Thanksgiving Day & Weekend

It's been such a long time since I've been in the blogging mood or had time to actually sit and write.  I did post some pictures of the kids yesterday, can you believe how big they are getting!  My Samantha will be 16 in 4 months!  YIKES!  It really seems like yesterday she was twirlling around the room with her aunts (my sisters) at the age of two with a paci in her mouth. 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday weekend, I hope you did too.  My brother Mark and his wife hosted Thanksgiving at their home this year instead of my parents and it was perfect!  Rachel is a gracious hostess and she really makes it seem so effortless. Here they are pictured with their children Reagan and Kessler.

Besides my parents, siblings and their families, two aunts, an uncle and a cousin and her 3 boys were also able to come.  We had turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, a yummy salad that I made (requested recipe to come soon), green beans, corn, dinner rolls and many different desserts including an apple crisp that Christopher and I made earlier that morning.

I didn't think to bring my camera that day so no pictures.  :(

Over the weekend I finished decorating the house inside while Scott hung lights outside.  We put up the tree and listened to Christmas music while the kids decked the tree.  I think this is my favorite part.  I love watching and listening to the kids as they reminisce about ornaments and when/where they got them.  Inevitably at some point there is an argument about whose ornament is whose.  Each year I purchase the kids a new ornament for the tree.  When they are grown and on their own they will already have an assortment of meaningful ornaments to use.  I like to find unique ornaments for each child according to their interests or something I know they will like but there have been years where I've purchased similar or even the same ornament for each child too.

On Saturday Scott and I spent the late morning and afternoon shopping, just the two of us.  Time alone for us doesn't happen very often so when it does we really enjoy it. 

Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon I crocheted.  I was able to finish up a round ripple blanket for my nephew and godson Kessler.  I'll be sure to get a picture this week and share it here.  This was the second time I've used this pattern.  I started my first round ripple about 2 years ago for Andrew and finally finished it last year in December! 

Still to finish before Christmas, a purple scarf for my niece Brooklyn and a knitted Bavalca hood in pink/brown and cream for my other niece, Reagan.

Pictures

My sister came up this last Tuesday and took some pictures of the kids. Here are a few of them.

Thankful Thursday

What a wonderful day. A gift of friendship and fun. We hosted a homeschool potluck lunch, playtime/craft time at our home today. We had a total of 45 guests and only 10 of them were adults!! Lots of little people but truly it didn't seem so. There were children outside on the play equipment, children playing soccer, tables full of crafters and littler littles playing on the floor in the school room or living room. Sorry, no pictures today. :(

We've been blessed with late fall winter. Most of October was gray and wet. November has been unseasonably warm and wonderful. I can't hardly believe that we will be celebrating Thanksgiving next week. I've got a few craft projects planned and we'll haul out the tree and decorations next weekend.

We've gone back to a tighter school schedule and it has been so good for us. Andrew has really needed the structure and it is helping with mom's sanity too. I'm enjoying Kindergarten with Andrew and I'm amazed daily at the things he is able to do and to see his joy as he learns.

TBG Kids

I remembered to take a picture of our co-op kids this morning.

There are eleven children participating in our Charlotte Mason co-op, their ages range from 5 years old to 15.

Weekends are for Snow

October 10th, 2009, awoke to beauty. White beauty. Not much really, just a light dusting, but... enough. Enough to send the youngest boy into a squall of excitement. Enough to make his eyes dance and his smile wide. Enough to make his sleepy momma smile and her heart burst with love to see the joy that this first snow has put on his face. Enough to make his imagination soar with the possibilities of snowmen and snowball fights with his brothers. Never mind that there really isn't enough. To him, there's enough.

Enough.

"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. ~Isaiah 1:18

To another... Enough

"It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. ~ John 19:30

Enough...

Lord Jesus, You. You are enough!

Weekends are for Friends, Family, Food & Fun

These pictures were taken the weekend of September 18th.


First up are a few from our homeschool group fall kick-off potluck picnic which was held at our house this year. I believe there were 10 families and 37 children.

