Eliminating Distractions

I need to make a confession - the computer, especially the internet, is a large distraction for me during the day. I've noticed that on the days that I feel the most frazzled and as if there's no time to get anything important done... those are also the days I've spent too much - no, wasted too much, time online. And honestly, I have trouble controlling it. A quick "5 minute" email check turns into a 30-minute email/blog/etc. check, and once the time is gone, it is gone.

Ephesians 5:15-16 says "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil" and I've been convicted that I have not been wise or making the most of my time, and have been praying for the Lord's help in overcoming my laziness and struggle with this.

Last week, I came across LeechBlock, a Firefox add-on. It is an add-on that allows you to block specific sites for blocks of time, all of which you can set to whatever your preferences are. This would also be good for helping monitor a child's internet usage, as well, although I wouldn't recommend letting it take the place of good parental supervision.

So I bit the bullet and did it. I've blocked all my of typical-usage sites (email, blog, facebook, message boards, etc) during the hours that the children are awake, except for a small "free time" break from 12:30-1 pm, when the kids are playing and I have a few minutes to spare. This leaves me with a few minutes before the kids wake up in the morning, and whatever time I choose to spend in the evenings after they are in bed, which is also limited, depending on Michael's schedule.

And you know what? Its been hard! I'm being totally honest here. I've found myself wandering around thinking "um... I don't know what to do with myself..." which only proves how badly I needed it. Sad, huh? But I am thankful that the Lord provided me with this resource to be an assistant for me in overcoming my frivolous use of time. And I also know that I'll adjust to life with limited internet, and it will be such a blessing to truly be able to "redeem the time" and take better care of the things I've been neglecting.

Michael asked me why I was posting about this for anyone in the world to read, and I'm choosing to do so for a couple of reasons. One, because James 5:16 says "therefore, confess your sins to one another..." and I believe doing that is a part of repentance. Also, just in case there are others who have the same struggle as I do, perhaps this tool can help you to get back on track focusing on God's work, rather than continuing to be stuck in the rut of wasting precious time.

Remember, no matter how many good, edifying, encouraging blog posts or websites we read about serving God, biblical womanhood, homeschooling, motherhood, and so on... reading about these things will never be able to replace the actual practice of living them out.

Over the River and Through the Woods (or, Roadtrips with a Large Family)

We’re getting ready to go visit my parents for a few weeks, in preparation for my little sister’s wedding (yay, hooray!). However, my parents live a bit far from us – almost 10 hours by car, to be exact. When the kids were little and there were less of them, we made the drive at night for simplicity’s sake. They’d sleep, one of us would sleep, and the other would drive, switching off when needed. However, now that the kids are older and able to amuse themselves and interact, we take the drive by day and enjoy the roadtrip!

In preparation, I’ve compiled this:

No, its not a bunch of Tupperware! (although it is a lovely, large bag I received for hosting a Tupperware party, score!) Inside the bag are all of our “Roadtrip Necessities”. Believe it or not, it contains everything we'll need to stay occupied for the entire trip! See:

OK, that grocery bag is the snack bag, here’s what the inside looks like without the snack bag:

In case you need some ideas for entertaining a large family (or, even a small family) on a roadtrip, I’ll explain everything I’ve got in there.

Each child has a clipboard, with their name written on it:

Attached to the clipboard, as you can see, is a baggie with crayons, pencils, and a wipe off marker.

Underneath the baggie, there are two blank maps – one for coloring in all of the states we’ll travel through, and the other for the License Plate Game. Which, if you don’t know it, you've really been missing out! I’ll go ahead and explain – everytime you see a license plate from a different state, you color in the state that license plate is from. Whoever gets their whole map colored (or the most states colored by the end of the trip)… wins!

We don’t actually give out prizes for winning, but if you have a husband or any male children at all, you know that just the right to be able to say “I won!” gives them immense satisfaction. Oh, and its good geography practice, too! ;-)

Underneath the maps are 8 laminated Car Bingo boards. That’s what the wipe-off marker is for, because the lamination allows them to be reused again and again easily! I got these from a great car trip website called MomsMinivan.com. Each Bingo Board is numbered so that no one accidentally uses the same Bingo Board as someone else at the same time.

