Homeschool Mother's Journal to Wrap it Up

I've decided to take a little different route for our weekly wrap ups this summer. While we are doing a little home schooling, I thought it would be fun to warp it all up in a different way this summer;)

In my life this week...
We enjoyed our weekend "get away" at my parents:) Seeing the tall ships! The cousins together which doesn't happen enough!

These two are the cousin-twins:) They are a year apart but almost the same size. Hannah is WAY more verbal than Nate... but he keeps up with her in a lot of ways;)

And even Brian made a new little friend:) His name is Clifford, my sister's little friendly dog.


Also did some schooling... history, reading, math facts... yippeeee:) Cleaned out some of the kitchen cupboards, like weeding out all the REALLY old spices (like ones that we loved with and haven't used in years... YUCK).

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Try it!!!

In talking to a mom just starting the "formal" years of home schooling all the possible curriculum choices can be overwhelming! You just have to try what you believe will fit your family and students best and then stick with it or adjust:)

BTW... this week Brian and I wanted to watch our annual Pride & Prejudice watching;) On a whim we thought we'd let the kids watch a little with us to see if they liked it.... we "tried it"!

They LOVED it:) We have sweet memories of Anna on the couch all (exhausted because it was WAY PAST her bedtime) excited because Mr Darcy was about to propose;) Or Chris saying out-of-the-blue that Mr Bingley's sisters were speaking poorly of Elizabeth Bennett because "they are jealous of her"! LOL... they understood and liked it. I guess there will be a few more joining us in our annual tradition;)

I am inspired by…
Sally Clarkson. Between her blog posts and many books... I am challenged to be a mom who loves the Lord and desires (and prays/teaches/models) that her children love the Lord as well. These two posts encouraged me the most this week ... "do unto others" a mother's momentary choice and 5 Principles of building strong friendships with your children.

My favorite thing this week…
While heading to the see the ships we went over a bridge and down in the river saw a barge. Chris was excited and quickly relayed to us that there was a barge on the river and that it was probably carrying coal since it was a dark, sandy-like material. Then he started sharing about what it was like to be a child who worked in the coal mines and that he wouldn't want that job.


This was awesome because earlier in the week he had learned to read the word "barge" but didn't know what one was. So we got on the computer, read a bit and looked at pictures. It was a quick, totally unplanned "lesson" but one that obviously stuck with him.We also had a history unit about the inventions of the steam engine (which used coal) and the cotton gin. While talking about the steam engines we had taken "a rabbit trail" to talk about coal mining. That stuck with Chris as well.

And then he takes these two little side lessons and applies them to looking at a barge floating down the river :) A proud home school momma moment:)


What’s working/not working for us…
Xtramath.org! The kids have a love/hate thing going on with this program! But I have seen an improvement in their math facts already. We're also working on having positive attitudes while we practice! So it's working but some days it's not just math facts we're working on :/

Things I’m working on…
First, being content in these last days before the move. And contentment begins with being thankful (thanks Ann!)

Second, not getting overwhelmed! There is a lot that needs to be done in the next few days/weeks. And I have a slight tendency to get overwhelmed.... LOL!! Not so slight!! It's just hard to think about getting one house ready to move into and another house ready to be moved OUT of.... besides the normal, everyday cleaning, cooking and child-rearing:) Thankfully, we're moving close... just to a neighboring town, not even 20 miles away!

Third, correcting the children as soon as they disobey or don't follow through with a task. Seems like we all do better when we know that there are some consequences the first time.... not the eighth when steam is coming from Momma's ears;)

We're reading…
Lydia and Chris both enjoyed reading me Good Hunting, Blue Sky this week! Lydia has also been enjoyed some Little Bear books and Chris checked out and read some Curious George books;)

Anna has been reading books from the Boxcar Children series. She really likes these books. I've been trying to get her to read some of the "living" books off some lists I have found... we'll see she's picky about her free reading selections, oh, and she's 8 :)

We are reading The Story of Eli Whitney aloud. This has been a very great man to learn about, we all think of Eli Whitney as the cotton gin inventor but it wasn't that simple... is it ever? His story is definitely one about hard work and determination!

I am reading a book I swiped from Brian's pastoral library called Great Women of the Christian Faith by Edith Deen. I have been surprised how much I have liked these short stories of some of the most ordinary and extraordinary women. I should have swiped it earlier:)

Oh, and I've also started working my way through my World Religions textbook that I'll be instructing online in the fall. Yikes... August is fast approaching.

I’m cooking…
Whatever I can find on sale:) And lots of cookies!!

Just hoping our cookie sheets find a very accessible new place at the new house!! They don't stay idle very long around here:)

I’m grateful for…
My husband!!

We hit the 10 year mark this week:) 10 Years!! It just doesn't seem possible that we've been married that long! He is a great, honorable, hard-working man who loves his family and provides everything we need and then some;) He adores his kiddos and is always willing to eat leftovers for lunch:)

This photo is such a fun moment!! The kids and I had been watching some educational videos on You Tube and then they asked for a "silly cat" video. They were laughing soo hard:)

When Brian came home they wanted to show him the video:) It was precious to see them all laughing at the videos together;) Silly, but it's soo fun and important to laugh together;)

I’m praying for…
Patience! And soft, kind, gentle words and spirit when correcting.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
Gotta love summer... a little schooling outside

 and reading Popsicle jokes!!

Linking up to Homeschool Mother's Journal , Moments to Remember and Weekly Wrap-Up.