Saturday was a beautiful day and we had in mind to go to Nelson's farm but I wasn't moving to fast. I had done something to my back the day before (setting up for the picnic) and so I didn't want to be moving to much. Everyone decided on bowling, a family favorite. Since I couldn't participate I was photographer and cheerleader.

On Sunday after church we went to my aunt and uncles to enjoy an afternoon of fishing.

We didn't catch anything worth keeping this day. Everything was too small.

Harley, the dog didn't care that the fish were small! He wanted to play with them.

As you can see, we had a full and fun weekend with friends and family who are such a blessing to us.

Truth, Beauty & Goodness ~ Part 2

I'm so sorry that it has taken me nearly two weeks to get back here to finish up the post on our CM co-op. We've had a busy week with school, dentist and getting our home/property ready for our fall kick off potluck picnic which we hosted this year.

Let's see, we left off with our morning snack break. I am having a really hard time remembering if we did Poetry next or composer study, *smile* I don't have my schedule handy either, but I guess it doesn't make much difference.

Michelle is doing our composer study and for this term we are studying and listening to Menelssohn. Michelle shared a bit about his life and we listened to our first selection, The Hebrides Overture also known as Fingal's Cave. You can listen to it too by clicking HERE. In past years when the kids and I have done composer study we listened to one selection a week but throughout the week I would put in the cd and we would listen to the WHOLE cd. This time we are only listening to one selection and we are becoming so familiar with it. As with Hymn and Folksong, we were each given a composer cd with the six selections we will be studying this term. We didn't listen to the entire selection during co-op time because it was 10:00 minutes long! I did put it on later that afternoon though when the kids were working in their nature notebooks.

Poetry/Recitation. We are studying the poetry of Emily Dickinson this term and each of the children will be choosing a poem to memorize and recite. We'll work on recitation each week during co-op and each of the kids will have a turn to share what they've memorized since the last co-op date. Rather than choosing one poem for all of the kids to memorize we are letting the children choose whichever poem they would like. The children will recite these poems at our pot-luck dinner at the end of the term.

Nature study does not have 1 teacher but rotates between families. The host family is responsible for that week's nature study lesson. For our first nature study, I shared with the group some simple suggestions of things to include in their notebooks. Taking note of the date, time, temp., weather conditions, location etc. They might wish to include a poem or write about what they observed or they may wish to simply sketch or paint their observations. We took a short nature walk on our property and then came back inside. The kids shared what they had each found to sketch in their journals; because we were running late the mom's decided to have the kids do their sketching at home later that day.

 

(Abby looking at something under the magnifying glass)

(Ava and a tiny toad)

And that is exactly what we did. After a quick clean-up and lunch, I put on our Mendelsshon selection and the kids and I sat down to work in our notebooks. Goodness I think the younger ones and I must have worked for at least an hour. They didn't want to stop!

I have heard from the other families that each of the children enjoyed the co-op and are excited for our next meeting. The girls were excited to begin their recitation, some of the boys were excited about Shakespeare and I think everyone enjoyed picture study and nature study.

After the busy morning and then our nature journalling I took sometime to sit outside and just thank God for the gift that this co-op was to me. Words do not do it justice, but the richness that it brought to our day is something that was priceless. Being able to share it with the other children just added to what was already a thing of beauty.

Truth, Beauty and Goodness, truly all of that and more.

Multitude Monday

(photo above taken by my sister Amanda)

I am so thankful for Your grace Lord, that gently falls over my life like the soft rain that waters down upon the dry and beaten earth and brings forth life. Un-timed in my mind and perfectly timed by the keeper of time. Your knowing exactly when to release this refreshing for the harvest of new life is a comfort to me this this morning.

· ♥ ·

9. Two new additions to the household. Found early Friday morning before our co-op. Now co-op mascots. We spent the afternoon setting up our extra 20 gallon aquarium as their new home. They are now positioned atop a game shelf in the school room as well as a smaller container for the crickets we feed them.