Also on the clipboards is some blank paper just for coloring or writing or whatever else one wants to do with it, except for spitballs. Those have been outlawed in the car, for good reason.

Also in the bag is several packs of pipe cleaners. Pipe cleaners are by far the BEST long road trip activity ever. Really! I was AMAZED at how occupied they kept the children the first time we brought some along. They played quietly with them for over an hour! Even Nathan (2 years old) can have fun with them, and there are no small pieces to have to keep track of! They all know to look forward to pipe cleaners on our road trips, now – and I save them for moments of desperation ;-)

Next, we have the ever-popular Mad Libs. This will be our first trip to play Mad Libs, because until now most of the kids wouldn't have played it very well. Now, most of them can!

Finally, there are several books on tape. When we traveled at night, we started The Lord of the Rings Trilogy on tape (although some of us have read them in their entirety several times), but we haven’t finished the entire thing, so we have those again. Isaac insisted it was a tradition, so thankfully, they were readily available at the Library. Also along is the book “Hans Brinker” which was one we started as a read-aloud for school but never finished, so it will be nice to hear the end while we travel.

As for snacks, I’ve got several “dry” goodies and a few cold ones that will be kept in a small cooler. Here are the dry snacks:

Each person has two granola bars, a baggie of pretzel twists, and a baggie of goldfish. The teething bars are for the baby, obviously. I forgot to get trail mix this time, but that's also something we usually have, as well as dried apricots.

Cold snacks include 4 oz containers of Stoneyfield Yogurt and Cheese sticks. We’ve also got a bulk supply of small bottled waters, as well. Our hope is that will prevent us from having to stop too frequently for junky fast food, although we traditionally start out our drive with a breakfast from Chik-Fil-A (which doesn’t quite count as junky, does it?).

With the extra effort I put into preparing for our trip, our roadtrips are so much less stressful! They’re actually pretty enjoyable, with lots of games and fun conversation, and yes, even some quiet moments here and there. Its well worth it!

With that, I will be saying farewell for now. I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to do any blogging while we’re away, but I’ll be back sometime next year! Have a blessed New Year!

Wordless Wednesday - We Support

Gratitude

92. lullabies

93. this one

94. and this one

95. this one, too
96. the same for this one
97. the littlest one
98. their daddy
99. stories told

100. a reliable vehicle that holds all of us

See the rest of my Gratitude List here, and consider joining in with giving thanks at The Gratitude Community. Count your blessings, count them one by one...

9 Months

Judah is now 9 months old! I don't know what happened last month, but I missed posting about his 8th month passing. It goes by so quickly!

He now has four teeth, with a few more on the way. He pulls up to standing, can clap and wave bye-bye (sometimes he gets the two confused and tries to do them at the same time, which is pretty funny). The teething issue has caused major sleep disruptions for both of us, but we're surviving... for the most part! Do you see his big top front teeth?

He loves his brothers, and crawls off to wherever they are. When they go outside and he is stuck inside, he will cry about it and stand at the door and bang on it! Poor thing can't wait to be big like the rest of them.

He's eating more solids, and isn't picky about anything at all, thankfully! If he can chew it, he loves it. The only thing he doesn't have alot of patience with his being spoon-fed. He likes finger foods, so we've skipped the whole "baby food" stage. He also has the hang of using a sippy cup for water. He's a hefty 23 pounds already - the biggest of them all at this age! He's still nursing regularly through the day (and night...), too.

This is what has to happen after all of that finger-food self-feeding:

Don't you love how dignified he's trying to look? lol! He's outgrown his tub, do you think? And do you see all of those rolls?!

I can't believe he'll be a year old soon!

My nine year old with my nine month old! (Can you tell we like footie PJ's here?)

Oh, and he has an official nickname. In fact, I don't think any of the kids actually call him Judah. Everyone around here calls him "Bean". How that happened, I'm not exactly sure, but it stuck! He even answers to it!

