Keeping it Organized- Our 2016 Homeschool Schedule

Well, here we are! Deep into week two of our year. How's it going? Well... after a first day coffee mishap, a smidgen of humility, and a reality check, I decided to postpone our actual first day.

Apparently things have changed a little more than I thought over the last year and half since we stopped homeschooling. I felt like I really needed a little more time to prepare myself and organize my surroundings and lessons before we jumped back in. I'm glad that I took that time. Things are already better.

We now have a semi organized homeschool office and a pretty good schedule to get us started. This week we're practicing "school days" with the littles. We're working with them on obedience and sitting still for more than 5 minutes. Taylor is reading a ridiculous amount of difficult books. Mary is reviewing her math skills and working on some fun writing assignments. Our theme is still "all about me" and we switched our character study to "obedience" for obvious reasons. Next week we'll move on to our "family" theme and try to stick to our original theme plans from there (as soon as I relocate the missing theme plans, that is).

Anyway...a good schedule is a must for me. We have a very busy and different year ahead of us. With three girls taking classes with The Center for Homeschool Enrichment and Tutorial (Chet), all four girls enrolled in ballet/dance classes, and my husband starting a new job, I need be extremely organized and efficient. There are still plenty of variables and monthly activities that will interfere with the schedule, but at least we have a good solid foundation.

I didn't spend a lot of time on the schedule, I just revised the one from a few years ago. It wasn't possible to include each child's specific routine so I did the best I could. For example, Taylor will spend most of her time at home studying, reading, practicing piano, and completing her assignments. She won't necessarily work in any special order. She's independent and diligent. Mary on the other hand needs constant structure, guidance, and lots of follow-up.

 

I tried to include a few reminders for myself about cooking and cleaning so I won't be flaky. And that's about it.

 

I'm hopeful that Monday will be our official first day and that I'll be able to report back to you all that everything is going great :)  

Sharing Our Plans...... Read All About It!

 

Hi friends!! Since we're all bursting with excitement about the upcoming school year, I thought this would be the perfect time to plan and organize and share.

 

In the past, many of our friends and family have been curious about what the girls were busy doing all day, so I'm going to be sharing our plans each month in a little newsletter like the one below. I'll also try to share what curriculum and classes we've selected for the year, special activities and projects, and how it all ends up working for us. I know that I always enjoy seeing what other families are using and trying. Seeing what works and doesn't work for others has really been helpful to me in planning for my family.

 

I hope that sharing this will be a blessing to those who are planning for their family and also to those who are just interested in how we educate our girls.

 

So here is August's Newsletter :) 



 

Happy Hump Day!!  

A Detour: Part 2 (Brace Yourself.. Haha)

Nearly one full year ago I wrote about life and death and my sorrow and our detour. I knew everyone would be filled with curiosity when we announced our decision to put the big girls in school. Since I have no problem sharing about our life, I figured that would be the best way to do it, and I was totally shocked when I saw how many people read that post! I guess everyone was even more curious than I expected.

I promised a part 2 so here it is. Better late than never!

School? Yes. We put the kids in school. Why? Because I was sad. Because my bad days were about as many as my good days. Because the opportunity kept presenting itself to me. Because I always have, and always will want what's best for my children and my family as a whole. 

So we enrolled them in a local private school. It was fun and we learned a lot. We learned about academics, life, and some important lessons. 

 

It turned out that Taylor (15 at the time) did not have a excellent understanding of Algebra I liked I had hoped. She had taken Algebra I for two years already. One of those years with a tutor. So she took it for a third year. Lesson 1: Do not try to teach math if you stink at math (like me). Beyond that, she was just a little nervous about her skills and a little shy with the other kids at first. It wasn't long before her hard work and many hours of studying, more than paid off, leaving her with all A's and scores over 100 in nearly every subject. Mary's experience was similar with third grade. They both did great. They had great teachers, made great friends and everything was great.

I said at the beginning of the year that some times being a good parent means that you have to make crappy decisions that there's no clear answer for. We decided to go to school because that was the decision that I felt was best at that time. I'm not the person that says, if they could go back they'd change stuff. I would never go back and I would never change anything. At least this way, I know what my problems are. If I were to go back and do things differently, I'd have different problems. Maybe bigger problems. So in short, school was fun but it's not for us.