· ♥ ·

10. Women waging war and their prayers for homeschoolers. For God's anointing and grace to be with us during the school year.

· ♥ ·

11. Our new TBG co-op and their families. What a blessing this was to my week and will be to our school year.

· ♥ ·

12. Father's who teach and train their children

13. Excited brothers dressed alike, just because, off for an adventure to see what nature has gifted them this afternoon.

· ♥ ·

14. Chocolate Chip cookies and coffee

· ♥ ·

15. Sisters. Two. Both beautiful, one still here in this world and the other seated at the feet of Jesus. One to grow older with, talk to, laugh with, cry with and the other forever young, held close in my heart and minds memory waiting... waiting for the day when we will embrace again.

· ♥ ·

Abba, you are so good to me. So patient with me. Thank you for these and all of the gifts you've given to me this week.

 

Truth, Beauty & Goodness ~ Part 1

(one of two early morning uninvited co-op guests)

This morning we held our very first Charlotte Mason co-op gathering. Our group, Truth, Beauty & Goodness is made up of 3 families and 11 wonderful children ranging in age from 5 to 15. Words can not fully describe the anticipation and joy that this day held for me. I will admit to being a little nervous this week, but I've also been very excited to see the desires of the last year finally come to pass. I believe this group will be such a blessing to my family and for that I am so thankful. I love Jayme and Michelle (the other two moms) and our children get along so well.

This first co-op day was held at my home. The family who is hosting also provides snack and leads nature study, but I'm getting a head of myself.

We opened in prayer shortly after 9 am and started with Shakespeare. I have been extremely nervous about doing anything Shakespeare. I don't know why it causes me such unease. I guess I feel very unqualified to even share about it. I just have a desire to learn myself and so it is important to me to have it included. I need to keep reminding myself that I'm not teaching, just exposing them to it and learning alongside them. I want the children to enjoy it though and so I guess I feel a certain amount of pressure with this?

 I started out lightly with a few fun facts about William Shakespeare that I found online and some phrases that I thought the kids might be familiar with but probably didn't know that they were from Shakespeare's plays. For example:

• 
  
  In a pickle (The Temptest)
  
• 
  
  In my heart of hearts (Hamlet)
  
  
  
• 
  
  Knock knock! Who's there (Macbeth)
  
  
  
• 
  
  The short and the long of it (The Merry Wives of Windsor)
  
  
  
• 
  
  Sweets to the sweet (Hamlet)
  
  
  
• 
  
  What's done is done (Macbeth)
  
  
  
• 
  
  Break the ice (The taming of the Shrew)
  

 I then read to the children from The Bard of Avon and called for some narrations as we went. I only read about half of the book and asked that the moms continue reading the book to their children at home over the next two weeks. I then moved into an introduction to the play that we will be studying this term. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Each family has an audio set of the play to listen to at home and each reading child has their own copy of a Folger library book on the play to follow along with as they listen to the audio.

Rather than reading my Lamb's retelling of the play I chose instead to read from a picture book. We have many young children in our group and I thought this to be gentler approach, especially for our first term and for many of the childrens first exposure to a Shakespeare play. If you are interested in reading the picture book, you can find it HERE. Although it is a picture book I think both the younger and older students will enjoy it. The older students will have an opportunity to have a deeper understanding of the play throughout the week as they listen to each act at home and through their reading/following along in their Folger books. This morning we read the first four pages of the picture book which took us through Act I. Over the next two weeks each family is going to listen to Act 1 at home.

After Shakespeare, Jayme, taught us about our first folksong selection. We'll be covering 3 different folk songs this term and our first selection is "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" Jamye handed each of the moms a cd with all three of the folk song selections for this term and then handed out a sheet with lyrics to students and moms. We learned that the song lyrics can vary widely and so we listened to the selection we will learn first and then we all stood and sang along. Over the next two weeks we'll listen to the song & sing along each day in our homeschool. The little ones really loved this! Christopher (my 10 year old) and I were singing it together this afternoon as we drove home in the rain after running some errands.