The Difference

Can you see it?

Here he was, just yesterday:

Here he is today:

Can you see it?

It takes a discerning eye!

Think about it...

Look closely....

Now do you see it?

Its the difference between an 8 year old and a 9 year old!

Happy Birthday Isaac!

Enjoy your last year in the single digits!

(You are growing up far too fast for me!)

I love you!!

WFMW - Grocery Shopping Simplified

Grocery shopping is something that has always been "the bane of my existance". Boy, I hate it. Boy, do I get stressed over it. Meal planning, budgeting, list making, shopping, checking out, loading the car, unloading the car, putting things away... every inch of it, I dislike... extremely.

However, being the mother and wife in a family of 7, it is something I have to do. Because of my strong negative emotions toward it, I've come up with a few things that have made the whole process decidedly less stressful and a bit more simplified. Necessity is the mother of invention! Here's what I've done!

• My goal was to only do the main shopping twice a month, since we get paid twice a month. I do have mini-trips to stock up on the staples (fresh fruit, etc), but even then, I'm only going to the store about once a week or once every ten days or so, and only doing a huge trip twice a month.
  

• First, I made several "two week" menus - sets of 14-day meal lists. Some meals we have every week. Every Sunday we have Spaghetti. Its easy and quick to make, a nice way to get ready for the week ahead without too much work or cleaning up afterwards. We have homemade pizza once a week, as well, because its super yummy and fun. Fridays tend to be a soup night, because I make challah for our Sabbath meal, which goes perfectly with some soup. Since we also use Friday for errands, library runs, and a deeper house cleaning, soups are also easy and quick to prepare. The other days I filled in with other meals that have been tested, tried, and approved by all. So in general, each "two week menu" list has about 10 different meals.
  

• Then, I made corresponding grocery lists that contain every. single. ingredient. I need for each meal - spices included! This took some time, but the end result is sooo worth it. I also created a "master grocery list" of the general day-to-day things we always need, such as bread, milk, eggs, fruits, veggies, etc. All of the lists are in excel spreadsheets, so I don't have to rewrite them.
  

• When payday rolls around, I get ready for shopping. I choose which two week menu plan I'm going to use, and print out the grocery list that goes with it. Then I go through the house and cross off the list anything I already have here. I combine what's left into my master grocery list, and I'm ready to go! I also organize the final shopping list by aisle in the store, so there's no more running back across the store because I accidentally listed flour at the bottom of the list and missed it while in the baking aisle. The whole process of meal planning, menu planning, and grocery list making only takes about 10 minutes every two weeks. That's a HUGE reduction in time, and mental energy for me! I literally used to spend days stressing over the whole ordeal. Sad, huh?
  

• Then I make sure me and the kids are well fed, well rested, and ready to go! The big shopping trip twice a month takes several hours (including drive time, as well as loading/unloading the groceries), so its still a bit exhausting, but the satisfaction of knowing I don't have to endure it again for another half of a month is priceless! Before I started this system, I was doing 1+ hour trips to the store twice a week if not more. Yikes!
  

The end results are:

• I no longer stress about menu planning, or the "what are we having for dinner tonight" panic

• Little things like random spices or miscellaneous ingredients aren't forgotten anymore, because I've made sure they're on the meal grocery list. No more sinking-in-the-pit of my stomach feeling realizing that I have to go back to the store for just one silly little ingredient

• I am shopping much less frequently. Oh, the bliss of knowing I don't have to dash out for errands every other day! The freedom in knowing I have everything I need to feed and sustain my family for two whole weeks! It is incredible, I tell you! It saves money and gas, too!

• More time, less stress = happy mama. Happy mama = happy family. Good food fixed on time = happy everyone. Awesome!

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, be sure to check out We are THAT Family!