We are officially homeschooling again!! I'm not going to get into every reason why we love homeschooling or the reasons why we'd rather homeschool than attend private or public school. 

School reminded us about some of the great things that come along with a structured classroom setting and I hope to implement those things into our school days at home. Lesson 2: Structure, morning work, repetition, classes, friends, and socialization are our friends :)

Lesson 3: There is no replacement for our family time together. I could go on and on about family time but I'll spare you in this post.

When we were homeschooling, we never woke up wondering if we were making the right choice. And I haven't wondered about it once since we made the choice to do it again.
 

A Mushy Heart, Good Light, & Love

 

As I'm folding the laundry, I can't help but think about our weekend in Breathitt County, Kentucky. The faces of the people we met are fresh in my mind and their stories, still fresh on my heart.

For many years (I don't really know how many) a dear family member of our church family has provided a community clothing giveaway at the Jackson Church of Christ in Jackson Kentucky. The people in Breathitt County were always on his heart. He loved them. And I'm pretty sure they loved him. But back in January he unexpectedly went to be the Lord. And although, I didn't know him extremely well, I know the family he left behind and I knew that I wanted to do something in his honor. That's right, the clothing giveaway. So Curtis and I offered to drive the clothes up to Jackson when our church goes up there for vacation bible school in July.

To be honest, I was a little apprehensive about it but I was also a believer in knowing that the Lord makes things work. You see, we have been blessed with a truck that belonged to my dad before he passed away and a trailer that Curtis received as a birthday gift from his parents a few years ago. We had the exact things that would be needed to continue this special work for these special people. We didn't buy either one of them. They were blessings to us, and we were going to use them to bless many others. But God had an even bigger plan than me! We collected so many bags of clothing that we had to rent a uhaul to get it there!

 

Then, God provided a safer and cleaner Motel for us to stay in. Where we usually stay has gotten really nasty and there was a murder there just last week. So instead, we stayed at Paul's Motel and it was a great little place for our families.

Breathitt County is one of the top five economically depressed counties in our country. Nearly 43% of children under 18 are below the poverty line (and many of those are well below). The median income for a family is about $23,000. There are many families without running water or electricity. One of the men from our congregation went out with the Jackson church van to pick up families for vbs and witnessed a young girl (about 10 years old) washing her hair in a drainage ditch. That family had neither water or electricity. After worship on Sunday morning, the Jackson church had a meeting and made plans to reach out to that family this week. The work there is much. And the people living there, doing the work are far better than I could ever hope to be.

The clothing drive was more than a success! It was a greater blessing than I could have ever imagined. The people were given big trash bags as they arrived and I think almost every person filled up there their bag! One man was searching for underwear like he was looking for a treasure. Another man needed work boots desperately and when he saw a brand new pack of white socks, his face lit up with joy. I could tell story after story of the desperation, the love, the kindness, and the needs. I guess in my old age, my heart just continues to soften more and more. At this rate, it'll be pure mush by the time I'm 40. I wept in the bathroom during the giveaway. I wept in my motel room that evening. I wept when I got home. And I'm fighting to keep my composure as I type this. Mush I tell you!

I've been poor. I've never been dirty or hungry but I've had needs that I couldn't meet on my own. I've been a young single mother on food stamps. I've had to ask organizations for free diapers and clothing for my baby. I get it. I was there and I made it out and I want to help. Romans 8:28 tells us that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. I believe that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And let me tell you something about my church family! They're awesome. Awesome in the ways that the Almighty God in Heaven is pleased with. They were willing to do whatever it took to make this mission a blessing to as many people as possible. They taught classes and hugged sweet children and sorted clothes and moved bags and handed out flyers and listened to stories and on and on. Even the youth! They worked just as hard as the adults. 
 

 

 

By the end of the clothing giveaway, one lady said that she wanted to take the rest of the clothes home to her 12 family members. The picture below was taken about 2 hours after the ones above. So, every piece of clothing was put to use and if we would have had more, they would have taken that too.

