WMFW - Taming the Runaway Pencil Madness

I know of very few homeschooling families who have their pencil and pen situation "under control". Meaning, we're not constantly buying new ones, only having them be lost, scattered or chewed up within days. And then there's the "But I don't have a pencil!!" excuse when its time for the kids to get down to work... how convenient! For them. Not so much for those of us who do the pencil/pen shopping and who also occasionally actually need a writing implement!

However, after much brainstorming, I have come up with a solution that seems to be working! The situation is still not as "under control" as I would like it to be, but it is very quickly becoming that way. Here's what I did:

First, I bought several packs of personalized pencils for each child. I got them from For Teachers Only, where a 3-pack of personalized pencils is less than $1! There's a $25 order minimum, though, which actually helped my idea to grow. Because of the minimum order amount, I went ahead and ordered 7 packs each for the older kids, and 6 packs each for the younger kids.

The first pack was a "freebie" - the boys awoke one morning to a pack sitting at their seats at the breakfast table. They were SO excited to have pencils with their names on them! Its amazing the little things that can make kids happy ;-)

I very quickly laid down the rules. The rules are simple: You are in charge of keeping your pencils. If you lose one, you will have to pay me $0.25 to get a new one. To get a FREE new one, you just have to trade in your old one, worn down to an unusable nub, so that I know you've gotten the most out of it!

(I will say that in order to help them facilitate this, they have designated boxes to keep their pencils and such in. Its much harder for anyone to keep track of things if the thing doesn't have a specific spot it belongs, that's just a natural rule of order)

Also, if (and when!) I find pencils lying around outside of their specific spot, I know right away whose it is. I haven't gotten mean enough to feign that they're lost just to embezzle my children out of quarters, but its not necessarily beyond me. Or I might just induce a "lost but found" fee of ten cents. I haven't been driven to that necessity yet.

So far, I've had to replace 4 pencils. Woo-hoo, $1!! Well, when you're, say, 7, (no names, please) and your weekly allowance isn't much more than that, it adds up! The boys are definitely becoming MUCH more conscientious about where their pencils are now. Both because of the fine and also because they really do like things with their names on them. So it is a solution that is definitely working for us!

For more fun and creative solutions to everyday problems, be sure to visit Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family!

Treasures of July

Good stuff this month!

The Ministry of Being a Mother at Chats with an "Old" Lady - Gina really speaks the truth well in this post - if any outside "ministry" is taking us away from our first and foremost one of wife, mother, and homemaker, then reassessments need to be made!

There's no Unless in Marriage at Lambs in His Arms - Manda made some excellent points!

Loving a Stranger, and Being Willing to Change at Pursuing Titus 2 - another good marriage post (is there a theme going on here?!)

The Importance of Being Mommy at Raising Arrows - Mark Driscoll is another one of my faves, and this sermon is excellent! Well worth the time it takes to listen!

For the Young Mother: Ministry, Guilt, and Seasons of Life at 9Marks eJournal - yet another great post, full of encouragement and truth!

Motherhood and Identity: Comparison and the List you Need to Tape to your Forehead at Inspired to Action - I especially like the last section!

Raising Adults at At the Well... In Pursuit of Titus 2 - very good points as well as tips to accomplish the goal!

Our Insufficiency at Raising Olives

BirthSMART tm (the video!) at Mama is... - pretty funny, although a little too true, unfortunately!

The Homebirth Advantage: The Physical and Emotional Benefits of Birthing at Home at pathways connect - Great article! So informative! Now if only I could convince Michael ;-)

Count it All Joy at Apologia World - great reminder of our real reason and calling to homeschool

Fearless Motherhood: Comfort is the Enemy of Change at Inspired to Action

Training Little Disciples - a Work of Grace and Patience at Passionate Homemaking

Beware the Husband Basher at True Woman Blog - excellent reminder, whether you be the hearer or the basher herself! Admittedly, I have definitely been on both sides.

All the Married Ladies at SomeGirlsWebsite - good reminder!