Gratitude

77. eyelashes

78. little feet with ticklish toes

79. giggles

80. wool socks

81. sleep

82. crocs

83. central heat

84. brisk air

85. snuggling

86. knowing He is strong, even though I am so very weak

87. the internet

88. the satisfaction of cleaning house

89. his warmth, keeping me warm as we sleep

90. the contagious curiosity of children

91. my sister

Works for Me Wednesday - An Alternative to Construction Paper

This may not be a new revelation for anyone else, but its something that has helped my sanity alot!

My children love to create. We have loads of construction paper, which is perfect for cutting, tearing, gluing... creating! However, as a background, it is not so great - if they happen to make a work of art I'd like to keep, construction paper is too big to fit into a binder or sheet protector! Not to mention its a bit flimsy, so it tears or crumples easily.

My solution to this problem is to use colored cardstock as a background for pictures. I buy multi-color packs from JoAnn's Etc, they're relatively inexpensive, especially if I use a coupon or stock up when they're on sale. Cardstock comes in even more colors than construction paper, is much more sturdy, and fits perfectly into binders, sheet protectors, and laminating sheets!

Its a simple solution, but it works for me! Check out other WFMW posts at We Are THAT Family!

A Little Science

As I've mentioned before, we love Apologia's Exploring Creation series for Elementary-aged children. Last year we worked our way through Astronomy, and this year we've slowly but surely been learning about the world of plants through their Exploring Creation with Botany book. Its been a lot of fun, and we're learning tons. Isn't that half the fun of homeschooling as a parent - learning things you never learned yourself, or at least had forgotten?!

We recently conducted an experiment. Each of the three boys (we do Science while Nathan and Judah are napping, so its just Isaac, Ezra, and Joel) placed bean seeds (which are actually just dried beans, you know!) into separate plastic baggies, along with a wet paper towel. One baggie we placed in a dark closet, another was hung in a window, and the third was placed in the refigerator. Each boy made a hypothesis about their particular seed and whether or not it would grow, how much, and why or why not.

One of the funniest thing about this is the boys kept calling their hypotheses "I hope these..." as in "My I hope these is that I hope these will grow". LOL!

Anyway, we were supposed to chart the progress daily, but since it was Thanksgiving week, we didn't. But it was an even more interesting discovery to see what had happened in the week that the seeds hadn't been monitored.

Here are Ezra's seeds - his were in the refrigerator (see the little white beans at the bottom?):

His hypothesis was that they would not grow because it was cold and dark, and he was correct. He was a little disappointed that he was correct, though.

Here are Isaac's - his were in the window:

His hypothesis was also correct - he guessed they would grow well because they were in a sunny window.

Joel's are the ones that surprised everyone. His were in a dark closet, where no light ever gets to (in the basement next to the furnace and water heater). Joel's hypothesis was that they probably wouldn't grow, of if they did, it would be very little. The other boys agreed with him. Surprise!

However, we did notice that while they grew the biggest of all of them, they weren't a nice healthy green color like the ones that got sunlight. We also had to determine why they grew so big, despite the lack of light. We finally came to the conclusion that they grew so big beacuse they were searching for light!

This experiment really helped reinforce the fact that the only things seeds need to germinate is warmth, water, and air - light isn't actually needed! However, once they start growing, light becomes a necessary resource to help them be green and healthy. It was interesting to see how the beans kept in the closet were trying to burst out of their baggie in their hunt for light, but the ones in the window just grew at a normal rate as happy little beans.

Just another day in the life of homeschooling :-)

Wordless Wednesday - High Hopes

Treasures of November

20 Things I Learned in a Week Without My Computer at Conversion Diary

Never Enough at The Family Revised

Perspective. Or How I'm Learning Not to Sweat the Small Stuff at Breathing Grace - excellent!!!

Tough Questions, Easy Answers at Joyfully Home

Children & Chores at Raising Arrows

Breastfeeding: The Memory of Emily at Raising Arrows

Quote of the Day at SpunkyHomeSchool

Gratitude

This week my gratitude list is short. I am thankful for my salvation, given as a free gift to me through my Savior, Jesus Christ, so that I could be freed my my sin and reunited with the One who created me and gave me life.

