Something Daring

I've done something daring.

I realized that I still had preconceptions about homeschooling.

And I threw them away.

I was still viewing homeschool as the ordered process that "the state" has dictated for children everywhere. And ultimately forgetting our main reason for homeschooling - as parents, we know better than the state.

I spent most of our last school year feeling horribly guilty for missing so many days because of how my pregnancy was going. So guilty in fact that I had lost all motivation by the time we started this school year.

With much praying, talking to other homeschool parents and reading some great homeschool blogs  I started understanding that this is our life. Homeschool is not something you do for a few hours a day... it's a day-long process and a way of life. When I take my five year old shopping, I have her pick out the less expensive toothbrush, my three year old measures ingredients and my two year old is already learning chores (the baby gets to watch all of this). I was thinking that I had failed in teaching if we missed a day after the baby kept me up all night... but I was still teaching them life lessons. 

After coming to grips with this... I did a 180 and cleared all of the dates from our lesson plan.

Now if we're a week behind who's going to know (or care)? If school runs into the summer - GOOD - the kids will have something to occupy their time! 

So this school year will be a little less stressful, maybe a litttle more fun and maybe I'll pay more attention the next time I try making a problem where there wasn't one before...
 

A Little Closer to Proverbs 31

I'm not perfect. Raise your hand if you are...

Put your hand down and don't come back to my blog.

: ) But I do believe that we should aspire to be like the woman in Proverbs 31. She assisted her husband by putting her hand to a spindle and making linens to sell in the marketplace.

With the economy that we're in and four children to support, I feel it's my duty to assist where I can. I have NO intentions of going back to work or of earning a lot a money. But I do have the ability to craft and craft I will.

So. Head on over to my brand spanking new etsy shop, A Little Imagination, and try not to critique me too much! http://www.etsy.com/shop/alittleimagination

Our Pizza Endorsement

We have what some people consider a large family. Really? More than two or three kids is large now?

So we have to provide enough sustenance or the poor dears will fade away. : )

I normally prefer to make homemade pizza but on those nights when I have had an awful day I practically leap for joy when my husband says those magic words "Why don't we order pizza?" 

Pure magic, I tell you.

Image Credit

In steps Domino's with their lovely offer for 2 medium 2 topping pizzas + for only $5.99 a piece. You can also get this deal with hot wings under the feeds 6+ section. Three of these feeds us for only $21 with taxes.

Domino's Coupons

Just wanted to share the savings. Let me know if you've found something better!

Homemade Soap Giveaway

Head on over to Lamp Unto My Feet  for a Handmade Soap Giveaway from Soap n Such.

Included in the giveaway:

Patchouli
Raspberry Cheesecake
Grandma's Kitchen
Chocolate Almond Delight
Lemon Verbena
Field of Dreams Lavender
(a $27.00 value)

Menu Plan Monday

I may have unintentionally lied. It would seem that I AM going to try all of the Pioneer Woman's recipes at once. : )  I can't help it... the pictures just make me so hungry and when I'm done with the menu plan it seems that I blacked out while writing all of her recipes down.

Go to www.orgjunkie.com to check out more great meal plans!



Monday - chicken strips, baked potatoes and salad

Tuesday - homemade pizza

Wednesday - boiled eggs, sausage and toast

Thursday - chili cheese dogs

Friday - bean and beef burritos

Saturday - olive chicken, fettucini alfredo and steamed veg

Sunday - leftovers

Monday - colby-bacon chicken sandwiches

Tuesday - sloppy joes and fries

Wednesday - bacon, egg and cheese toasters

Thursday - mexican flatbread pizza

Friday - marlboro man sandwiches

Saturday - stir fry and steamed rice

Sunday - leftovers

Salt and Pepper Tip

Okay... my goal is not to embarrass you here.

I want to save you from the embarrassment I went through when my husband pointed this out to me....

You know those "disposable" salt and pepper shakers from Morton?

I used to get these and when they were done, I would throw them out. Till one day my hubs sees me doing it and asks why I didn't just pop off the top and refill them. HUH?!? The top POPS OFF? That's right... just pop it off and refill.

Now you know... and knowing is half the battle. : )

Birth of Jesus Figures

I made these figures a few years ago for our Christmas bible stories in homeschool...

Now, I am NO artist so no critiques please : )

They're not really print worthy - I just wanted to show you what is possible as a way of teaching/entertaining young kids. My daughters LOVE listening to the HIStory of Jesus's birth... We repeat everything they've learned so far and then the new part so that by Friday they can use the little figures to tell ME the story.

Day One - An angel comes to Mary and Joseph

Day Two - Mary and Joseph travel on a donkey and looks for an inn

Day Three - Jesus is born and the angels herald Him to the shephards

Day Four - The wise men follow the star and give Jesus gifts

Day Five - The kids re-enact the entire story

I drew these with colored pencils on a paper bag, cut them out and laminated them. I got the idea for them from a children's Christmas book (don't remember which one) so if you've read the book, you may notice some similarities. You may notice that the inn, baby Jesus, and the star are missing - after much abuse, they have been lost to us. It only took about 5 minutes to make each one so it won't be hard to redo them.

Mary and Joseph

donkey

angel and shephard

wise men

Easy Crockpot Chili

{this is what happens when you get tired of measuring : D}

Image Credit

2 lb ground beef
2 great big cans of diced tomatoes, undrained *teehee*
2 teeny cans of tomato sauce
1 pouch McCormick chili seasoning
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
half an onion, diced 

1. Brown ground beef in a skillet with onions.
2. Dump ground beef and everything else into a crockpot.
3. Heat on high for an hour or low for 2-3 hrs.
4. Serve with cheddar cheese sprinkled on top and say TA-DA! for added effect.

Make some cornbread to go with it and supper will be a hit.

Go check out more recipes at Good Cheap Eats

Month Printables

I could have just printed some boring old month signs out to use on our morning board... but I don't like boring. I like pretty : )

And I wanted to share some of that pretty... Hopefully I will have some Day of the Week printables soon.

 Click on the images to open to full size and print through your browser.

I just cut these out and laminated. You can attach to your board with either small velcro stickers or thumbtacks. Enjoy!

Completing Him Challenge: Week Nine

Ta-da! Last one!

The week nine challenge is...

"Kiss him like you mean it!"

 

I, for one, do not think this means to write him notes or pray for him...

 

We're talking about forgetting about the dishes you need to do, the letters you need to send off, the kids that you didn't have enough time to bathe, the floor that needs to be swept in the morning... FORGET all of that and just use all of your energy to love on your husband. 

 

With a sick baby in the house (waking up all night because he's congested) and feeling not so hot myself, I'm going to need to put a good deal of effort into this. But I can tell you that I'm usually feeling so much self-pity by the end of the day that I normally don't. I'm sure I'm not the only wife/mom/homemaker/homeschooler that throws a pity party at the end of the day. I think that for the sake of my marriage, I can leave a few things undone so that I'm NOT so exhausted by the end of the day... 

 

I just got my copy of Heidi St. John's The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Romance in the mail and I believe that NOW is a good time to put down Mansfield Park and start reading it... : )