Yippie!

I probably shouldn't be online right now as we are getting ready for church, but I just wanted to post my excitement this morning!

Dh put a shelf in the living room for me, just for school books! I've been just stacking them on my desk and on the other bookshelf (where there isn't anymore room for books). Now the school books have their own spot and it will help the living room look a lot more organized.

My other goal for the living room now is to get it baby proof! Mr. S is only 3 months old but he's already trying to be mobile and I know it will only be a couple more months and he'll be into everything.

OK, that was all. Off to church!

4 to 1

I've done it, twice! I took all 4 boys out by myself! The first time was a week ago. We went to Wal-Mart to get some pull-ups for our trip to my parents house. We went in, got what we needed and walked out. Well, there were two minor incidences. 1. G ran to the toy section 2 aisles over without permission. 2. J threw a minor fit at the register because I wouldn't buy him "green water" A.K.A. Mountain Dew.

Today I had to go pick up a temporary insurance card for S since I haven't received his regular one in the mail yet. There is a bill that should have been covered but somehow wasn't so now I need the number off of the card to give them so they will charge the insurance. Anyway, I loaded the boys up in the van, drove there, went in, waited in line (the boys were very fidgety in line but there was no one behind us so it wasn't a very big deal). It was a relatively quick trip. We got back in the van, and drove home.

Overall they were pretty good and both trips were successful. I don't think I'm ready for a full on shopping trip with all four of them yet but we'll get there eventually. Hehe, though I think I'll continue to avoid it at every opportunity.

Took a walk

My first walk through the neighborhood! We moved here 6 months ago but this was the first time I walked around the neighborhood. I took the boys with me, M & G walked or "Le Parkour" ed, and J & S rode in the stroller. We only walked around a couple of blocks and it was only about 20 minutes but it was nice to get out. I need to start getting some regular exercise! The evenings have been pretty nice lately so maybe I will try to get in at least 2 or 3 walks a week to start out with. Tomorrow night won't work because we have church but hopefully Thursday will, Friday we will be at a Homeschool park day, I have no doubt I will get in my exercise then!

A lapbook about Music!

Inside the book we have a page with different kinds of musical instruments, you flip that up and there is a picture that says "Music makes me feel..." and drawings of the different feelings we can get from music. Then in the center there is a page with pictures of 9 different Composers and you have to guess who they are, then lift up their picture flap and their names are underneath. On the left side it says "Types of Music" and we listed some of them, and on the right flap it says "I hear music..." and we listed lots of places that we hear music. On the back it says "The most important thing we can do with music is Praise the LORD!"

It was a lot of fun to make, though the boys fought a little over who got to do what. Next time I definitely want to have them each do their own. Since we are going to the butterfly exhibit next week I think that will be our next lapbook project. I'm not sure when we will do it though, maybe after we get home.

Our first lapbook

I have been teaching the boys about music this week. We have talked about how we can use music to praise God, and about different types of music. M's favorite is Rock music, none of the others claimed a favorite though.

Today I printed out a whole bunch of pictures pertaining to music, and I dug out a few file folders to make a music lapbook or file folder book. I have never done this before but seeing as how its the latest homeschooling craze I thought we should give it a try! I figure since this is our first attempt we will just do one and all work on it together. Then maybe later on we'll do individual books. One for each kid. Maybe I will help J with one to give an example for M & G and they can make their own. But for now, I think one for all to share will be good enough. I'll try and post a picture tomorrow when we are finished with it.

If we get too carried away with this lapbooking business I'll have to break down and buy some more file folders! I thought we had a box of them but I can't seem to find it anywhere. I did find a small stack of them and I'm wondering if thats all that's left of the box. We bought it a few years ago so it is possible we used them all up.

Overwhelmed

Yes, its true. I do get overwhelmed being a mother of 4 energetic boys. Sometimes I feel like the whole house is spinning around me. Have you ever seen a cartoon where a character is standing in the middle of the street and cars are flying by on both sides and the character is spinning around in the middle? That's how I feel. I can't keep up with them!

I'll be taking care of one in the living room and next thing I know another one is opening and closing the garage door, and another one is sneaking ice out of the freezer. I go to the bathroom for less than 2 minutes and when I'm done there is screaming coming from their bedroom. I fix supper and only one will eat it, or another day all but one will eat. The house is cleaned to almost spotless one day and the next day it looks like a tornado hit!

Seriously, I can't keep up. If I get all of the laundry done one day I find the hampers full to the brim the next day. I have about two dozen cups for them and they ALL end up dirty each day. I have started hiding some of them so that they are forced to wash out cups themselves when they want a drink.

I am so tired. I get a little bit of a break tomorrow, but only because I'll be in the dentist chair getting a root canal.

Father in Heaven, Thank You for my boys. Thank You for trusting me with them. I know I am not the perfect mother, and I could never hope to be, but I ask You to please help me be a good mother. Help me to keep my head screwed on straight. Help me to know what the right thing is and to do it. Help me to teach my children to love You. Lord, I want nothing more than to see my children grow up to love You and serve You with their whole hearts. Please bring that about in there lives I pray, In Jesus Precious name. Amen.