Even after confessing Christ as my Lord and savior, I had a thought in the back of my mind that my sinfulness was only in the things that I had done wrong. So my goal was then to try to do things "right" - the better I could be, the more I deserved God's approval and love, right? Even then, I sometimes wondered - "I know I am saved, but what exactly am I saved from? What does "saved" really mean?" Through a series of events, good theological books, and a burning desire in my heart to really know this God I wanted to serve.... He revealed to me what salvation really is.

My "wrong" actions weren't the problem - even if I had a perfect day, in which I felt I did everything "right" - there still lurked sin.

Sin in my heart
Sin down to the very core of my being
Sin in the marrow of my bones.
Sin, that, no matter how I tried, I could not remove from myself.

Sin that was there, like a cancer silently eating away at me, despite how healthy or good I looked on the outside. Its in all of us, even "good" people. We are flawed, broken, without any way to repair ourselves. We are far from God.

I was far from God.

Only when I realized the enormity of my sin, my utterly helpless, pathetic, disgusting condition, did I understand the depths of salvation.

Only then did I see what a true gift it is.

Only then did my heart break over what my Savior did for me by laying down His life in place of mine, so that I may be reconciled to the Lord, Creator of all things.

Only then did my heart finally understand the "Joy of the Lord", overflowing with what can only be humble gratitude and rejoicing.

In light of who I was, and who I now am - only because of His incredible, beautiful, live-giving mercy and love - it becomes hard not to praise Him.

It is impossible to live my life without gratitude to my Redeemer and Lord, for who He is and what He's done.

Today, and for always, I am thankful for His salvation. How could I do anything but praise Him?

Fitness Friday

Yes, that's right - I'm posting a Fitness Friday the day after Thanksgiving! I hope it doesn't make anyone feel like a slacker! The reason I'm doing a Fitness Friday the day after Thanksgiving is because yesterday was not only Thanksgiving for me, it was my birthday. My 30th birthday, to be exact. Yes, yes, the big 3-0. I survived without too much mourning of my 20s. However, I have reached this birthday with something that has never taken me this long to get rid of - extra pregnancy weight! Yikes! I guess what they say about the motabolism slowing down is actually true!

So, part of my birthday present from my sweet Michael (at my request) was some running supplies. New shoes, and some new supportive undergarments - both of which are extremely important for comfortable and injury-free running. I took pictures of my new shoes but can't find the cord to my camera to upload them, so here's a stock photo:
(I think you know you're a blogger when you find yourself taking pictures of things like new running shoes!)

We went to Fleet Feet, a store that specializes in running shoes and studying your gate, stride, and footfalls to determine which will be the best fit for you. I learned something shockingly interesting there (mom, if you're reading this, don't have a heart attack!) - they said for running, the best socks are ones with NO cotton in them. None at all. What?! I thought cotton was best for allowing your feet to "breathe", right? Well, yes, but it also absorbs all the sweat, and can't wick it away. So it can lead to stinky feet and chafing, and other yuckies like athlete's foot (eeew!). So go with socks made of good wicking material. Now we all know ;-)

I'm moving rather slowly into my running routine. I'm trying to get up early and spend a good half hour on the treadmill every morning. The first week, I only ran for about 10 minutes each day - the rest of the time I walked. This week my goal was to bump that up to 15 minutes of running, which I accomplished on Monday, but since then haven't gotten on the treadmill at all. I plan to, today, however, once people are napping.

To keep myself accountable, I've added this ticker to the bottom of my blog:

Isn't that cute? I put a goal of 100 miles, but I don't really have a goal of when I'd like to reach that 100 miles. My real goal is to just get into better running shape and run consistently every week. Perhaps at the next 5k Michael and the boys do, I can join in!

