A new approach to my blogging

As you can tell by the date of my last post, it has been some time since my last blip in blogosphere.  Life took over and I was happily traveling with it.  I often wanted to sit down and write but never thought I had the time to write any thing of value.  That made me reevaluate the purpose of the blog.

My main purpose for this blog is a place for me to keep a record of our homeschooling journey through the year.  When I say "homeschooling" this often encompasses far more than just "schooling" because I consider homeschooling a lifestyle and not just an education alternative.  We do things differently than most traditional public and private schoolers.  We know this.  And we like it that way.

So, as of this day, I am going to be writing about our ordinary days.  What we are up to, thinking about, reading and just the down and dirty of the days.  I hope you will find something of use.  This is more a blog of my own reflection that I plan to have printed and save for the days when I am ..ahem...older and grayer.  Those days are coming fast.

My C-Sunshine will be turning 13 years old very soon and my K-Doodle is 9 now.  I love our life and hope to share some of that with you in the months to come.  So, if you dare.  Come along.  For the ordinary.

Where have I been?

It has been quite some time since I have blogged.  Where have I been?  As a family, we wanted to slow down during Lent; but I also went in for surgery and have been in a six week recovery pattern.  Between getting school work done and food on the table each night, I was pretty wiped out.

Then........Soccer happened!  It is all consuming!  The Hubs had to be the taxi for about a month because I wasn't allowed to drive.  I am happily back to rushing here and there and everywhere.

I am in week five of the six week mandatory "be good" period.  It is getting really difficult to be good and not lift, bend, reach, etc....  There is so much to do!  I will be back to writing soon but fear that it might take a  month week or two to get the house back in good order.  Then, I will be back to reading, posting and commenting.  I have missed keeping up with everyone.

Have a blessed week.

Kat

Happy 9th Birthday to our K-Doodle!

We are having fun here at the Pappa house celebrating K-Doodles Birthday!
She had a very fun birthday celebration this past weekend which we will tell you about soon.
Until then....Here are nine facts we just love about our K-Doodle!

1.  K-Doodle is such a happy girl!  She wakes up early with a smile everyday.  She is an early bird.
2.  K-Doodle is very artsy.  We call her "Doodle" because she started doodling at age 1 and never stopped!  She draws, doodles and creates....ALL THE TIME!
3.  K-Doodle is the youngest in the family.  The end.  The caboose.  Our "baby".  We just love that about her.
4.  K-Doodle is very compassionate.  She cares about other people and is such a kind girl.
5.  K-Doodle has a ginormous sweet tooth!  (just like her momma)
6.  K-Doodle plays the piano and the recorder and loves to sing.  You can find her singing to herself in the car often.  I especially love to hear this when it is just a K-Doodle and Mom day.  It makes me smile.  Big.
7.  K-Doodle wants an I-Touch really bad.  She is saving every nickel so that she can buy one herself.  Wish her luck!
8.  K-Doodle was born on a snowy day in Illinois.  It was VERY cold.  In the teens that day.  She has warmed our heart ever since.
9.  K-Doodle has the cutest, silliest giggle in our family.  We love to tickle her, just to hear it.

So K-Doodle Bug - Happy Birthday - We love you so much!

A Fat Tuesday pancake yum fest with homeschool friends at IHOP is how we began our day.  We got together to Pig out! Enjoy some yummy pancakes and crepes with friends to prepare for a leaner more reflective Lent.  Our pantry as well as our hearts should reflect this change beginning tomorrow with Ash Wednesday.  I plan to purge our pantry of all Girl Scout cookies and sweets until after Easter.  K-Doodle is busy today devouring all candy on hand to prepare for this change!

C-Sunshine chose some blueberry pancakes with whipped cream.

K-Doodle chose strawberry pancakes!

Doesn't this look Scrumdilliscious?  It was!  Strawberry Banana Crepes!

Can you say F.A.T. Tuesday?

Here are a few things we will be working on tomorrow for Ash Wednesday.  I will post more of our Lenten plans when I have time.

Lenten Calender from Catholic Icing

What will you do for Lent? From thatresourcesite.com.  She has quite a few things that I plan to print and work with this Lenten season.  Here is a youtube video she put out explaining the What will you do? Worksheet.

And just like Patty and Tiffany, we plan to use Bringing Lent Home with Mother Teresa: Prayers, Reflections, and Activities for Families.  It is such a lovely (and inexpensive) companion for the Lenten season.  If you haven't already gotten yours, go to Amazon.com and purchase it for just $2.50.  It is a large, about 5X7 book.  Very nice.

Hope to be back soon ~ Have a colorful FAT TUESDAY!

Homeschool Mother's Journal - Take One

In my life last week…
Focusing on the ordinary.  The family, homelife and concerning on the things that make those in my life happy.  Sometimes I just forget to do that.  Concentrate on them.

In our homeschool this week…
We have a week full of activity this week.  Schooling each day, a Little Women meeting on Tuesday, church on Wednesday, Valentine's party with our homeschool group on Thursday and co-op classes on Friday.  Not much "home" in our schooling this week.  :)

I am inspired by…
The organization and planning of so many homeschooling, blogging, momma's!  Thank you so much for blogging.  You know who you are!