Michelle read to us about our Hymn selection from a book she already owned. I wish I had thought to look a bit at the book when the co-op was over but things were quite busy. I'll make sure to get the book title for you and share it here next time. Michelle shared with us some background information on our hymn selection, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing and the writer. I found it very interesting and think that the song reads very much like a beautiful hearts cry and prayer. We listened to the selection once and then stood and sang the hymn together. Just like with folksong, each family received a cd with the hymn selections for this term. We'll listen to and sing the hymn selection each day in our homeschool just like we will do for the folk song and work on having the first verse memorized before our next TBG co-op day.

Next up was Picture study. I enjoyed this one so much and I think the children did too! We will be looking at a different Monet piece each time we get together. I shared some early bibliography about Monet with the children and then handed out this weeks selection, Corner of the Studio, and told the children to leave them face down until I instructed them to turn them over. I talked with them about the piece and how I wanted them to go about studying the painting after I had them turn it over. First, focus in on the main thing in the painting. Take some time looking at that and then start to look around the picture at the smaller details. Don't forget to look at colors, light, shading and textures. What is happening in the picture? What kinds of thoughts or feelings does it evoke in you if any? After instructing them in this way for a few minutes they each turned their print over and quietly studied it for a few minutes. I gave very little prompting during this time. When I noticed that they were becoming a bit antsy I would remind them of texture, light, shading etc. and they would study a bit more. We did this for about 2-3 minutes and then I asked the children to close their eyes and slowly try to recall the picture, starting again with the main focal point of the painting and then working around the painting recalling the details. If they thought they "had it" then they could turn their print over and check to see how much they could recall. Once we finished with this last exercise I had the children turn their prints face down again and we went around the room discussing and sharing about the print. Each child had a turn to share and often one comment would remind another student of something else they wanted to share. It was so fun to watch their faces as they would remember something else about the print. I can tell that picture study will be a very enjoyable and rich gift in their lives and I feel very honored to be a part of this.

With the end of picture study we took a break for snack. My older two children served a simple snack of crackers, cheese and water while the moms and I got the kids situated, made some tea and had a few minutes to chat in the living room. With break for snack, this seems a good place to break for this post as well as it is much wordier than I had intended. Still to come, Poetry/recitation, composer study and nature study!

(This is a shot of the kids at the table looking over what everyone brought back after our nature walk. I wasn't able to take many pictures and I didn't even think to get a picture of all the kids together at the start of our day. It is on the agenda for next time!)

Have a wonderful weekend, I'll be back to share as soon as I can.

Changes

Have you ever heard this lie "There isn't enough time in the day to do all I need to do"? I have. . It sounds like an innocent truth because goodness knows, we are busy(!) but it isn't a truth. It's a lie. I believed it, lived it and spread it around (along with my disgust) whenever I would become discouraged about not accomplishing everything I had wanted to. I sometimes still find the thought coming to mind and must quickly check myself and re-direct my thoughts.

Do you want to know why I call this little sentence a lie? Many years ago, our ladies Bible study read a book called "Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. This one Lie stood out to me and it is the only part the book that I still remember. I believe that the reason this lie stuck out to me the most is because that I, as a woman/wife/mother/teacher/friend, can so easily fall into believing it. It's such a nice little excuse isn't it? And, you'll always find someone who will agree with you because they believe it too!

"I'll never get all this laundry done"

"There's never enough time in our day to get to our science experiments."

"I'm never able to get quiet time in with the Lord because in the mornings I'm so exhausted. And forget trying to do that at night. Once the kids are in bed I need to straighten up the house, prepare tomorrow's school work, do today's corrections, make dh's lunch, etc."

"A mother's work is never done"

"There just enough time for me to cook healthy meals."

"My schedule is so full, I just don't have the time to add in exercise (or fill in the blank)."

I think you get the idea. The truth is, there IS enough time in our day to do all that the Lord is asking us to do. Did you catch that? :-) There is always enough time in our day to accomplish what needs to be done if it is what the Lord is calling us to do. I'd love to camp on that statment and share a bit, but not tonight.

