spending, playing with my kids.

Family time is so important to us right now because we are instilling this time into our young children. Hiking, hunting, fishing, boating, camping on the weekends; all the outdoor stuff we do that the television would of stolen from us. Even raspberry picking!! NO more couch potatoes.

Lindsey shared this verse on her site:

1 John 2:15-16 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

This really goes back to 'simplifying' our life. I am not judging you if you have a television in every room. This is what we believe works for our family. Each family is different and will train their own children differently. Our philosophy is 'simple'; to live simply and to enjoy life to its fullest. To live by the 'word' and to be a 'light' to those around us. We are not perfect, we are human, we make mistakes. By the grace of our Father we are able learn by our mistakes and to be forgiven.

School is well underway....

There is a raspberry farm 2 minutes from house! We needed a break (already?) so we decided to take an afternoon a pick raspberries. We picked about 4 quarts. That night I made raspberry crisp, yummy! The rest of the berries I froze to make smoothies throughout the week. You can really taste the fresh berries.

We are studying early explorers and one of the projects is learning how to tie sailor knots. Anna caught on very quickly. I had some troubles following the images. Joshua was even able to do one the knots. We learned a bowline knot and I can't remember the other 2 knots. Ouch, my brain hurts. Too much information going on this year.


September has brought back...a full schedule. The kids and I had a rough first week of 'following' a specific schedule for us all! Especially, getting the bedtime routine down was the hardest. Here is what our week looks like:

MONDAY - I try to start school by 8:30 am and so far we have succeeded. I have a 3-ring binder for each kid with a schedule on the cover. As we progress through the day, I use a dry-erase marker and cross off each item. I am a visual and I need to 'see' what has been accomplished. We cover reading, read-a-loud, grammar, math, history, Classical Conversation review and we finish with 2 hours of Tae-kwon-do.

TUESDAY - We are up early for Classical Conversations and we are in class until noon. We have lunch at church and then come and usually just chill. We may do an outdoor project, craft, or science project or take a nap. Most Tuesdays, I need the nap!

WEDNESDAY - Grammar, math, handwriting, reading, history, bible, Spanish and 2 hours of Tae-kwon-do!

THURSDAY - Science project, CC review, Early Explorers lapbook projects, grammar, reading and 1 hour Tae-kwon-do.
Anna had to break the boards in half with her foot. It took two attempts but she got it!!!! She had her first official testing last week. Anna did an awesome job! She received her yellow belt that she earned all on her own!

FRIDAY - Mostly a catch up day of what we didn't accomplish during the week. I like to do a 4 day school and having Friday as a free day!! We can do field trips, have play dates, play board games or bake! I forgot, Anna has piano at 2:30!

I am sooooo not complaining. I am just adjusting from schooling one child to two kids. It is a learning experience for us all. I am thankful for the opportunities that God brings to us. We are truly blessed in so many ways. To have a roof over our heads, food on the table, work for my husband, I try to remember that it is the 'simple' things in LIFE that mean the most. AMEN.