Thankfulness and a Recipe

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope all are enjoying a special time with their families and giving thanks to the One who is the giver of all good things. I'm thankful for many, many things, including the fact that I have been blessed with 30 years upon this earth! :-)

Here's a recipe that I'm making today, its a nice twist from the traditional mashed potatoes:

Roasted Garlic Potatoes

• 4-5 pounds of baby red potatoes - the smallest you can possibly find! I usually use Green Giant's Petite Red Potatoes - they're smaller than even the grocery store baby red potatoes. They can be hard to find, though (I get mine at Super Target, none of my traditional grocery stores carry them).
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 stick salted butter
• 1 TB salt
• 1 TB Dry dill weed

Wash, dry, and place baby red potatoes tightly packed into a large glass baking dish.

Peel head of garlic and place individual cloves randomly between potatoes, as evenly dispersed as possible.

Slice up stick of butter and place squares of butter on top of potatoes, also spread out as evenly as possible.

Evenly sprinkle 1 TB of salt on top, then evenly sprinkle 1 TB of dill weed on top.

Cover with tin foil, bake at 400 degrees for several hours - the longer, the better! Also, the bigger the potatoes, the longer you'll need to cook to achieve good tenderness. I usually do mine for 3-4 hours.

The smell of them cooking is unbeatable... and eating them is even better!!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Wordless Wednesday - Why I Love Babywearing

(Joel in my ring sling, 8 months old)

Gratitude

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations."
Psalm 100:4-5

56. libraries

57. coming in from the cold

58. sound, blissful sleep

59. interruptions

60. tap water

70. His sacrifice

71. I am clean

72. the air in my lungs

73. running

74. my heart, once stone, now living flesh, pounding life through my veins

75. the incredible grace of my father God, bestowed on me day after day

The rest of my small, but ever growing gratitude list can be found here. Consider joining in the gratitude community at holy experience, and allow gratitude to transform you.

Switching Gears

When we first started out on our homeschooling journey, I looked over ALOT of curriculum. (Can I just say as a side tangent that I actually think the amount of choices out there for homeschooling now is a detriment? There's so much guilt and worry involved, because of the fear that you might miss out on something absolutely essential that you never would have even thought of until you saw it in a catalog! I know its probably better than when homeschooling pioneers 20 years ago only had old public school text books, but I still think its overwhelming, especially for new or insecure homeschoolers.) There was one curriculum in particular that I had settled in my mind pretty early on that I would *not* be using, for a few various reasons that I believed didn't quite line up with our homeschooling goals. We wound up choosing our current curriculum, My Father's World, which I have enjoyed using - we've used it through several grades (K, 1st, 2nd, and now 3rd) and been reasonably pleased.

However, as the children have grown and I have grown in confidence concerning my ability to homeschool, some of my desires and goals have changed, as well. So while I've appreciated the curriculum MFW has put together, next year will be moving on. Here's the ironic part. That curriculum I mentioned wouldn't "fit" with us, the one I was completely settled on not using, so much so that I never even looked at their catalogs after my decision was made - I wasn't even tempted! - that curriculum is the one we will be switching to. (I think the Lord loves irony, lol!)

"That curriculum" is Sonlight. It was a very strange road that lead us to choosing Sonlight for next year. It started, of course, when I came to the realization that MFW wasn't quite fitting for us anymore. My initial thought was to piece together my own stuff. While researching available History programs out there, another homeschooler commented that she uses Sonlight, just the History portion. Then another mentioned that she loved the read-alouds from Sonlight. Then, totally unrelated to this, I noticed that this random guy who sometimes leaves comments here (Hi, Luke! You stand out as my only male commenter!) is actually from Sonlight. Also, another blogger, Kimberly from Raising Olives, has been posting about how Sonlight works for her family recently. Suddenly, Sonlight was everywhere!

So I decided to take a peek at the website. Which was a bit overwhelming, so I ordered a print catalog. The catalog arrived and I took it into the baby's room, because I get good reading time in while he's nursing. I spend the entire WEEK looking through the catalog, reading all of the articles, using their website, listening to podcasts, watching videos, reading reviews, etc. etc. etc. (OK, I'm a bit obsessive about researching things, but that is because: 1. I'm OCD, 2. I'm 1st born type-A personality, and 3. I hate jumping into something without knowing EVERYTHING there is to know about it. When we got Ada as a puppy, I took out every single book the library had about training puppies. I'm not exaggerating. Michael has come to understand this side of me and no longer thinks I'm crazy. Even though I might be.)