The Holy Spirit reminded me about this lie recently. Perhaps it is because we've had so many changes to our days. We've started back up with school, I am now schooling four children instead of three, we travel 2 hours (round trip) to church twice a week, etc. and so with all of this I've needed to re-examine my days. I've taken the time to look at what fills my day, what is missing, what can go, what needs to change and what must stay.

What are the things that my Savior is calling me to do? What is God's to-do list for me? Jesus had the same 24 hours in a day that I do. His years were 365 days in length just as mine are and yet in the 3.5 years Jesus was actively ministering He accomplished everything the Father had sent Him to do and that folks, is where I want to be. I want to look back over my day and know that I've done everything that God has called me to do. I want to have that peace and purpose in my life.

So, what are a few of the things I'm looking at?

1. Computer time needs to be cut back. Way back. So, facebook had to go. I'll miss looking at pictures from my relatives but I wont miss endless banter and quizes that wasted my time. Was it fun? Sure, but when I look into the face of a little one who needs me or catch a glimpse of a teenager who also wants to spend time on the computer, I want to know that I'm not living what I tell them not to.

While I enjoy facebook, I also enjoy blogging, and I couldn't continue to do both. Blogging for me is reflective and always points me to my calling and so I've decided to contiue blogging as time permits.

Because I've decided to continue to blogging, I want to be time productive when doing so. For this reason, I've switched my blog to Typepad. Blogging on blogger was frustrating (ugh!!) for me. Each time I'd add a picture it would insert extra returns and I couldn't get the pictures to insert where I wanted them to. I would spend half of my time cleaning up the post. So for me, the ease and simplicity of Typepad won me over. It does mean no more beautiful pink and green banner and background, but I think I'll live (although I'll miss it).

2. I need to exercise. I've got to fit this into my day. There should be plenty of time for that now that facebook is out of the way.

3. Mealtimes need to be better thought out and purposeful. Let's face it... I've gotten L-A-Z-Y in this area of my life. With driving around meal times and not using my time wisely during the day it was just too easy to say we'd grab something on the way to church or after football practice or just because. That needs to stop.

There are some other areas that will receive some tweaking too but for now, this is all I'm sharing.

I hope you'll follow me over to my new blog. I'm going to work at transferring posts over but unfortunately I'll lose the comments unless I take the time to copy and paste each one and if I do that, I don't think I'll have the time I need to be doing the things the Lord is willing for me to do.

Here is the new blog: Seeking the Old Paths

Monet

While reading and looking around the web at info. on Claude Monet this afternoon, our first term artist in the CM co-op, I came across this sweet video on Youtube by Emma.

Enjoy!

Labor Day

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

What an amazingly beautiful day. It is sunny with a glorious breeze and moderate temps. Actually the last week has been perfect weather wise! And while the date on the calendar shows that it's still summer, September always signals Autumn for me. It is my favorite month of the year (as well as my birthday month!).

Some plans for today...

~* Sweep off the front deck and hang fall garland

~* Have one of the boys haul up my fall decorating bin and start to decorate the house

~* Work on CM co-op final details (Shakespeare and Composer study prints)

~* Get our new school schedule set and typed up

~* Round up all of our afghan and cozy blankets and launder them.

~* Vacuum my bedroom

~* Start a to-do list of things to do in preparation for our fall homeschool kick off pot-luck dinner. It will be held here at our home and so there is plenty to do indoors and out!

The kids are pretty responsibility free today. I want them to enjoy the day outside and with each other.

Well, I best get off the computer and motivate! Have a wonderful day.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tackle it Tuesday - update

I never got to the yogurt. Instead of just one appointment out of town today we ended up in 3 different towns all before 2 pm! Samantha had a dentist appointment, Christopher needed his glasses adjusted a bit and we needed to sign him up for football and pick up his gear. Then we headed out to another friends to view their Rosetta Stone program.

