New Years Resolution

I really don't have a list of resolutions. I just get an idea here or there of something I want to do differently in my life. It really has nothing to do with the new year, I do this all year long. But among the things I am thinking about for the new year are the following:

One thing that is constantly on my list of bettering myself, is cleaning my house and getting it all organized...A place for everything, and everything in it's place. I am always failing at this, and because of the clutter and mess, I am constantly frustrated just looking at where to begin cleaning!
Well, in the countdown to the new year, and in all my downtime, I have begun to tackle my house. I told myself to do one room a day- that way I wouldn't become overwhelmed. So, I started with my bathroom...figuring that I would start on the smallest room first, and get a huge "yeah" feeling with the fast and easy success! I have moved on to James/Bella's room, and yesterday was the schoolroom. I am tired! But on it goes...tomorrow will be the playroom continuation!
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Anytime I find a blog that inspires me to do more/be more, I add it to my "blogs I like" list over there on the side bar. I thought I would share a few of my new favorites I have found.

One of the things I want to do more of is to make and give homemade gifts, and do neat crafts for my family. I have found some great sites, but today I found another two. They are really neat. Check it out: Getting Crafty and Let's Explore

Also, I have added a few "supermoms" blogs that feature a kiddo craft almost daily! Talk about inspiration! My two favorites are: Ramblings of a Crazy Woman and No Time for Flashcards

Okay, well I think I have blogged enough for one day! Until next time, hoping I get my camera fixed! I am missing so many great pictures!!!

Hymn History

I have signed up to submit hymn histories for my church's denominational monthly publication (one per month). I thought since it was the beginning of the year, I would look for something that was related. Here is some info about Frances Havergal , the author of Another Year is Dawning. Happy New Year!

ANOTHER YEAR IS DAWNING
Words: Frances Ridley Havergal, 1874
Music: Aurelia, Samuel S. Wesley, in a Se­lect­ion of Psalms and Hymns, by C. Kem­ble, 1864

Frances Ridley Havergal, a well known British hymn writer, considered every New Year’s Day to be an opportunity of rededication to Christ. In 1874, Frances wrote the poem “Another Year is Dawning” and had it printed on specially designed cards to send to each of her friends. Over the poem was the caption, “A Happy New Year! Ever such may it be!”

The hymn was later in­clud­ed in her Un­der the Sur­face, 1874, and Life Chords, 1880. When Frances was asked about the process of how she wrote her hymns, she always gave the credit to the LORD, whom she called her King. Her response was as follows:

“I believe my King suggests a thought,

and whispers me a musical line or two, and then I look up and thank Him delightedly and go on with it.

This is how my hymns come.”

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be

In working or in waiting, another year with Thee.

Another year of progress, another year of praise,

Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,

Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;

Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;

Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,

Another year of training for holier work above.

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be

On earth, or else in Heaven, another year for Thee.

Quiet Peace

We had a wonderful Christmas. James was so excited when he woke up. First thing he did was run to see if Santa had eaten the cookies we made for him. Sure enough, there were only crumbs left! James' big gift this year was a bicycle. He was so funny- we saved the bike helmet for his last gift to open..the bike was waiting for him outside. Right before he opened the helmet gift, we sadly mentioned that Santa must not have left a bike this year. James said matter of fact-with no doubt about it..."No, he left it outside" Mark and I burst out laughing. "How do you know that?" Well, last year he left the scooter outside. That is just where he leaves things like that" Ohhh....ok. It is a good thing there was a bike outside! He went on to unwrap the helmet and then ran outside-there was the bike. He is doing really well on it. We spent the day with Mark's mom and family, and then traveled to Savannah to visit with his dad's parents.

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I like quiet. No, I love quiet. I long for quiet at all times. I love peace and still moments.
Most of life is not quiet. We live in a very loud world. Even as a young child I didn't like loud noises. When the 4th of July fireworks would go off, I would scream because of the noise. Now, when there is alot of noise...background noise, and foreground noise, and ten different conversations going...I get so flustered I can't think, I can't function. I just long for quiet! And not just a break from actual noise, but from life's noise-busy-ness. I feel like I am constantly going going going all the time. Church activities, homeschool association activities, school trips, planning for school, sunday school lessons, cooking, cleaning, parenting, etc. It seems like an endless noisy chaotic life. And I long for a peace.
One of the things I love about Christmastime is that I find that rest, that quiet time I love. Everyone and everything takes a holiday break. A much needed rest. Businesses close, Churches take a break from regular programs, choirs take breaks, Schools take a break, there are no more coops, club meetings, or anything like that. And I find myself just enjoying life. I get to read a book, spend lots of uninterupted quality time with my family, no where to go, and nothing to do but the things I want...and I realize how much I miss the freedom of doing those things all the time!
I remember when I was put on bedrest when I was pregnant with Bella I had this realization... but now I see that I have busy-ed up my life again! I was forced then to have quiet time with no activities, but now as I have my holiday break, I long for the same quietness that I pleasantly discovered while on bedrest.
So my new years resolution is to seek out more quiet time, quality family time. Enjoy God's presence...being still and knowing that He is God. Being peaceful. Content and Happy. I am very thankful for my many blessings He has given me...especially this season, this moment in my life.
Happy New Year everybody.

