A Day Off

Tuesday is my official day off each week. Ella is at Mother's Day Out and it is so nice to have some time to myself. While I have been enjoying school so far, I definitely need this break during the week. I'll have to figure something else out for the years to come, since this is her last year eligible for MDO. In a little while, I have to pick her up, then cart her over to ballet class, but for now, I'm relishing in the silence.

Yesterday was a tough day. As I mentioned a few months ago, I am weaning myself off of my medications (and asking myself "why" daily). Right now, I am alternating my Ultram doses every other day (yesterday I took just one dose before bed; today I took one at breakfast and will take another before bed), so that I can get down to one dose a day. God has convicted me to rely on Him for my pain-relief and not on pills. If not for His strength and mercy, I surely would not have made it to today. I know He's teaching me that I can do nothing without Him! Oh, how I wish, though, that He would serve this lesson to me on a different platter. The pain I was in yesterday reminded me of how things were before my surgery. I got to a point where the pain and exhaustion took over and I HAD to lay down. God answered my prayer for rest. I did feel a bit better after an hour-long "nap" (which was more like, doze for 10 minutes, be awakened by Ella, doze for 5 minutes, etc.). Ella finally got tired of trying to wake me up and she was also hit by the sleepy bug. I guess we have worn each other out! This is what I found when I woke up around 5:40pm -



I added a few more pictures to the slide show on my week in review post. If you'd like to go back and see, click here.

Oh, and I wanted to add - was anyone else APPALLED by this article?? I may have to come back to write about this one!

Week 1 in Review!

I'm happy to report that we survived our first week of homeschool! I was (and still am) completely wiped out. Friday was our most difficult day, but I think it was mostly just fatigue taking it's toll. We've both had to adjust to this new routine. I may have to reinstitute afternoon naps or put Ella to bed earlier so that she won't be so worn out by the end of the week. There will be definite tweaking going on, as we strive to find what schedule works best for us. But, for now, I will give you what I know you've all been waiting for...our week in review! ;)



As I said in my last post, our first book to "row" was The Story about Ping. The story is just full of lessons to be learned, my favorite being that it's always better to face the consequences of our actions, rather than run from them. I'm not sure the best way to share our week with you, but I figure pictures and links are what you really want the most! Here's a slideshow of our first week:

Some of highlights from our week were:

Watching this cute video: Addem & the Ants (we studied ants as part of our Bible curriculm - ABC, I Believe)

The snacks we made each day - ants on a log, ants in the sand, fruit salad eaten with chopsticks, and panda cupcakes (we saved the best for last and have enjoyed those all weekend!).

The crafts (of course!), which included the boat you saw in the pictures, a duck made from paper plates and another made from a paper bag (if I think about it tomorrow, I'll add these pics to my slide show).

Learning the numbers 1-20 in Chinese, via Circle Time Kids (a wonderful resource!)

Learning to recite the Bible memory verse for this week and write the first part of it. The verse was "Go to the ant, O sluggard. Observe her ways and be wise." Prov. 6:6. I was never more proud of Ella than when I found out that she had recited it perfectly for my parents on Friday without my being there to prompt her. YAY! One of my memory verse strategies is making it into a short song and just singing it at random times throughout the week. Ella is definitely an auditory learner and I will be finding other ways to incorporate music, especially when learning "facts" like this. We're giving her an mp3 player for her birthday, which will mainly be used for this purpose. I plan to record each Bible verse "song", then record her recitation of the verse and put them on the mp3 player for her to review.

There is so much more I could share, but it is late and I do need sleep after this crazy week. Now that the Olympics are over (LOVED THEM!), I can *try* to go to bed at a decent hour. We have some dear friends coming to visit next weekend, so we will have school in the mornings and CHORES in the afternoons in order to prepare for their stay! Please pray that God will give me rest, even on those nights that are not very "restful". :)

School Starts Tomorrow (er, Today)!

I really thought I posted this last night!! Oh well, here's the post I meant to put up yesterday about today!

I am finally taking the plunge and just going for it! Some of my friends have already started or will be starting this week (along with public schools here), so it's a good time to begin. I also think that with the Olympics on right now, there is a lot I can tie into school! This weekend, I really poured over my curriculum and books and I'm so excited about my plans. I definitely have a strong "teacher gene" and when I get in the groove of planning, there's no stopping me! In fact, I was up til 1 AM the other night, just going to town. Since I'm doing the unit studies with Five in a Row, I want to be able to fit my Bible, applied math, and phonics together with the units. Actually, what I've done is take the unit from ABC, I Believe and have woven it throughout my math and language arts plans (along with some science). It's so cool to see it all come together! We will begin our Five in a Row with The Story About Ping, by Marjorie Flack. On Friday, I will give you a run-down of our week and, of course, will have some pictures to share.