I'm hoping to do the yogurt on Friday. I don't have any plans for that day so maybe we can get it done then.

This morning I am eating the most AMAZING gluten free bagel with some 365 creamy peanut butter and it is satisfying my bread craving like nothing else besides regular gluten bread could. I came across the product at our annual Making Tracks for Celiacs walk/run in May. The line at this table was so long, I had to check out what they had. I finally got ahold of some of their products at a health food store that I shop at and we've been hooked since. We love the bagels and baguettes. You can check out Against the Grain Gourmet and their products by clicking the link.

Tackle it Tuesday

Today I am going to tackle yogurt making. Last week while surfing the net for some yummy new gluten free recipe's, I came across a recipe to make yogurt using a slow cooker. I've been waiting for a not so busy day out of the house to tackle it.

You can find the recipe HERE at the A Year of Slow Cooking blog. I'll let you know how it turns out and what the kids think. Incidentally, all of the recipe's at this blog are gluten free (yeah for gluten free). Stephanie also has a new cookbook coming out soon. I've already pre-ordered my copy and if your interested, you can do so HERE.

Multitude Monday ~ August 31st, 2009

10. Cool evenings, warm blankets and books

11. An amazing first week back to school.

12. Prayer

13. Costco! :-)

14. God's faithfulness, love and leading. I will follow Him all the days of my life.

15. Bird nests - Andrew and I started the letter Nn in his kindergarten curriculum and we discussed God's provision. We went nest hunting earlier in the year and so we had two nests that had blown down in a windstorm to look at and observe.

16. Coffee - I'm always thankful for coffee ♥

17. My friends. They are the best.

18. Clean, shiny bathrooms.

I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,

And I will glorify Your name forevermore.

Psalm 86:12

You can find more Multitude Monday entries HERE.

Watchmen

Our silence (as watchmen) means that the armies (of the enemy) walk by unannounced, unnoticed.

We've had a full week! Our first week of school went great. It was VERY light though. We'll start picking up speed next week and into the 3rd week.

We also had a prayer conference at church. Oh my! I don't even know if I can describe in words what all took place. Last night was so powerful. The power of the Holy Spirit filled the sanctuary and people began to weep and cry out to the Lord. I believe that there will be many powerful testimonies of God's love, deliverance, healing and restoration in the weeks to come.

The statement at the top of the post has been with me for the last two days. I can't stop thinking about it. The thought of Satan's evil forces advancing past my family and unsuspecting souls because of my silence instantly awakens me to look at my life. Lord, let me not be so consumed with what is within the four walls of my home only, but to watch beyond out them. To be the carrier of Your Light that illuminates and brings about an abrupt stop to the advancement of the darkness that quietly tries to overtake my family, friends, neighbors, community and world. Let me be silent no more!

A few years ago I received a study from an online friend called "Gate-Keepers of the Home; How to Guard Your Home" by Nancy Campbell. In light of everything that the Holy Spirit has been sharing with me over the last two days about being a watchmen/gate-keeper, I think I'm going to get that back out and go through it again.

Freedom

Simple Woman's Daybook - August 25th, 2009

Daybook entry for Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Outside My Window...

Early morning light and gentle rain


***
I am Thinking...

About our busy week!


***
I am Thankful For...
The fun family day we had on Sunday. Early morning church and then a day spent with aunts, uncles, cousins and their children. Swimming in the lake, fishing and boating. Fun!

***
I am Wearing...
My nightgown, blue robe, bare feet and my glasses.

***
I am Reading...
The book of Matthew
Lots of school books

***
I am Going...
To take Christopher to the eye doctor today and then to a friends for the afternoon.

***

I am hoping...
To use my crockpot more this year!

***
I am Creating...
Still tweaking school routines and schedules as needed and will most likely continue to do so for the first month of our new school year until we find a fit that flows nicely.

***

I am Praying...
For God's mercy and long suffering and their repentence.

***
Around the House...

** I'm the only one up but it'll be time to wak the children soon.

** The laundry is caught up but the basement needs a good cleaning.

** Literally around the house... weeds and plenty of them. With all the rain we've had this last week I've got the beginnings of jungle around my house!