Daily Routine

It's Christmas Eve!!! Wow-I can't believe how fast it came. The "Slow as Christmas" phrase must be for the kids...not adults. Mark and I are going into Savannah today. We are done shopping (except for one item for Mark that I will get at Bass Pro Shop). We will probably take the kids into the Winter Wonderland there in the store-BTW, if you haven't been-it's great and FREE! Maybe I will get a better picture with Santa? Maybe not. I won't force it. I need an eye exam and new contacts, hopefully the eyedoc will be open!

Anyway, after we attempt to make it out of the mall alive, we plan on attending a Christmas Eve service. When my family lived in Savannah a few years ago, we attended a beautiful Christmas eve service at a methodist church, so we hope to do that again. Then see some Christmas lights (one of my favorite things to do-also FREE!) Then home to bake a few cookies for santa, and round up some carrots for the reindeer, then off to pretend sleep...then get up after the kids are asleep and wrap all of James and Bella's gifts!!! James asked for a bicycle this Christmas and I can't wait to see his face when he sees it. Yeah, I am getting so excited!!!

Well, my sis asked a few questions after my last post, and instead of answering them in a reply to the post, I figured I would answer them in my blog today.

What does a typical school day look like? Honestly, each day is completely different, and I try to be as flexible as possible, while trying to maintain some sort of basic routine. So you will see my "school day schedule" doesn't really have times assigned to each activity. This is because each day we wake up at different times, and Bella takes naps at different times...so anyway, I hope this gives you a gist of what we do.

OUR DAILY ROUTINE (on a good day!)

• Rise and Shine, put on a good music CD, get dressed/brush teeth and hair, etc
• I make breakfast..............James gets dressed, etc.
• Breakfast and Bible Curriculum (I read the Bible/lesson, while the kids finish eating, then color the related bible picture)
  
• Circle Time for James.........Bella with a toy/manipulative

Calendar
Weather
Songs (Days of week, months of year, and other fun kiddo songs here)
Pledge

• Extracurricular Activity:

Monday- Music and Movement (we do cd's and dance, do motions, etc...I also plan on teaching him beginning theory starting next year)
Tuesday-Arts and Crafts (unit study or Season/Holiday related)
Wednesday- Coop Classes and Church (too busy of a day to do anything else!)
Thursday- Library/Computer Games
Friday- Park/Grocery Store/ Help me bake treats for family night

• I prepare lunch with Bella "helping".... James helps pick up the room/TV on if he was good
• Lunch
• Bella nap....James school:
• Unit Study
  
• Math (workbook)
  
• Phonics (workbook, tablet practice writing)
  
• Unit Study Games/Activities
• Reading/Quiet Time (James rarely takes naps anymore, but he still has "quiettime")
• Science or Unit Study related Video optional
• Wakeup/Snacks
• Free play (outdoors if possible)
• Daddy's home-kids with daddy, I prepare dinner
• Dinner, family devo, bath, reading, kids bed.
  

Ok, well like I said, that is a good day...but of course we don't have good days every day! But that is my routine plan that I try to stick to!

Our Bible Curriculum has been different things throughout the year. Sometimes we just repeat the Bible lesson from Sunday School/Childrens Church. This month has been all about the Christmas story. We open the Bible and I show him where it the lesson is from. He isn't reading, but he knows letters and sounds, so he can recognize Luke for example. The way he learns verses is by repetition and route. I say the verse, he repeats it. We find songs with the verse, or just make up one, and sing it. Play games like the memory match...he repeats back the verse as I say it for him first. Pretty soon he just knows it. In January we will start using a separate Bible Curriculum called Foundations. It looks so great!

James and I spend about 30 minutes in the morning doing circle time activities, songs, etc. We can't do much with Bella awake, so after I put her down for a nap, then we start again.

Depending on James' focus (Ha!) we will spend anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours doing math, phonics, and our unit study. On a good day it only takes an hour to accomplish everything. You would be surprised how much of a school day in "real schools" are not really school stuff. (roll, Potty breaks, lining up, getting ready to line up, recess, lunch, packing up to get ready for home, etc.)

Usually after math/phonics, James has completely lost his focus-and I have lost my patience, so I try to incorporate a lot of "fun games or activities" that are unit study related or teach some math/phonics skill for the end of the school day . He has no idea he is still "doing school". Then we snuggle in bed and read books (-again still doing school...but he doesn't know it). Many of the books will be unit study related from the library, but he can choose anything he wants to read.

Depending on his behavior that day, he either has to stay in bed for quiet time after reading, or I let him watch TV or movie. I have a few science videos we watch every now and then too.
*I am still trying to decide what to do about a science curriculum. Most of the unit studies have a few suggestions to incorporate science, but I don't think that it will be enough in the long run...so I am still thinking on that one. Weather is science, so we are getting that in too.