Foreclosure

Its so sad to drive through town and see all of the homes for sale. I hear all the time of people who either lost or gave up their homes. So many people were so excited that they could afford new, nice, big homes, just a few years ago. And now people are so short on money they are struggling to just buy food. House payments are so high even couples who both work can't afford them!

I understand and feel sorry for the people who just got in over their heads without realizing it, but on the other hand there are people out there who were just not wise and didn't think things through before buying. There are even some who were just plain being foolish even though they knew better. I can kind of understand what its like to do that too. There have been times in my life where I went ahead and spent money that I couldn't really afford to spend just because I wanted to have something "right now". Of course I later regretted it, as many are regretting buying houses they couldn't really afford.

I hope and pray we can buy a house one day, I also pray that God will give us wisdom in doing so. Its a big thing to do and I don't want to get in over my head and end up with regrets.

Attic

Yesterday I FINALLY! got the "too little/big" clothes sorted. All of the clothes that I am saving for the boys to wear when they grow into those sizes. I gave away a few things but I saved a lot. J and S should be well clothed as they grow. M and G on the other hand are going to need a whole new wardrobe once winter hits. They are only one size apart now! G is really catching up, I figure when they are teenagers G will pass M. We'll have to wait and see though.

Anyway, today Dh put them all up in the attic, I feel better about them being up there than in the garage. He also put the maternity clothes in the attic too. I told him they could be the furthest out of reach since I don't know if I'll ever be pregnant again but even if I am it won't be anytime soon if I can help it.

A friend who just got married in June found out she is expecting! I am so happy for her. I told her they would have to come over and have dinner with us and I would let her browse my library of pregnancy and baby books. That reminds me, I have to get back one of my breastfeeding books from a friend. Anyway, I would loan her some of my maternity clothes but she is a much thinner person than I am. Oh well.

Now I know its late but Dh and I are going to watch Facing the Giants. He hasn't seen it yet and I would really like him to. I'd better go now or we'll never get to it!

"death crawl"-Facing the Giants

The boys and I watched the movie "Facing the Giants" today. It was really good! One I'd like to have in our collection actually, and I'm very picky about what movies I want to own.

The movie was about turning your life completely over to God and giving Him your all, no matter what. "If we win we praise Him, if we lose we praise Him". It was also about expecting God to do great things in your life and never giving up on what He has called you to. There were Bible verses scattered throughout and many great lines.
In one scene the coach of the football team asked one of the players to do the "death crawl" ("crawling" on hands and feet with another guy on his back) 50 yards. The player said he could maybe do 20 but certainly not 50. The coach told him to try anyway, then he put a blindfold on the boy so that he wouldn't be distracted by where he was on the field, so that he would go as far as he really could and not just as far as he thought he could. The coach stayed with the boy the whole way, encouraging and pushing him to go on, when the player finally gave up and had no more strength, the coach removed the blindfold and the boy saw that he was in the Endzone, clear across the field! He had gone 5 times what he thought he could!

After that scene M said to me, "I can do that! I want to try it with G on my back!" Haha! I said "OK, lets try it". He made it only half way across the living room though, he kept wanting to try again but G wasn't too keen on it. Then I said "hmm, I wonder if I can do it?" And I did, I made it almost all the way across the living room before G fell off my back, only a couple of feet before we reached the other side. It was fun to get down there with the boys.

There were a lot of good lessons in this movie and we talked about quite a few of them. This is definitely one we'll want to watch again as the boys get older and can understand more.

Praise the Lord!

Praise God for Clothesline

Well, the first dryer we were loaned, when we moved into this house, came in pieces and we never got around to figuring out what was wrong with it. The second one we were given, to keep, doesn't work either! I am really bummed. It would make my life a lot easier to have a working dryer. At least I still have the clothesline Dh built for me. I can hang clothes to dry, which I actually love doing. Its just that hanging clothes takes a lot of time and with 6 people in the family we generate a lot of laundry.

We will have to come up with something when the weather gets colder because the clothes just won't dry on the line when its cold and wet outside. I know the Lord will provide something. I really believe He cares even about the "little" things, like drying clothes.

a deal and walking

I made a visit to the local thrift store on Monday to look for some extra dishes (I like a certain brand and they have pieces there from time to time). I didn't find any but I found some shirts and skirts I liked. I ended up putting back one of the skirts back because they were both $5 or more. I decided just to get the one I really liked. Anyway, I got up to the counter and the lady says "Skirts are $1 today". I asked her if I could go back and pick up the one I had put back and then quickly went and retrieved it. So I got 2 skirts, 2 tank tops and one t-shirt for $10! I was thrilled. I needed some post-pregnancy clothes.

The one skirt I really like had to be taken in though. It works for now but I think I may have to take it in again, I may have to do something more drastic next time. It says size 16/18 and I'm probably a 14 right now. Hopefully that number will go down before long.