 

 

We are already collecting clothing for the next giveaway in October. I was sad to see that we didn't have any little boy clothing and very little children's clothing in general. We hope to collect a good variety for the next giveaway. Men's, regular and especially plus size women's, and all children & baby are needed. Also shoes, purses, socks, new underwear, and household & children's items would be appreciated. I want to be respectful by offering items in good condition but I know the need is probably greater than that and we should bring anything useable. Maybe a pretty purse or pair of shoes isn't a life saving item but it can certainly bring someone joy and maybe lift their spirits enough to keep trying. We're to be the light and salt of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). Light and salt make things better. I'm a natural light photographer and everything I do revolves around the light. Good light make all the difference. As I've been off and on the Whole 30 diet, I have come to fully appreciate the way salt can transform a bland vegetable into something I can really enjoy eating. Salt and light!

 

 

Thank you to everyone who cared enough to read this post! May you all be blessed :)

 
 

The Here and Now

 

It's really easy for me to lose my focus. No, I don't have ADHD or anything like that. I'm just a fairly normal human being who gets bored and distracted easily. Probably a little more than others. What happens is, I let discontentment creep in. It creeps in slowly and I don't even notice until that trapped feeling begins to suffocate me. I'm a changer. I enjoy change. Some people are afraid of change. I thrive in change.

 

So what now? I can't move across the country like I've done in the past. I can't even move. Honestly, I love my home and I love my town and I love my state and I love my country. I love my family, friends, church, and our school. So what is wrong with me?! The only answer is obvious. Not always to me but when I think about it, it's clear. It's my focus. I've lost it.

 

One of the reasons that I started blogging was because I wanted to take the time to find the beauty around me. The beauty in the every day. In the ordinary and simple. There are wonderful things going on around me that I don't really notice if I'm not focused on seeing them. Even greater than seeing them is photographing them, with my camera or my phone, it doesn't even matter. When I see them and capture them and post them and blog about them, it's then that I really "see" them.

 

Being a photographer, some times I feel like I shouldn't post photos from my cell phone for some stupid reason, and if my camera isn't handy, I often let amazing moments pass right by me. I'll even forget to tell my family or a friend about something awesome because I never even remember that it happened. I'm so busy feeding people and meeting their survival needs that the beautiful moments in my life are missed or forgotten.

 

I have big dreams and big plans for my family! I'm filled with ideas and about places I want to take them and things I want to do with them. I know how short life is and it can be discouraging when I look at my big list of plans. But I'm going to keep planning and dreaming and working!

 

And in an effort to enjoy the here and now, I'm going to make more time for capturing and sharing the beauty (and some times ugly) of my everyday. 

 

Like, while I read them one of Mary's favorite stories, The Never Forgotten Doll, they drew pictures about the story and then shared them with each other. We practiced sitting still and listening. They need to practice that more often than just in church. They're wild!

   

 

During nap time I started thinking about summer and how much I despise summer time in Tennessee. So I forced myself to go outside and get some shots of our summer yard.

 

The tire swing is the life of the yard. The kids LOVE it! They flock to it and swing on it for hours. Hot or not!

 

My peony bed has been overtaken by these ugly native trees :(

 

A favorite! Mary refuses to bring her shoes in the house. I think every single pair of her shoes has been through a rain storm.

 

Strawberries!

 

And our very late to get started garden. Kinda pitiful right now. Luckily a rain storm flooded the garden right after this (and Mary's Toms by the sandbox).

 

 

A Snowy Wednesday... Kind of

As I was walking past my bedroom this morning, to put some clothes away in the girls' room, I noticed the pretty snow falling outside my window and decided to grab my camera.

 

 

 Even though we are all a little disappointed by the amount of "snow" we received today, it is still beautiful.

 

It is still worth taking a picture of the snowy garden that Curtis tilled up last week.

 

And the iris garden in the front yard that we planted for my mom, who lives in a condo in Florida and doesn't have a yard of her own .

 



And of course, Buster playing and being all cute as usual :)

xoxo, Holly

Craziness & Finding Beauty in the Everyday

 

 

What a week this has been!

 

Colds are fading away and life is getting back to normal. Well.... the new normal. And, I'm not even exactly sure what that is yet. I've been working like a crazy person trying to finish house projects, working on orders from Journey's Creations, and best of all, getting my Etsy Shop back up and running! I'm so terrible at the Etsy thing. I list things and then end up selling them to someone local or giving them away as gifts. But I have a new strategy that I'm hoping will help. We shall see.