On top of starting school, Ella will also start back to Mother's Day Out, along with ballet on Tuesdays. That will be our day off of school. I'm hoping it won't be too much of a disruption to our week. Then, she goes back to Awana's on Wed. night and will be promoted to her new Sunday school class on Sunday. Whew! It will definitely be busy and hectic and crazy, but that's our life! Oh, and I also plan to make our afternoons more physically active, so we'll be finding some fun ways to do that as well. Keep me in your prayers, please! :)

I'm so sorry I haven't written my review of The Shack yet. I know some of you have been anxiously awaiting it, but as you can see, I've been tied up lately! I do still plan to post it eventually, but for now, I will leave you with this link (thank you, Angel!) that does make many of my points for me: A Reader's Review of The Shack.

Good Stuff

If you are a homeschooling mom and need some encouragement or if you are thinking about homeschooling and just don't know where to start, there are two items I'd like to tell you about. I have recently discovered the Old Schoolhouse, where they offer great products for homeschoolers, including a magazine that is available in print and digital form. I just got my Summer issue and as someone who is new to this journey, I am finding it to be extremely helpful! It is full of wonderful articles that will guide you along the way. Lesson plans and unit studies are just some of the fun things included in the magazine. You will also learn about various learning styles and teaching methods. As much as I love holding a magazine in my hand and flipping through the glossy pages, I can definitely see the advantages to having a digital subscription. The weblinks that are referenced in the articles are ready to click so that you don't have to remember to look at them later (and I never remember!). You also have quick access to the blogs and websites of the authors themselves so that you can interact with them on another level. Usually I just skip over the advertisments in magazines, but since all of the ads here are tied to homeschooling in some way, I find myself actually reading the ads (and clicking over to their websites as well!). It's also nice to know that the magazine is tucked away in my computer, instead of the loose pages I would normally pull out and stick in a folder somewhere for future reference (yeah, right!). Plus, you are being environmentally friendly by using the online edition and it saves you money (the digital subscription is almost $10 less than the print version). If you want to share articles with a friend or download the offline version, you are able to do so right from the magazine on your screen. You can search within the magazine and bookmark pages that are important to you. These are such great features that you don't get with a printed magazine. You can find out how to order a digital subscription for yourself at the Old Schoolhouse Store. And, so you don't have to just take my word for it, here's a peek at last year's Summer Issue.

I am even more excited about another product from the Old Schoolhouse. It is called the Schoolhouse Planner. This is a wonderful resource for all homeschoolers! It especially appeals to me because I love organizing and calendars and planners, etc. (I could go on, but I won't!) I had seen the sample pages online, but when I received my own planner, I found that it included not just a few fill-in-the-blank calendar pages, but a TON of forms and lists to help you keep up with grading sheets, curriculum planning, memory verse records, science labs, household chores, weekly menus, budgeting, Bible reading schedule...seriously, I could keep going because this thing is 247 pages, each helping you to get a handle on your schedule and keep things running smoothly. There are even recipes, articles and activities for each month. The very best part about this planner is that you can type right into it and save all the changes you make! Then, you can print only the pages you need. I am thrilled to have this planner and can't wait to put it into practice!! :)

I hope my review of these products has helped you. If you don't homeschool, but know someone who does or is thinking about it, please feel free to point them to my blog. I am planning to do more reviews like this in the future because I don't buy much anymore without reading the opinions of people who've actually used the products in which I'm interested. Hopefully I can return the favor!

Feelin Crafty!

I started and completed a dress for Ella this week! She kept bugging me to finish it, but every time I started sewing again, she'd get upset I wasn't playing with her. Oh, to find that magic balance! I was finally able to get it done today and she was so exicted! She had to put it on right away and made plans to wear it for jammies tonight (though it's not a jammie dress, I reminded her). We checked it out in the big mirror in the bathroom and she turned around and gave me a big hug. Sweet success! :) Then, of course, we had to have a photo shoot. Now, she came up with every single pose on her own - I don't want you thinking I'm coaching her to be the next Paris Hilton! Here are a few of the best shots:








This is the bracelet she made to go with it. She came into my sewing room and started cutting up the scraps (or, "material", she would say) into little strips. She then found this piece of ladybug fabric I'd sewn up as a strap for something else. She cut a bit of it and went to get the stapler so she could put it all together. Pretty clever, eh? The cutest part was saying things like, "I think I need to cut it an inch. What do you think, Mommy? Don't talk to me while I'm working. I can't think if you're making noise, Mom." (Hmmm...where did she get that??)


Yes, I still intend to write about The Shack, but I just had to come by to post my newest creation. :)