I think I'm ready to start walking again. I haven't in almost a year! I love walking though. I can put S and J in the double stroller and G and M can ride their bikes. We can go for walks in the evenings when the weather cools off a little, get to know the neighborhood and some of the neighbors. And hopefully get some good exercise! First I need to get the double stroller out of the garage and clean it up, I'm sure its covered in spider webs and dust.

Why I homeschool

Just a few reasons, I'm sure I can come up with more! I started this probably 2 years ago...

#1. God gave my children to me and entrusted them to my care and gave me the responsibility to educate them.

#2. Even when my child has a runny nose he can still do his school work.

#3. We almost never have to miss a day of school for anything because we can do school work at any time of day.

#4. I can set our own hours for school and they can change from day to day.

#5. We can even do school on the weekends!

#6. If my child shows an interest in something we can pursue it.

#7. If my child struggles in a particular area we can either spend more time working on it or we can set it aside till he is ready for it.

#8. The whole family learns! We all participate in school.

#9. I get to learn everything I learned in school all over again! and again, and again (depending on how many kids I end up having).

#10. If my child is gifted in an area we can skip ahead.

#11. We can go on as many field trips as we like.

#12. Everything becomes a learning experience.

#13. Homeschooling gives my child many opportunities he would not have in Public or Private school.

#14. The older children can help teach the younger children.

#15. Less peer pressure.

#16. No Bullies. Less teasing. (brothers still tease each other sometimes).

#17. My child learns to relate to people of different ages, not just those his own age.

#18. He learns there is more to life than the opinion of his peers.

#19. My kids can pray in school! (they can also wear Christian t-shirts, sing praises to the Lord and freely tell others about Him!).

#20. I get to choose the curriculum that best suits each of my children.

First day of School!

We decided to start school early this year so that we have more flexibility to take breaks during the year. For example, we'll take off Monday August 25th because we will be at my parents house for the weekend and will be coming home that day. We may take a longer Christmas vacation as well, who knows.

We are easing back into school. M is in 2nd grade and G is in Kindergarten. This week we will only be doing Bible. Next week we will add in Reading, and the following week another subject, we'll keep adding one or two subjects a week until we have a full load.

Our Bible curriculum is something I just made up. I hope it was inspired! We will be memorizing the books of the Bible, 5 per week at a time. This week will be the first five books of the Bible. We will practice saying them each day, plus we will choose one verse to memorize each week. Each day we will learn about one of the books, today for example, we learned about Genesis. We learned about the author, some of the main stories in the book, and some facts about the book. I also gave the boys some coloring pages about Adam and Eve. Tomorrow we will learn about Exodus, and so on. I know that won't take the whole school year but I figure we'll do review after that and by then come up with something more. Perhaps memorizing the key verses from each book? I'm not sure yet. We may just go over the whole thing again!

Overall I think today went pretty well. We started kinda late since I slept in. We began with the pledge of allegiance to the American flag, then the pledge to the Christian flag, the pledge to the Bible and then prayer. After that we had our Bible lesson and that was it!

One thing that is nice about having school is that it seems to bring more structure to our days. There is more that has to be accomplished each day. We aren't rigid at all but it is good for us to have a routine. For Dh and I as much as for our kids!

My goal is to start getting up at 6 AM before the boys. That is going to take some work though!

Project update

OK, so these were the projects we were trying to get done this week...

1. Steam clean the carpet and couch.
Carpet got done, not the couch.
2. Organize the Den/school room/tv room/library.
Started, far from finished!
3. Clean out the garage.
Mostly done.
4. Sort the clothes that don't currently fit anyone.
Not done at all.
5. Fix the van window.
Not done.
6. Get ready for Home School next week.
Almost ready!
7. Catch up on general house work.
Mostly.

Not too bad. I would have liked to have gotten more done, but you probably know how it is.

ADD at VBS

No one can tell me my oldest son doesn't have attention issues!

Last night at VBS families all came together for burgers before the final presentation by all of the kids. The different age groups took turns up on the stage singing songs and dancing (motions to the songs). G's group went up first and he did really well! He kept up with the group and the beat and just did a really great job! I was so proud of him!

Next was M's group. He is 7 1/2 years old and about to go into 2nd grade. He wasn't quite with the group or on the beat but he was doing the motions and singing. Then comes the part of the song where all of the kids squat down on the floor, all that is, except for M! He stands there staring up and waving his hand around almost like he's trying to grasp something. Dh and I are cracking up at this point, he is so like us! We both have many memories of being completely spaced out as kids (um, and sometimes as adults). Finally he realized that he was supposed to be squatting with the rest of the group, just a moment before it was time to stand up again! I'm sure this whole incident lasted less than a minute. It was a perfect illustration of how M is all the time. Later we asked him what he was doing, he said he was trying to catch the dust he could see in the spot lights. LOL, I figured.

We've added Flax oil to his diet recently, maybe that will help some. We've also just recently cut the sugar out of his diet (as much as we can anyway). I'm sure that will be good for all of us.