 

 

 

Fall is my busiest season of the year for photography and it's right around the corner! I've already been busy setting up sessions this week and getting ready for a big wedding with Authentic Photos & Designs next weekend.

 

The girls are doing amazing in school. Or at least I'm amazed. Taylor did happen to bomb out on her history test last week but I'm certain that she'll improve. She has awesome study habits and I know she'll come through. I couldn't be happier with their effort. Mary seems to be averaging B's on her work, and considering that she's never been to school before, I think that's wonderful.

 

The best thing to me, is that August is almost over and fall is a little closer. I'm looking forward to fall even more than usual. This summer has been the saddest, most difficult time in my entire life. I'd like to move on to another season and leave this summer behind me. I'm so ready for change (remember, I love change). Ready for cool breezes. And sweatshirts and baking and coffee on the porch swing. Ready for the grass to slow down and the leaves to change.

 

At this point in my life, I'm learning how important it is to truly enjoy the little things. The everyday. Seeing beauty in the everyday is priceless. These lives we live are special gifts from our Heavenly Father and we should cherish them as He would want us to. We have to be careful to not waste them away worrying and feeling sorry for ourselves. Careful to not dwell on our troubles, but on the joy in our journey. And learning to find that joy in the everyday feels good.  

 

Today, I found joy in watching my babies play with an $8 bag of used kitchen toys. They played and played. They never even spoke to each other. I sat there and watched them and I loved it. They were so busy investigating every single plate and piece of play food. After they had touched each piece, they started creating meals and play feeding them to me. It was the cutest!

 

Then I made my big babies some rice krispy treats to enjoy when they get home from school. I slapped a tablecloth on the front porch table and I was the very first person to break into the mums at walmart this morning!

 

 

Happy Friday Y'all!

 

It's Friday! SO How About a Cookie Recipe!

 

This school lunch business is really making me crazy. I don't mind them eating sandwiches and chips (that's what they ate many days homeschooling) but I can't handle or afford the little prepackaged snacks.

 

I'll admit it, I bought some. I was overwhelmed (like most parents) this first week and I caved. I didn't really feel bad about it either. But into the second week, as we were running out of lunch food, I felt like I could do better. Mary said that one kid had cookies and another had fudge rounds and a list of other things that I don't buy regularly.

 

I get it. They want sweets and junk food. So do I.

 

My last couple of batches of healthy sweet stuff haven't been very tasty so I needed to try something less drastic. My theory on food is "make good choices when you can, anything is better than nothing". So I made a batch of semi healthy chocolate chip cookies. They are no doubt better than pre-packaged desserts and they actually tasted really good. Yes, I ate three of them :(

 

Here's my recipe! Use what you have. Pretty much every ingredient is organic so I'll spare you and not put organic in front of everything.

 

Semi Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

 

1/2 cup shortening of your choice

1/2 cup butter

1 1/4 cup flour

1 1/4 cup oat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sucanat

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

 

 

Mix ingredients in order of recipe with an electric mixer. Then stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

 

 

Roll or drop (I did both and they both worked) onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for about 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Makes about 60.



 

 

Paisley approved!

 

 

 

Have a Super Happy Friday!!!!

 

 

 

A Bang and a Cough

 

The second week of school has come in with a bang.... and a cough :(

 

Monday morning we dealt with a broken dryer, a serious laundry backup, and I was eventually forced to iron school clothes (double sad face). By that afternoon, the Queen (Victoria) was coming down with a cold. That evening we had some unexpected school/homework confusion with Mary but it was nothing that a quick phone call to her teacher couldn't solve.

 

Monday after school hair.

 

Taylor had her first basketball practice after school. When I picked her up, she looked like she was about to faint, red faced and pale at the same time. I would have LOVED to take a picture to share but as you can imagine, she probably would not have appreciated that very much. And by bedtime, the Queen was sick. She slept in my bed and I snuck into bed with Paisley. I may or may not have cried on Monday.