A few things that seriously impressed me about Sonlight:

• It truly is literature-based learning. Not just a few read-alouds combined with some seat work and some text-like books. Lots, and lots and lots of books. That you can order straight from Sonlight, instead of having to hunt around or hope your library carries them. We LOVE books. I had already been supplementing our current curriculum with extra read alouds because there weren't enough in the schedule to suit us. And oh, my, what GOOD books. Books I remember reading and loving as a child. True classics! One of our homeschool goals is to encourage the children to love reading, because reading opens up so many worlds of imagination and avenues of learning. Even if they retain nothing of actual "facts", if a child has a love and desire to read, a whole world of education is available to them as they grow!
  


• The customer service is excellent. From the mass amounts of information available on their website and in the catalog, to the emails I sent asking questions and getting replies in less than 24 hours that actually answered my questions perfectly, I have been very impressed with how well they run things.


• Their organization. It seems like they've thought of everything. This sort of ties in with the customer service point, but more so. My sister-in-law had an older copy of an IG that she let me borrow to look over, and I am impressed with the structure and thought that has gone into it. I love the flexibility of choosing a 5 or 4 day schedule (4 day fits our life perfectly, and I won't feel like I'm "behind" when I need a day for doctor's appointments or errands). They provide discussion questions and a sketch of the main points the children should be picking up and narrating back after readings. This is a funny point, and will demonstrate what I nerd I truly am, but they actually provide color-coded labels to put on your books, so they won't get lost on the bookshelf or jumbled in with other books. I love that! And even the point that their shipping boxes come with a castle outline that you cut out for the kids to play with... little details like that show me they've really put alot of thought into everything.


• Their 18-week "Love to Learn" guarantee. Seriously? I can use the curriculum for 18 weeks, and then if its not a good fit, send it back for a full refund?! How can that deal be beat, really? The scariest thing about investing in curriculum is the fear that it might not be a good fit and money will be wasted. That alone gives me confidence enough to at least give it a try!

So, that's our plans for next year. I'm still trying to figure out which Core we'll begin with (Isaac and Ezra combined - the littles will still be tagging along and having some preschool time as they do now), and I'll have to be diligent about saving up my homeschool budget, but I'm really looking forward to diving into Sonlight, come next spring!

A Quiet Life

Its been a few days since I've posted! I've actually got a little list of topics I'd like to post about, but whenever I get the time, the ambition is lacking. Interestingly, this verse has been circling around in my head lately, and I think its part of the reason I'm feeling quiet:

But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you...

1 Thessalonians 4:10-11

So please forgive me for not having much to say for a little while. I'm entering a bit of a quiet period, and focusing on attending to my own business of ministry to the ones the Lord has entrusted me.

Wordless Wednesday - Pure Sweetness!

My Mission Field

This is the Above Rubies e-mail devotion for this week. I found it very encouraging, so I wanted to share! I know I've said it before, but if you don't receive the Above Rubies magazine, or the email devotions, you are really missing out on a blessing! Information on how to subscribe is at the bottom of the devotion - they're both free!

MY MISSION FIELD

Matthew 9:37-38, "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest."

Do you sometimes hanker to be doing some great work for God? You feel as though you are wasting your life in your home. You would love to serve the Lord in some harvest field. Yes, it is true, the harvest is great and the laborers are few. But why are they few? Because mothers have not understood God's purpose.

Are you looking for an easy path in life in life or do you have a heart to serve God as a missionary? Dear mother, you are already a missionary. God has chosen your specific mission field for you. It is your home and family. You are employed by God to train laborers for His harvest field. You don't raise children and then send them to Bible College to prepare for service. You train them for God's service from the time they are little. They should be ready to labor in the harvest field when they come forth from your home.