***
In the Learning Room...
Back to school! It is our first week of the 2009-2010 school year! Yahoo!
The first couple of weeks are a gentle move back into the school routine.

***
From the Kitchen...

The possibilities are endless now that I had a trip to the grocery store and a big Costco run! The fridge isn't so shockingly white and empty. I think I'm doing a roast for dinner tonight.

I'm also going to try and make my own yogurt!! I'm very excited to try this and hope to do it either today or tomorrow.

***
One of My Favorite Things...
My new Bible software. It is really a neat tool for studying. While I love using the concordance and dictionary and writing things out this speeds up my studying and allows me to have so many different materials right in one place.

***

A Few Plans For the Rest of the Week...
School, park day, a homeschool moms meeting, the 2009 prayer summit at church

***
A Picture Thought I'm Sharing...

Christopher and I being silly with the camera a couple of weeks agao

Visit Peggy HERE to read other summer daybook entries.

Multitude Monday - August 25th 2009

As I reflect back on this last week, here are some of the things that I am grateful for:

2. Friends, both near and far

3. Backyard prayers that reach heaven

4. All things new. New friendships, a new school year, a new CM co-op, a new week

5. Protection from storms

6. Tortilla soup! Mmm - I didn't actually have this but just the thought of it was enough to bring me a little pleasure and to be grateful. =)

7. Time spent at the lake this last Sunday with family. Aunts, Uncles, cousins and their littles. A clan of Leonards.

8. Early mornings spent with Jesus

9. Early morning rain showers

***

To see more Multitude Monday entries for this week visit HERE.

Jammie day

It's Saturday evening and believe it or not I am still lounging in my jammies!! Yep, that's right... I didn't get dressed today. I've been battling allergies (again) and I decided that since I would be home alone today, I would hang out in my new jammies. They are oh so comfy and cute too. Pastel pink with tiny delicate black dots. Living in the country affords some privacy so with my cofffee in one hand and tissues in another I wandered out to the deck to sit a few times while the dogs were out.

After a short morning nap I spent time working on school planning. I wanted to re-read through the first few weeks and try to figure out an order for our days so that I have time with everyone who needs it. I'm looking forward to our year but YIKES it looks very busy and overwhelming on paper. The kids are in the following grades this year: Samantha 10th, Jonathan 8th, Christopher 5th and Andrew is in Kindergarten.

Samantha and Jonathan will be pretty independent this year and I'm trying to find a way to give them more responsibility in their scheduling. My daughter will do well with this. I can hand her a sheet which lists the subjects and what needs to be accomplished this week and she'll be able to look at it and make a schedule for herself. She is very self disciplined and self motivated. She loves to make lists and works hard to accomplish them. No worries with her in that department except that I will miss being a bit more involved with that part of her school planning.

Jonathan will need a little more help and direction. He would rather have someone else do the planning and tell him what to do, when to do it, how to do it etc. This isn't a bad thing but his dad and I really see that he needs to be taking a bit more ownership of his responsibilities and so I'm going to attempt to help him learn to schedule his chores, school work and time this year. Please pray for us both :-)

Christopher and Andrew will be with me for most of the school day. Christopher has some areas where he'll be working alone (handwriting, copy work, book basket, literature reading etc.) and so I'm going to be working with Andrew during the times that Christopher is on his own.

As for how I've spent the rest of my day, Scott brought home dinner so big hubsand points for him. I also gave myself a french manicure. If you squint your eyes and don't look too long at my nails they look pretty good. :-) I'm thinking it will take a bit of practice to have them looking like they were professionally done.

Currently I'm taking a break from reading Dawn's archives. Oh how I miss her daily blogging!! I needed a huge dose of Dawn inspiration and those archives are full of it!

Tomorrow we have church and then a baby shower/family get together at my aunt and uncles place on the lake. There will be lots of food, family and fun. Swimming, fishing, pontooning and catching up. ♥