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| Our Homeschool 2008-2009!I have been having so much fun shopping for the materials I need for our new school year. I have to admit, there is a lot of benefit to taking a break--the biggest one being that the boys have started saying, "Is it time to do school again yet?" Ah--music to a homeschool mom's ears!
I have been so blessed to have found almost everything on my list used either at Homeschool Classifieds, Vegsource, or eBay. I will have to order only 2, maybe 3 things new.
We will be continuing to use our Heart of Dakota curriculum which we really really love along with our Horizons math, Explode the Code, and CLP readers. In addition to our basic curriculum, I will be adding these things to our homeschool or library:
I hope to start having a quiet time/devotions in the morning where everyone has their own personal devotions time. I really want to start developing this habit in my boys--maybe because I really need to develop it in myself again! I want to have a short period of time where everyone including myself will go to their own spots to have a Bible/prayer time.
Justin--Day by Day Bible devotional and The Discoverer's Bible.
David--Bible color by numbers sticker book
Isaiah--basket of children's Bible books and coloring books
Zachary--basket of children's Bible books and quiet toys
I'm going to start Justin on some independent reading and have him keep a record of the books he's read. For this I'm going to use the I Wonder reader, along with beginning some easy chapter books from the library.
Other things:
Lessons in Responsibility for Boys--for Justin
Pearables Kingdom Stories--for a read-aloud. We do read-alouds after lunch and before bed. My favorite times of the day!
JumpStart Artist computer game--because I feel guilty for not being crafty enough to do art!
Our 24 Family Ways--for our bedtime devotions.
I also got Choreganizers which I'm really excited about. Our own chore system has gone dry and no one is motivated to do their jobs anymore.
And to inspire me as I plan, pray, and prepare, Homeschooling by Heart.
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| I NEED Order!"We homeschool year round..."
That's what I always so proudly say, isn't it? Well, that didn't happen this summer. I didn't plan for it to happen, it just did. Mid-May we took a month-long trip. When we got home mid-June, I fully intended on starting school again. Then it took what seemed a month to get settled back in and we got caught up in household projects, Justin had surgery, I decided to move the schoolroom before we started back (which I STILL haven't finished), and school has just never happened. Since school wasn't happening, our daily schedule wasn't happening either. I have fallen out of the habit of following a daily plan (we have a loose one that happens by itself, but it's very loose) and chaos has taken over my home. I cannot take any more summer vacation!
I am determined to finished that schoolroom, order the few things I need for school, draw up a new schedule, and get back with it! I need order in this house! I need a plan and I need to keep these children busy and corralled or they turn into wild animals! And I need to get habits and routines re-established in this house before the new baby comes. I don't ever want this to happen around here again.
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| Menu Plan MondayYou might be able to tell I was in the mood for light dinners when I made this menu!
Monday--Chicken Pita Pockets, fruit salad
Tuesday--Breakfast for supper
Wednesday--Big salad and loaded baked potatoes
Thursday--Hot dogs, pasta salad, cantaloupe
Friday--Tuna sandwiches, chips and dip
Saturday-Whatever day
Sunday--Tacos and burritos
Total for groceries this week: $72-something. I lost my receipt so I can't remember the exact amount 
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| New FurnitureWe finally got all our new bedroom furniture here and I love it, but I didn't count on how BIG it would be! I didn't think I had a small bedroom until now. We can't figure out how to arrange it.
Our bedroom is a rectangle with one long wall with a window and the other long wall with the door. One short wall is all closets and the other short wall is cut short by the bathroom door. If we put the bed under the window like I planned, you can't even close the door! If we put the bed on the bathroom wall like we had our other bed, the bedside table doesn't fit. I don't know if you can tall anything from these pictures because I couldn't get the whole room in one picture.
Here is how we had it last night. Kinda defeats the purpose of "bedside" table. And I don't like how it looks. Like everything was just crammed in there wherever. Because it was.
Option 2 is how I have it now:
Bedside table in the corner, and the chest on the other side. The only problem with this is, we have this much room to walk through to the bathroom:
Kevin nixed option 3--scoot bed over, put bedside table where chest is, and put his chest in my closet since I don't really use the closet anyway. I think this looks fine, but he doesn't want his chest in the closet.
I know you can't really see it, but from what you can see, any other ideas? I'm really frustrated! And tired from moving around furniture so much!
BTW--the walls really are more turquoise-y than they show up in these pictures.
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| My Birthday GiftIt was really hard to take this picture because of the mirror in the back, so you can't really see all the things well. Here is the bookcase/curio cabinet I got for my birthday. The two figurines I got are in it. The rest of my Willow Tree collection is on a different shelf in the living room.
I love this so much. It just reflects who I am. The books are all my most favorite books. The top shelf of the bookcase is Mother and Stepping Heavenward. The second shelf down are all books about being a Christian wife. It still needs something else on it, but I'll fill that gap in later. Third shelf down are all Bibles, classic devotionals, and hymnals. Fourth down are books about "Divine Family Planning"  . Beside them is a picture frame with Psalm 127:3 on it. Fifth down are just my favorite books--Elisabeth Elliott, Elizabeth George, Stormie Omartian, and Emiliie Barnes.. And the bottom shelf has books on homemaking and homeschooling.
On the second shelf down of the curio you can see my newest Willow Tree figurine. Below that is our wedding picture between our wedding cake topper (you can't see it at all) and a bride and groom figurine. Fourth down I have a figurine of a lovely mother reading a book to her little girl. Fifth down is my new 1 Corinthians 13 angel. And on the bottom shelf beside a clock is a figurine of a mother bear reading to her two cubs. That has always been special to me because my mother-in-law got it for me before we got married and said it was me homeschooling my children. That's when I really felt accepted by her.
You can't really see it all, but you get the idea. This is my piece of furniture that really says "ME". Isn't it beautiful?
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