Practical Ways to Teach Your Children Scripture at Muthering Heights

Embracing Who I Am at (In)Courage

Savor the Season at The Boyer Blog - just beautiful!!

Perspective from the Persecuted

In Western Christianity, we love to argue. Debates over theological matters can quickly grow heated, leading to disassociation, name-calling, and lots of judgment flying back and forth. There are literally thousands of denominations in North America alone!

This quote, from Richard Wurmbrand's "Tortured for Christ" really put things into perspective for me:

The menace of the persecutors and the sufferings of the Underground Church are scarcely ever mentioned.

There are endless discussions about theological matters, about rituals, about nonessentials.

....

To keep liberty for all denominations and all theologies, and to regain it where it has been lost due to widespread religious persecution, is more important than to insist upon one certain theological opinion.

"The truth shall make you free" said Jesus (John 8:32). But, the same freedom, only freedom, can give the truth. And, instead of quarreling about nonessentials, we should unite in this fight for freedom against the tyrannies against the world.

Reading this book, along with others highlighting the lives of those who have been persecuted or martyred, has really given me perspective about Christianity in the Western world compared to those in countries whose freedoms are severely limited. How blessed we are!

But what do we do with the blessings of liberty that we have? Waste it on endless debates, filling ourselves with head knowledge, while people around the world suffer and die for the Christ we claim to know so much about! Why not use our freedoms to do the work of Christ, instead of wasting it on endless words about Christ, which only truly serve to puff ourselves up?

Remember what Christ said: "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35) NOT "by how well you can argue your case for whatever jot or tittle of doctrine you hold most dear"! I feel, too often, we allow areas of Doctrine to become our God, our idol, rather than God Himself.

To learn how you can become more involved with the Persecuted Church around the world, please visit Voice of the Martyrs. It may change your life, or at least your outlook regarding what is truly important.

(stepping off my soapbox now!)

Quieter

I know I've been unusually quiet this week. The funny thing is, so has my house. Last weekend was sort of the grand finale of busy-ness... here's the rundown of my weekend:

My brother-in-law married a longtime friend of the family (finally! we've all been waiting years for it to happen!):

My awesome sister and her awesome husband came for a visit:

and on Monday, my in-laws who had been staying with us for the past 3 weeks, moved into their own temporary home! Moving out is just as hectic, if not moreso, than moving in, in my opinion. No picture of that, my apologies!

There was alot going on, to say the least.

I will admit, it was all a BLAST! The wedding was gorgeous, I always love having my sister here, and it was bittersweet to see my nephews and nieces load into the car and drive away. Granted, we will still see them once a week or so, but its amazing how quickly you get used to a bunch of little ones running around!

So you'd think at the end of all the mayhem, I'd have tons of time to sit and blog to my heart's content... alas, that is not so! Once everyone left the house, I embarked on a major cleaning, decluttering, and organizing sweep. Then we have to get back to the grindstone and get.back.to.school. Really. I'm scared we won't finish our 180 days in time!

So. Please forgive me if this place is bland and uninteresting for a little while until we're back into the swing of things! Hopefully things will be hoppin' again soon!

Fitness Friday - "The Plan", or Lack Thereof

Brenda at The Family Revised gave us the "Fitness Friday" assignment of posting about our plans and current focus of fitness. So... here's what my current focus has been for the past 3 months:

Don't fall asleep standing up or doing something similarly important.

Oh, and don't vomit. Just don't. Avoid foods that make you feel like you might. And that list changes daily, apparently, so that's been an interesting diet experience.

And actually, I've been able to accomplish both goals. Hooray!

I *was* running 3+ miles a few times a week until this little thing called pregnancy snuck up on me and knocked me flat over with exhaustion and nausea. Thankfully, my morning sickness doesn't consist of spewing my guts everywhere, but it does consist of a narcolepsy-type condition in which I need many, many hours of sleep at night plus several 45 minute (if I'm lucky) naps a day. And when the need for a nap hits, it hits hard and I can barely function unless said nap takes place.