Okay, so I hope that answered some of your questions. I know this was a long post, with not a single picture...but it was a lot of info to share!

Random Thoughts

I haven't been very good at blogging our homeschool efforts this month. With my camera broken, I haven't been able to document with photos, but we have been keeping busy for sure. It has been really interesting this month because I have noticed since I am teaching James about all the history behind everything and why we celebrate the way we do, and the real story- I have been more focused on Christ this season. I love the way homeschooling benefits me just as much as it does James.

One of the games we have been playing is a memory match game I created from printing out some Christmas Bible Verses (Christian Preschool Printables) I just printed two copies, and cut and pasted onto construction paper. We play it just like a regular game of concentration, but in order to "earn" a match, you have to recite the verse and where it comes from. We have played this game so much, that James has practically memorized every verse. Another thing we have done is begin to learn how to find these verses in the Bible. He knows where Luke is...and chapters 1 and 2. It continues to amaze me how much his brain can soak up!

Bella is into EVERYTHING...so we decided not to put up a tree this year. It is kind of sad, but not too bad...we still have out all our other decorations-most everything is high up on shelves and counters. Anything on her level is fair game. One new decoration this year for us is our "world map" (which is hung on our living room wall (high up of course!) As part of our Christmas unit study, we have been learning about how other parts of the world celebrate. We made a paper wreath around the map...made out of construction paper leaves and berries. There is big bow and sign that says "peace on earth" and the verse that talks about Jesus bringing peace. We have paper ornaments that have how the countries says Merry Christmas in their own language. We went to a Mexican restaurant the other day, and James was all excited to tell the waiter "Feliz Navidad!"

Totally not related to anything...
I saw a special program on PBS a few weeks ago. Dr. Daniel Amen was the guy's name I think- the info was really good so I ran and got a pen/paper and started taking notes! He gave info about taking natural supplements to be healthier at any age. He emphasized the importance of sleep, exercise, and a good balanced diet...so I definitely need to work on that! But some other things...ADHD helps he suggested were to take fish oil and zinc to cut down on hyperactivity...some memory helps (for me) were ginko boloba (sp?) and sage...and for energy/mood boosters take 5HTP, and St. John's Wort. There were others, but these are the ones that I went out and bought yesterday. It will be interesting to see if they make a difference. I hope so. I will post details later if they do. In the meantime, I will try to do better and get sleep, exercise, and eat right!

Oh...I do have one picture...I got an order to make a cake from a complete stranger(connections thru Joy-Thanks!). The woman was throwing her husband a 40th Surprise Birthday Party...and I guess he likes poker, or maybe that was the theme of the party? Anyway here is what I created for her. It is two stacked tiers with decorated with chocolate and marshmellow fondant. The picture isn't a great shot of the whole cake, but you can get the idea. Hard work, but a lot of fun! Thank goodness she had a camera to take this shot for me!

It was good this weekend to spend time with some relatives. Mark, me and the kids all came over to my parents Saturday evening to spend the night. My grandad Eby and Aunt Marcia and Uncle Tommy were all there too. Bella really had a great time "flirting" with everyone! My parent's church had special Christmas presentations the next day-Sunday...the children's program in the morning, and adults program with joint church choirs in the evening. Mom asked Mark and I to be Mary and Joseph, so we got all dressed up...poor Mark is allergic to hay...had a sneezing fit during rehearsal. But he did ok for the real thing! The programs were really great. James even commented on them...which is impressive! We ended the night with driving by and looking at some Christmas lights at a neighborhood nearby.

Okay...well those are my random thoughts for the day.

True Meaning of Christmas

Okay, so we were suppose to start back to school today after the Thanksgiving Holidays...but we are at my moms...so we will start tomorrow. This month begins a new unit for us. "Christmas." We will be studying the different customs around the world, what each symbol is all about and how it came to be used as a Christmas decoration, focus on giving is better than receiving and make some homemade gifts for others. But most importantly we will study the true story of Christmas. Each day will revolve around the coming and arrival of Jesus...I think we will do a Jesse Tree-this will be our family's first time.

As much as I LOVE the Christmas season...I am disgusted with how commercial and totally unrelated to the "birth of Christ" it has become. One of the most interesting things that I have learned in my research for teaching James is that the first Americans, for instance- the Pilgrims, did not really do anything to celebrate Christmas at all. They looked down upon all the festivities and decorating, etc. They actually ran out one new family that had recently arrived from Europe for decorating and celebrating...they called them the "Christmas family" in a derogatory way. That is so strange. Of course, as time went on, more and more families moved here and brought with them their celebrations from Europe...and it all led to what we know today. Well, this got me to thinking...maybe the early Americans were right in some ways. Maybe they knew what would happen as time went on. Maybe they saw how anything other than reading the gospel truth would take away from Christ's glory. I don't know, just something to consider....

I love celebrating the season...the lights, the songs, the decor...but now more than ever, I must remember that all this celebrating is for the newborn Christ Child who came to save us!

So...here is a cute clip to remind us all of what the true meaning of Christmas is all about.