Is a missionary's work easy? No, it takes sacrifice. Is motherhood easy? No, but it will be worthwhile. It takes everything you've got--all your resources of time, energy and strength--but you will influence nations. It takes sacrifice--many mothering days are exhausting and overwhelming--but you will receive the fruit of your labors and an eternal reward. It will take committed prayer and intercession, but your prayers will be answered. Remember, you are not on vacation; you are on the mission field!

Maybe God has only given you one laborer to prepare for Him--that His is plan for you. Maybe he has given you six, or even twelve! Wow, would twelve be too many? Jesus trained twelve disciples who impacted the world. How would you like to train laborers who "turn the world upside down"?

What kind of laborers does God want us to faithfully prepare for His service? The following is my vision for our children, grandchildren and future generations. I believe He wants us to prepare children who are...

Baby lovers
Blessing imparters
Bible believers
Bible obeyers
Committed laborers in God's harvest
Courageous overcomers
Demon destroyers
Diligent workers
Evil haters
Faithful servers
Fearless soldiers
Freedom fighters
Fruit bearers
God fearers
God lovers
God pleasers
God worshippers
Gospel preachers
Holy Spirit empowered witnesses
Israel supporters
Jesus fanatics
Life choosers
Light shiners
Liberal threateners
Obedient listeners
Parent honorers
Persecution endurers
Prayer warriors
Responsible citizens
Righteousness lovers
Sharp arrows
Tomorrow's leaders
Truth bearers
Truth keepers
Truth lovers
Truth preservers
Truth seekers
Truth speakers
Uncompromising disciples
Valiant conquerors
Zealous servants of the Living God!

Wow! Can you imagine anything more exciting and fulfilling that raising laborers such as these? You couldn't have a greater mission field or a greater vision.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER: "Thank you, Lord, for showing me my mission field. Help me to serve you faithfully and to raise prepared laborers for your great harvest field. Lord, I am open for you to give me all the laborers you have planned for me to train. Amen."

AFFIRMATION: I am a full-time missionary, recruiting and training laborers for God's harvest field.

If you know others who would be blessed by these devotions, you are welcome to forward them or let them know they can subscribe by sending a blank email to subscribers-on@aboverubies.org

Gratitude

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:17

46. My rocking chair, given as a gift, which has rocked night after night for 9 years while I've snuggled my little ones

47. Laughter

48. The joy of rediscovering God's creation through the eyes of a baby

49. Provision

50. Wonderful women I am blessed to know

51. His life-giving Word

52. The energy of children


53. Other's creativity, making the world beautiful

54. Good books to read

55. Time to read good books

For more of my gratitude list, please go here. Think about starting your own list of things you are thankful for!

The Truth

This is an excellent video. I know, I know... its 7 minutes long! But surely while you're browsing facebook or other blogs, you can keep this open and listen to it ;-)

The New Look!

As you can tell, things have changed around here (yet again...!)! I mentioned previously that I was blessed to win a giveaway from Tonya at Safe in HIS Arms for a blog makeover by The Design Girl. This is the result of her hard work!

I love it - its so perfectly "me"! Danielle (the Design Girl) was great to work with, especially considering that I am clueless when it comes to digital design stuff - she was patient and helpful, and worked SUPER fast to get things done. If you're ever considering a professional blog makeover, I would recommend her in a heartbeat!

Thank you Tonya, for the giveaway, and for Danielle, for the awesome work!!

A Song for Saturday

Another great song off of the Glory Revealed album. This one is my favorite! It is based on Romans 11:33-36:

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?
Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things
To Him be the glory forever.
Amen."

Who could hold the wealth of God?
Such treasure found in Him
Who could comprehend His heart and mind?
His wisdom has no end

For from Him, through Him, to Him are all things
From Him, through Him, to Him are all things

To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen
To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen

Who has known the mind of God?
Who has counseled Him?
Who has given gifts to God
That He might be repaid?

For from Him, through Him, to Him are all things
From Him, through Him, to Him are all things

To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen
To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen

In dark and light, in death and life
When hard times enter in
In all things we will worship You
With You there is no end

To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen
To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen

For from Him, through Him, to Him are all things
From Him, through Him, to Him are all things

Homeschooling Humor