Questions/thoughts I have…
I am worried about the upcoming presidential election.  I have actively choosen not to think about it.  But I still do.  Worry.  Pray. Think.  Worry.  Pray.  You get the picture.

Things I’m working on…
Finishing up my scrapbooking station with the new desk my hubby got me for Christmas.  Hope to post about it soon.

I’m cooking…
I am trying to cook and freeze this week to stock my freezer for my family.  I will be having surgery soon and want to make sure they have some good eats while I am recovering.

I’m grateful for…
My parents.  And the fact that we get to spend a lot of quality time with them since we moved closer. 

I’m praying for…
Sarah who is about the give birth and Patty who just did.  What big blessings come in those tiny bundles of joy!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

You know you have a Home School child when.....

Today, the girls were picking on each other....for just a little too long.  I was busy trying to get some plans on paper and was getting a little frazzled by all the bickering.  With a heavy sign,  my mouth agape and my hands on each cheek I posed.

C-Sunshine with a smile:  "Mom, you look funny.  You look like "the scream".

Me with terror in my eyes thinking:  How does she know about the movie Scream?????   "What?"  I asked.

C-Sunshine, still smiling:  "You know, that famous painting - "The Scream".

 I google it.  And Smile.  What a smart child. 

Pinning It Down ~ Snack Attack!

Today, we are over at Pam's Pinning It Down!  Join us!

Well, I accomplished a "little" project that I had pinned on Pinterest.  For those of you who don't know, I have joined Sarah and Pam in their endeavor to actually get those projects completed that they have "pinned".  Everything looks great on "pin" paper.  Let's get them done!

After seeing this pin, I decided that I was not ready to tackle the lunch caddy.  We usually have leftovers or hot lunch since we homeschool, but we definitely had a need for a Snack Attack basket for those times when the littles are hungry, no starving and can't wait for a meal.  What to eat?  Look here!

It's a Snack Attack Basket that is sitting on a pantry shelf.

This basket is filled with fruit cups, applesauce, popcorn (healthy kind), fruit leathers and granola bars.  This way, they can go to the basket and get a snack with out asking "can I have this, or that or the other thing?"  If it is in the basket - you can eat it! 

Happy Pinning!

A January Daybook Post

Outside my window......  The rain is pouring down, down, down.  The skies are a dark grey and while the temperatures are still mild at 54 degrees, it is still a wintry day here in Georgia.  There are strong storms headed our way with tornado potential, so we plan to stay in all day.  Yeah!  I guess I should have stayed in the PJ's.

In the Learning Room......  We have been in a good rhythm with our schooling lately.  Still moving forward with Story of the World Two and Zoology 3 - Land Animals.  I am so glad that we are studying history again and not just geography.  So are the girls.  I am trying to muster up some excitement for lessons but it is slow coming.  I don't know if it is the winter blues or what, but some days, everyone just wants to get the reading finished and be done with it.  Forget those fun projects and coloring sheets!   However, they are an important part of learning.  Especially for my hands on K-Doodle.  So I plan to improve greatly here.

Around the house.......  I am just trying to maintain order.  Trying to keep the laundry monster tamed.  We are doing some painting here and there that we didn't get around to when we first moved in over the summer.  That just might be a Pin-It post soon!

Around the waist.......  Too much flab!  I will begin posting about weight loss soon.  I will be linking up with a Weightloss Wednesday.  I have sixty pounds to lose! 


Faithful Family......  After reading Sarah's post about P.A.C.E., I ordered a copy to use instead of Faith and Life.  We have used Faith and Life for years, but it has gotten rather...dry...and well.. b.o.r.i.n.g.  I just received my copy in the mail and like what I have read so far.  Look forward to beginning next week after I have made a few plans with it.  Thanks Sarah!  In addition, I am working on liturgical plans for February through Lent.  Hope to post some of those soon.

Praying for.....  My dear friend Patty who is carrying her little bundle of Joy.  She is scheduled to deliver this bundle on the 26th.  Praying for a peaceful, painless delivery and a healthy baby.

Plans for the week....
Rain....American Heritage Girls, Religion classes, Children's Choir practice, going to an opera of Hansel and Gretal and lunch with some homeschool friends, a planning meeting for a middle school group science class next year and our homeschool fine arts co-op classes on Friday.  Busy week ahead.

We are so blessed here.  And so grateful to God for all those blessings.

Have a wonderful week.

A Picture worth sharing.....

C-Sunshine and K-Doodle with Grangan at Peter Pan on stage!

I bought a book today...

This book is half price today on Amazon.com.  I just went and bought mine as it has been on my "wish list" for quite some time.  Wanted to let other's know.



Blessings to you!

When two worlds go astray.......

After emailing a friend about the situation below, I thought some of you might be able to relate. A little background - I am the mother of four daughters, two of which have flown the coop.  C-Sunshine and K-Doodle are the caboose of our family and are three and one half years apart.

