All she wants for Christmas is...

her front tooth...

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DD lost her 2nd tooth today... She pulled it herself and was she ever delighted...

Let's hope the tooth fairy doesn't fall asleep and forget...

Wordless Wednesday...

Well, not quite wordless...

We had a "Back to School" bash at church tonight, complete with games, face painting, nail painting (for the lil' girls), and food...

It was so much fun and I came home with my own "Tommy the Tiger"...

a chance to win a Summer Sensations unit from Download N'Go

SusieQTPie is offering the chance to win a copy Summer Sensations unit from Download N' GO...

I love these units. They are great, well-planned, no prep work to use and the kids have fun doing them...

What more could you ask for?

You can enter to win here  ......

Good Luck!!

CURRCLICK FREEBIE...

This week's FREEBIE from Currclick is:

ARABIC PICTURE BLOCKS are do it your-self letter cubes that teach Arabic letters. They are colorful and bright... Just print out on card stock, cut out, and put together.. A neat addition to a Arabic Country study and they are FREE!!

Multitude of Blessings...

11.  My health

12.  the health of my children

13.  a warm bed to sleep in tonight

14.  a cool house in this horrible summer heat

15.  food to fill my children's bellies

16.  happiness a family brings

17.  a wonderful church family

18.  a job (one that I love) with good hours

19.  to have been born American

20.  to be a Child of God

Menu Time Monday...

This week it's gonna be soooo hot and busy...  Dinner isn't going to be much...

Monday:  Hamburger Casserole in the slow cooker,  garlic biscuits

Tuesday: Ham and Turkey sandwiches, chips

Wednesday: Eat at church (Back to School bash)

Thursday: $5 pizza from Papa John's

Friday: Leaving to go out of town (Dinner on the road)

Feeling hot, hot, hot...

The Homeschooler's Journal

Since it's that time of year when all homeschool families start getting ready to keep up with all the info we have to record, I thought I would share one of the best finds I have ever had!!

Every year, I try something new when it comes to a planner.  In the past, I have bought planners (that were never what I needed). I have printed out forms and calendars an made my own with a 3 ring binder (too time consuming) and then I tried to wing it one year with just a notebook...

Halfway through last year, I came upon this, "THE HOMESCHOOLER'S JOURNAL" ... It is wonderful... I ordered one to try through the spring and summer... It has everything I need in one small thin package...and is less than $10... (which is a bargain if anyone has priced planners lately)...

The journal contains a daily (Sunday through Saturday) subject log for over 200 days, a field trip logs,  check-off list for yearly requirements, a calendars through the 2012 school year,  semester objectives/resources pages,  and it's covered with a spill proof plastic cover and spiral bound...

I use mine not as a planner but I actually record what we do each day... I find that this helps keep me more on track, since I can look back and see what we actually did, not what we were going to do or had planned on doing...

Plus, it has circles to fill in for the day~ so if you have school on Thursday but skip Friday and want to do some on school, it doesn't matter... Just fill in the circle with the "S" for Saturday...

There is a section with each week for notes, so you can make a note if you need to review something the next day or if you did a project with your unit study...

In the back is a section for "Educational Supplements" ... I found this the best part of the journal... I can list all the movies, books, etc. that we use with each unit study... I love that,  since it makes it easier for me to keep up with...

There is also a test score keeper sheet... and a check off list of MD appts. like when each student needs their physicals, eye exams, dental check-ups etc...

and for those of us who have to test yearly through our state or umbrella program, here is even a place for that to be kept up with...

I love using this ~ no wasted space and a perfect record keeper!!!

Have a great day!!

Fall Sports are approaching...

Fall is fast approaching and none to soon after over 50 days of 90+degree weather ( a dramatic increase from the ~11 days last year)...
This year DS has decided to play flag-football again which means DD is going to be a cheerleader again... We are are thrilled to have a Upward Sports program so close to us... I love the fact that the kids can play sports, have a Christian direction in the activity, and still not have to practice but 1 night a week...

DS had really wanted to play baseball for the Ambassadors, which is a homeschool sports team in the East Tn area... The baseball program is a new program just getting started and is going to be coached by a former Yankees pitcher... But the commute is a good 50 minutes one way and they practice /play games 3 nights a week.. With the other activities the kidlets are in, there was no way to make it happen, and I hated for DS to give up JiuJitsu (DD would also have had to give it up) since they have been taken it so long...

So, Upward came to our rescue yet again...

I look forward to the kidlets getting to play... it is so much fun seeing them having a good time!!

Thursday...

Well, we are almost done with our first week of school and I must say that it is going well.. The kids are waking up by themselves without much prodding... I seem to be the one that is having trouble with the morning rise n' shine... But I am going to work on it...

We've only been doing the 3R's and Bible this week, but tomorrow we're going to start a new Download N' Go unit that the kids are really excited about, which is why we are getting started on Friday instead of waiting til' Monday... *LOL*  Which is wonderful to have them so eager to get going..

Which brings me to the question? Have you checked out the Download N' Go series yet? It is wonderful... The excitement of a unit study without all the work and prep that goes with it.. You can check them out here... There are some wonderful titles to choose from..

But I am honestly very pleased with our week so far... My 10yo DS even told me he is liking English this year, which is a complete turn around from last year... I'm glad the Rod& Staff has grown on him...

Well, off to print out some mini-books to use with our new unit tomorrow...

Have a great night!!

