Back and Busy. . .

Oh, the joy of a speedy internet! After spending the last few days in turtleland, it’s so nice to be back up to rabbit speed. Now I just need to find the time to write!

The next few days are going to be busy indeed. We will be working on school projects, making Valentines, baking cookies, shopping, playing basketball, delivering Valentine baskets to the hospital, as well as a meal to our friends with the new baby. And that just gets me through Saturday!

Here is a sample of one thing that I hope to do with the children this afternoon, in the form of this poem by Leland B. Jacobs -

A Special Valentine

“It’s time to make my valentines,”
To Mother I had said.
“I must have ribbons and I’ll need
Some slices of your bread.”

“What will you make?” my mother asked;
I did not tell her, though.
“You’ll be surprised,” was my reply,
“But you’ll be pleased, I know.”

Out to the kitchen then I ran,
And soon I’d finished there
My strange new kind of valentine
That, none the less, was fair.

I hung my valentines outdoors
All tied with ribbons red,
And snowflakes made a dainty lace
For each white heart of bread.

When Mother saw what I had made,
She smiled and said, “How fine!
Now all the hungry little birds
Will have a valentine!”

I’ll be back later when I get a moment. Have a wonderful day!

Blessings,
Nancy

From the Learning Room. . .

When Peggy added this new feature to our Simple Woman’s Daybook list, it inspired me to take it a step further and make a category of posts whereby I can share some of what we are working on in our Homeschool.

This year starts our 14th year homeschooling our children. There are officially five children schooling this year, although Anna and David – not wanting to be left out – will be joining us for some of the fun.

Most of our schooling follows the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education – copywork, living books, short lessons, nature study and lots of free time to explore and think. I love to work in units of study with themes. This almost got me in trouble this year, as I realized at the last minute that my plan included about 7 different themes all going at the same time. I just can’t resist anything set up with themes, and each of them sounded so good – on their own – but, together – train wreck! I am so glad that the Lord showed me this before I actually attempted to do all of that!

My lesson plan is now much simplified, covering the basics of reading, writing, spelling and math – with only ONE unit or theme to study at a time. How much richer this will be for us, rather than splitting our learning up into so many directions.

Matthew is following a more traditional course plan, as he is finishing up to graduate this year, while Laura will be doing independent unit studies on topics of interest in addition to her basic subjects. Both of my high schoolers have foreign languages added to their lists, as well.

We all have daily Bible lessons and reading, and I am planning to keep a read-aloud going throughout the year. Nature studies will be on-going – weather permitting (and when it doesn’t, maybe we’ll study our resident indoor nature or the non-permitting weather!)

My units of study with the younger three children will alternate between book units in Five In A Row (these are rich in lessons for all ages) and unit studies of our own choosing, based on seasonal topics, holidays, historical events or whatever the Lord brings into our life.

Future posts will give you more of a look at some of the specific activities we are doing and the interesting things that we are learning about. Thanks for visiting!

Blessings,
Nancy

We Are Officially Half-Way Through the Year. . .

Today marks the halfway point of the year, so I thought this would be a good time to review those goals I had for the year. You know those goals I wrote about in January – 10 Things That I Want to Do in 2008. . . if you missed that post, you can go back and read it (you can certainly go back and read it even if you didn’t miss it – I won’t stop you) or you can stay tuned, because I will recount the list here in this post with my updates on the progress I’m making. This may be somewhat embarrassing, but it will be good for me, right? Okay, here goes -

1. Declutter my house – Well, I am making definite progress with this one, but still have a ways to go. I have gotten rid of many clothes, some toys and some general items. I have yet to reach the upstairs hall, which I am actually looking forward to – I am envisioning being able to throw out much of what is up there (old school books, games with missing pieces, etc.) and that is always a great feeling!

2. Lose some weight – Ouch! This one hurts. I have not yet lost any weight, but the Lord is working in my heart and life, dealing with strongholds that need to come down. It is a slow, agonizing process, but I know, in the end, it will result in a closer walk with Him and eventually, the weight loss will follow.

3. Spend more time consistently in God’s Word – I have to say that this one is still a struggle for me. I’m sure it is partly the season of life I am in, but I’m not using that as an excuse. I read alot about God and read Scriptures quoted, but I really want to just spend more time in His Word, communing with Him.

4. Make a quilt – I haven’t finished one yet, but I have worked on it, so this one is still in the works.

5. Show more love to my family – Double ouch!! I think I’m getting worse at this one. Remember those verses about the tongue – well, I need to revisit them – especially this past week! If you think of it, please keep me in your prayers that I would relax and enjoy my family more, and stress out less! Oh, Mother Hen had a great post yesterday about this very thing that struck a nerve in my heart – go read it, you’ll be blessed!

6. (I’m over halfway through the list now, and only bleeding a little bit, let’s see if it gets any better!) Read more books with my children – This one is going fairly well, although I would like to bump it up a bit and have a daily reading time with the older ones, as I do with the younger ones. We started reading aloud together towards the end of the school year and really had fun with it.

7. Maintain an attitude of thankfulness – I’m not there yet, but I am making progress with this one. Thankful Thursday has been a good thing for me to keep me thinking thankful thoughts.

8. Learn to cook more things from scratch – I have made several things (pie crusts, for example), but mostly I feel in the dark about how to do this. I will keep working on this one – maybe I will create a new notebook where I will compile all of the data I research on the subject – and of course, I will have to cover it with nice kitcheny paper! (probably gingham)

9. (almost done!) Plant an herb garden – Yay!!!! I found one that I have definitely done! And I really love my herb garden (I’ll love it more when I learn how to use it)! Want to see pictures? Click here or scroll down to see my last post about my gardens. (Okay, only one more to go – I think I’m going to survive.)

10. Grow deeper in my relationship with my Lord – Well, I feel good with this one. He is my constant companion, no matter where I am or what I’m doing. He is holding me by the hand as He walks me through the growth that He is producing in me and He is gently showing me the way I need to go. Of course, I take no credit for this one – after all He has promised -

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 1:6

Whew! I think I will be okay. There are definitely areas to work on, but I’ve got another half of a year to work on them (Lord willing). I’m glad I decided to look back and remind myself of my goals – it will help me to focus once again on what really matters. Have you looked at your January goals lately?

Blessings,
Nancy