 

But we persevered! We not only made it through Monday, we also made it through Tuesday. And you know what?! I have some of the best, most exciting news to share (and it's not my new floor, which I promise I will share soon). My van is HOME and FIXED! :) ! :)

 

 

I've been speculating about how much better things will get when I get my van back and I was way off. It's even better than I imagined! Life with four kids is nearly impossible without a minivan. At least for me and my family it is. Check out how happy the babies are about another trip to school in the truck :/

 

 

Thanks to an amazing friend I sucked it up and pulled my stuff together. I cleaned, painted a dresser, caught up on laundry, cooked a chicken for two dinners, made bone broth for the sickies, soaked oatmeal, made dinner, and I didn't cry once all day. It's obvious that we just need more practice living this busy schedule kind of life.

 

Of course, by Tuesday night we added another sick kid to the mix and I pulled what was extremely close to an all night'r last night. My first in a while. Surprisingly, today has been ok. I'm tired. But I'm making it. With a little extra support from my super sweet Honey and a lot of coffee I'm still hanging in here.

 

Tomorrow I tackle this disaster. 

 

 

 

 



Monday Stuff

Monday is kinda wonderful and kind of a bummer. Glad to get back to the new routine but the weekend seriously was not long enough. 

The babies continued to... we'll say adjust, over the weekend. I sure hope this adjustment period passes quickly. It turns out that my super sweet Paze is a full blown fit throwing toddler now. I know her sweetness will eventually win and she will come back to me. But for now, she stinks!
 
I seriously loved having my big girls home. They played and cooked and crafted.

 

 

Just like I expected, absence does make the heart grow fonder :)
  

 

I can't wait to share our floor project but I'm not quite done yet. We've finished painting the room, and installing, staining, and sealing the floor. When it's dry we'll get everything put back together and then share.
 
I was a little overwhelmed selecting the stain. I didn't have a real vision so I just picked something from the Paint N Paper Shoppe (one of my favorite stores) and went with it. I was going to do a white wash originally and then I considered a light blue stain but didn't go with either of those. Maybe tomorrow I can share. Maybe!

 

While I painted and stained all weekend, I brainstormed, as usual. For a long time, my heart has been deeply searching to find a cause to immerse myself in. But there are just so many needs out there, how can I know exactly where God wants me! And where will He be able to use me best? And how can I use my talents and interests to glorify Him? And how much time and energy am I willing to commit? Ugh! So many questions!

The needs of others are endless. Abortion, adoption, orphans, hunger, missionary work, poverty, politics, and so on. 

I want to mention that I'd love to hear any ideas that you all may have. My mind is all over the place. I know one thing is for sure, I'm happier when I'm serving God by serving others. Serving others feeds my soul. When God is using me to to do His work, it's brings a whole new perspective to my life. What a privilege it is to be His hands and feet. It's so easy to neglect His work for things that we think are important, but are actually meaningless. I'll keep praying and searching until the right thing comes along.
 

To serve is to love. Get out there and love! 

End of Week & The "Ever" Day

Well.... we did it. We made it through the week and the weekend is now! It feels good. The girls have already learned sooo much. They are going to be brilliant :)
 

 

Yesterday afternoon was rough.  We did a Kroger Little Clinic sports physical for Taylor while me and everyone else went through the store for groceries. I'm calling it the "ever" trip. Paisley cried more than any other shopping trip, "ever". Victoria disobeyed more than she "ever" has before. Mary was wild as "ever". And I was more mad than "ever" when I started loading babies into the truck in the hot sun and the alarm starting going off and I remembered that Taylor (still in the clinic) had my keys!  So all that along with Paisley's wettest diaper "ever" made that the worst trip "EVER"!
 

 

But we all survived and now we're ready for basketball season. Practice starts on Monday. 

Today I spent painting the big girls room in hopes of actually finishing a project in a matter of days and not weeks. Hopefully tonight we will get their new homemade wide plank hardwood flooring down and finish painting tomorrow so they can move back in before Monday. 
 

Hopefully I can share that project next week :)
 

I started diet number 2,401 on Wednesday and did fabulous until the girls' cheese puffs got me this morning :( So of course that means the entire day is ruined and I'll have to start over because that's how my brain works.

So hopefully I will be reporting some weight loss next week with my amazing new bedroom redo!! 

Today we enjoyed Popsicles and Play after school with the Dayspring PTO. The babies were happy for about 20 minutes and then they cried to go on the big kids playground. It was pretty embarrassing.

So I aborted the play time early since the "ever" trip from yesterday was so fresh in my mind and vowed to never take them anywhere again.

Enjoy your weekend friends :)