OUCH!!!

Yes, I'm in pain... I spent 2.5 hrs. in the chair of a dentist, who was very nice, but also caused me to suffer immense pain after the numbness wore off... Sometimes I think DNA isn't fair... I have had multiple cavities, root canals, and crowns forever, yet my dear lil' sister (who at 35) has never had a single cavity... I know I am more than thankful for who God has led me to become, I just wish he had given me good teeth to go along with it... *LOL*

Anyways,  I just thought I would check in and say that "NO, we didn't get anything done today in school, but I have a doctor's excuse" ...

Please enjoy the humor in this post... It is making me laugh and hurt at the same time...

Have a great night!!

Menu for this week...

Back to school means a more concentrated effort on menu planning... I like to have a running list so I can actually get things checked off my daily to do list and not have to worry about what's for supper...

And this week, and probably next week too, we are eating out of our freezer and pantry as much as possible to clear out... (yes, I have bought in bulk, and couponed this summer til' we have no more storage space)...

So here goes our menu for this week...

Monday: French Toast, pork sausage (from a local farmer), and fruit (frozen peaches, strawberries, and pineapple)

Tuesday: Marinated steak with peppers and onions, green beans (frozen from last summer), brown rice, and rolls

Wednesday: Cuban Sandwiches, and oven fries

Thursday: Mexican casserole , with French Vanilla ice cream and fried flour tortillas (sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar) for dessert




Friday: Homemade Pizza, salad,  grapes and apple slices

Saturday and Sunday: They are on their own... I have to work this weekend... *LOL*




Have a great week!!!

UPDATE: Added squash casserole (needed to use up some yellow squash and zuchinni) to Wednesdays meal...

Monday, Monday, So good to me. Monday, Monday It was all I hoped it would be

Monday!! A great start to a new week, a great start to our new 2010-2011 school year... It started out sluggish, (mainly because I was slow to get out of bed this morning) but ended with the 3 of us having a blast in th pool...

What a great way to start with "One Thousand Gifts"... So here goes my list for today:

1. the blessing of being home with my kids

2. being able to watch them learn and grow

3. a wonderful husband who supports my efforts

4. my wonderful kids who without, life would seem empty

5.  my arms, to wrap around them

6. my ears, to hear their giggles

7. playing with them

8. watching DD make a mess of the eggs while helping me make French Toast for dinner

9. the opportunity to kiss them "Good Night"

10. my father above who makes everything possible

What we are doing this year...

Here is a brief run-down of what specific curriculum we are using this year...

DS 10yo (5th grade)

Rod &  Staff 4 "Building with Diligence" ~  Last year, was the first year we had used R&S for English and I loved it... It is very thorough and DS learned so much from it...

Daily Grams 5 ~ we love using these, as they take less than 10 minutes a day, my son can do them independently,  and still practice activities and exercises that help with his  English grammar.

Teaching Textbooks 5 ~ this year I went with TT {we previously had used Abeka and Horizons, and a failed use of Saxon (DS hated Saxon) }... After using ALEKS some of the second half of last year, we decided that an online program was the way to go and TT provided the computer aspect with the built -in tutor, but without the cost of the online ALEKS program...

DD 7yo (2nd Grade)

Rod & Staff English "Preparing to Build" ~ This was a natural choice since we had great success with R&S for my son last year... DD had completed First Language Lessons and was wanting to use a book like her brother...

Easy Grammar 2 ~ These are perfect exercises that take less than 10 minutes to complete and compliment her R&S... Next year we will move into Daily Grams for her with 3rd grade.  But these are perfect for this year...

Abeka Math 2 ~ This choice was an easy one, since we used Abeka K and Abeka 1 for her, it was natural to move into Abeka 2... She loves the colors of the workbook and I love the ease of a scripted lesson... and the extra drill and worksheet make it a very thorough math program...

Combined Study:

Apologia "Exploring Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day" ~ We chose Apologia, because we love it... It is something I can do with both kidlets, take little prep time, contains tons of useful information, and they really ENJOY it!! We use Apologia "Exploring Creation with Astronomy" and had a great time learning about what's "OUT" there...

For History~ I tend to do our own thing here... We use "Story of the World" and "Mystery of History" for a spine, but we use "LIVING BOOKS" as the core of our curriculum with lots of unit studies and what I like to call "Lap-a-note" a cross using notebooking with lapbook elements included...

There are several sources I use for unit studies... I love Amanda Bennett unit studies, Download N' Go, andHands of a Child...

And of course I love the ones that are FREE:

HomeschoolShare

The Homeschool Mom

Guest Hollow

Dynamic 2 Moms

E-Themes

Say "NO" to the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child...

For those of you concerned regarding your rights as a parent:



The right of parents to raise and educate their children has been recognized for centuries. But there is a different view emerging not only in other countries but in our nation. Today, parental rights are coming under attack and assault from judges who deny or refuse to recognize parental rights. And to add further danger and damage to the family, there is an international law which seeks to undermine the parental role is advancing on the horizon. Together, these threats are combining to create a devastating future of the child-parent relationship. Key Senators are pomoting ratifying this international treaty which would take control and authority away from the parents to decide matters that pertain to the lives of their children and give that power to decide what is best for American children to an 18 member international panel...Thus deciding America's FUTURE!!!

If interested in this and in the Senators sponsoring this legislation and the strong Senators who are opposing it by supporting SR 519 you can find that information HERE ....