So, that's where I'm at. Thankfully, I'm almost 13 weeks along and surely there is an end in sight to this... right? I have my pregnancy workout videos lined up and ready to use once I enter that second-trimester energy spurt. Which, after 10 weeks of such tiredness, I can't help but wonder despondently if that's just a myth - my sense of reality is slightly skewed, I think.

Anyone else have fitness goals they'd like to share? Feel free to join Brenda and the others over at The Family Revised!

Wordless Wednesday - Blessing the Food?

(this is where I found the watermelon after the boys unloaded groceries from the car one day)

TOS Crew Review - TOS Travel the World Ebook

Welcome to my first official review for TOS Homeschool Crew! This review is for an ebook published by The Old Schoolhouse themselves, called "Travel the World".

Since we're just finishing up a year focused on geography, I was glad to have something that offered a nice wrap-up of the basics we'd covered, but without being an entire curriculum all by itself!

This ebook is designed for elementary age children, but also includes a high school supplement, as well as coloring pages that younger children can join in with. The learning level fit my 9.5 and 7.5 year old well, and my 5.5 and 3.5 year old enjoyed sitting it to listen while I read the main lesson, and then coloring the pages of continents.

I will say that when using this, it is useful to have a globe, even if its just an inexpensive inflatable one, because there is some discussion involving the use of a globe, as well as a regular map. There are images provided, but for the discussion's sake, something more three-dementional is probably better. Not absolutely necessary, but our preference (boys especially like things they can touch, spin, throw, etc...)!

Here are some things we liked about this ebook:

• It contained good website links that can be used for simple illustration or further in-depth study


• Speaking of links, there are also some fun geography quiz links included! I don't know any child that doesn't like to learn by playing computer quiz games, at least not in my house. Even my husband has been playing them!


• There are a good variety of activities to print out, including a crossword puzzle, word search, rebus puzzles, coloring pages, copywork pages, lapbook pages (with further links to lapbook resources), and more.


• The highschool supplement included (which we did not use, obviously) seems very solid (not childish by any means). As I glanced through it, I found things that I didn't even know - not that I'm a genius, but one thing I love about homeschooling is the opportunity to learn more myself! I think it would be a great supplement to an older child's geography knowledge.


• I believe an older elementary child could do this unit study independently, if desired - the information is presented easily enough so that I could see my 9.5 year old reading through the ebook, checking out the links, and then doing some of the activities on his own. We didn't use it that way, but it could easily be done.


• Light enough to be fun and easy to do, but still *very*informative and interesting. I was surprised at how chock full of information it was.
  

As far as cons, I couldn't come up with very many... actually, any, for that matter! I enjoyed the ebook very much, and think its a great little unit study with loads of good stuff to learn!

For $7.95, I think this ebook is a good value, for all of the reasons I've mentioned above! Ebooks are great because they arrive instantly, take up no clutter space on the bookshelf, and are so easy to use. Travel the World fit the bill perfectly!

Disclaimer: I was given this product specifically for the purpose of reviewing here on my blog as a member of TOS Homeschool Crew. I received no other compensation in regards to this review.

Prayers for a Family and a Little Girl

This family has a 6 year old little girl, named Daisy, who is suffering with cancer. She just underwent her second surgery to remove a tumor that regrew. Please pray for this family! My heart breaks for their pain. You can find updates on http://prayfordaisy.com/

Here is an excellent sermon her father did the week after first finding out about her cancer. It is a must-hear. Incredibly true and encouraging.

When My Heart Is Overwhelmed from Reality on Vimeo.

Wordless Wednesday - What Goes Up, Must Come Down (but how?!)

And the Winner Is....

I'm happy to announce that the winner of my "Hidden in My Heart: A Lullaby Journey through Scripture" CD giveaway is...

Brianna from Heart(h) Management!

Hooray! Congratulations, Brianna!!
I will get the CD mailed to you this week (promise!).
I hope that you and your own little brood of boys will be blessed by it!

Thank you to everyone for sharing in the joy of our newest little one being knit together!