Life just gets busy.  Either I am slowing down, or we are getting busier.  I think it is the fact that I am slowing down and can not get it all done anymore.  Another factor is the change in dynamic in our house.  Now that C-Sunshine is getting older and doing more reading and "solo" activities, K-Doodle is constantly underfoot wanting to be entertained or at least not ignored by someone.  I guess I never realized just how much time those girls actually spent together; free time I used to get chores done, email, etc.....  I am finding that I just don't have that much "free" time anymore.  I guess I am just spoiled by the "playtime of the past". 

The lack of playtime has also made the house very quiet.  Not in a good way and I don't like that at all.  I am really mourning the days of late.  I miss the giggling and excitement of playing house and pretending to be whatever we happened to study that day.  The imagination was so grand.  Where did it go? 

I know that K-Doodle still wants to play pretend, but C-Sunshine is just not that interested.  I think it saddens C-Sunshine too.  She asked me if it was "normal" not to want to play all those things anymore.  :)

I find myself struggling.  They are living in two different worlds right now.  I am not doing a very good job of being involved in either one of their worlds.  I had come to rely on their entertaining each other and now find that they are both looking at me for direction and I am clueless.  I am floundering like a big fish flown completing out of water.  What to do?

I need to find a way to help their worlds collide once again.  I had mentioned to C-Sunshine that K-Doodle would be more than happy to do some of the things that she is "into".  Making jewelry, playing the Wii together, scootering....  It's just all new and different.  I miss the pretend.  Heavy sigh..........

A glimpse back to 2007.  I will now look ahead with a smile.

Pinning It Down Tuesday

Okay, so I have discovered Pinterest. After many months of trying to resist the urge to check it out, I slipped and checked it out after the insistence of Sarah over at Amongst Lovely Things.  Today I am joining in on their Pinning It Down Tuesday.

In January I am all about organizing, so I was so excited to have the ability through Pinterest to put all those great organizing ideas in one place.  This week, I choose to organize the area where we seem to dump all of our stuff when we enter our home through the garage.  We don't have a formal mud area, so I wanted to make one.  Using this pin for inspiration, I created this space.  I would love to get the piece from Ikea that I have pinned here, but until the budget allows, this will have to suffice. 

I know that the area I created doesn't look nearly as wonderful as the pin, but I did get the ball rolling.  I think that is what it is all about. 

Pinned anything lately?

As the new year is upon us, I am reflecting on what is working and what is not in our home school.  I have made a few changes...tweaks if you will.

Tweak One...

We were using Exploring Countries and Cultures by My Father's World.  While I loved the idea of exploring the world and it's people, doing mapwork and cooking meals from other countries;  my children (especially the older)  found it a bit boring after our third country.  We find that it moves way too slow for our family and that the girls got very tired of doing mapwork on the same old continent after the third time.


Instead.......


We are going back to Story of the World - Volume Two.  I have already read through this series once with C-Sunshine although she was very young in the beginning.  I did buy the updated and revised edition of both the textbook and the activity guide.  Although it is Catholic light, it gets the conversation going on how the church began and was split.  I have not been heavy on activities other than mapwork (ironic?) and some coloring sheets.  I do plan to ramp this up a bit during the second semester.

Tweak Two.....

I have enjoyed using Catholic Heritage Language of God series for my girls since the beginning with C-Sunshine.  Although I used other things alongside, it was always the steady of my language arts for the elementary years.  I was excited when they came out with a middle school series, although by a different author.  C-Sunshine found it most frustrating and did not like it.  It does not flow like the earlier years.  It is discombobulated (for lack of a better word).  Jumbled.

Instead.....

and

C-Sunshine stepped right into Easy Grammar and Daily Grams which emphasizes learning prepositional phrases and a daily review.  It is a quick lesson each day.  This program is working very well for us.  K-Doodle is using CHC's Language of God series still and I do recommend this program for the elementary ages.  It is a gentle program for early elementary, giving just enough book work. So....

Tweak Three.........

Out with the Primary Language Lesson by Emma Serl.  I love the idea of these.  They just don't work with K-Doodle.  She never said this, but know that she wanted to ask...What's the point of this?  So...

Instead......

As mentioned above, I really like Catholic Heritage for the early grades.  Why I was trying to mix it up, I have no idea.  I always wonder if the grass is greener.  Don't all homeschooling Momma's?  Will we ever learn? 

And the final Tweak.....

C-Sunshine is a Saxon lover.  She refused  requested not to switch to Teaching Textbooks.  She has always used the DIVE CD alongside the Saxon text.  For some reason, the Saxon 7/6 CD did not give enough explanation for her.  She is a good math student, so I listened.  (I do not love math.)

Instead......

Saxon Teacher.  This is great for extra help when she needs it.  Because it gives you the solution for each problem and they are listed, the student is able to click and look at only those problems they need help for.  This is a great tool for us.  C-Sunshine has decided just reading the text is what she prefers.  But if she can't figure something out, she goes to the Saxon Teacher.  I also use this as a tool for correcting any problems she gets wrong.  She can just review with the CD and correct.  They goes for test as well.  Love this!  Worth every penny.

Well, I think that about sums up those items that we swapped out.  Next time I will chat about things that we need to improve on, or haven't gotten to and need to!
Blessings,