planning a menu

I have not been good about this in the house renovations. Hopefully, I can keep up on here.
Saturday
breakfast- banana muffins
lunch- breadsticks and sauce
supper-turkey dinner at Mom and Dad's- I'm taking rolls

Sunday- banana muffins (we got a 40 pound box of bananas and we love banana muffins)
lunch- at church- taking rolls for this
supper- popcorn and hot cocoa (normal Sunday supper)

Monday- eggs and toast
lunch- grilled cheese sandwiches
supper- taco casserole

Tuesday- pancakes
lunch- peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
supper- pizza

how I homeschool

Today I had many people ask me about homeschooling. People seem to think I know something they don't about homeschooling. I think I just figured out how to relax a lot sooner than some other homeschoolers.

Every family homeschools in a different way and has a different goal in their minds. Some families use a "box curriculum" that tells you exactly which pages to read today and what questions to ask. There is also the other side that unschools, allowing the child to direct all learning. Different approaches work for different family dynamics.

I am the type that would drive myself crazy with a written out program. I would need to finish every word on every page. Even if I write up the schedule, I am practically in tears if I do not finish everything by bedtime. A stressed out mommy is not helpful in homeschooling.

For Nathaniel, we have a list of daily school activities for if we were having a perfect day. Those are very few and far between. On the average day, Nathaniel does reading, math, history, and bible with other subjects depending on the day. Everyday we do bible even if we do no other school.

For Virginia, we do school as she wishes. This is at least once a day. If I see Virginia looking bored, I suggest a school activity. She loves it. Everyday, she does reading, math, handwriting, and bible.

Schooling for us is part of life. Rather than do all chores myself, I teach the children how to run the house. Nathaniel learns everyday math by helping Mark with building projects. Virginia learns everyday science by helping me cook. She can explain what each ingredient does to the recipe.

We love the way we homeschool. We are able to focus on God and each of our children's unique abilities. We are not stressed by trying to keep our kids to anyone else's standards. The kids are excelling in areas of interest and have more time to focus on those interests.

I will explain our bible time tomorrow. I love sharing our homeschool life with others interested in homeschooling their own children. Feel free to ask questions and I hope I can answer them.

sara

book sale

I forgot to take pictures of the books. They filled the entire back (behind the seat) of the van and the back seat itself. When we set up at the church, we needed 3 tables which were stacked by subject and there were books on the floor. Luckily, I got rid of more than half the books. It feels so nice to have that stress gone. I have spent all week getting the house organized for this sale.

Tomorrow I will spend time getting the house back in order as it was crazy this week. We have snow coming tonight so we may be stuck in the house all day tomorrow. If it is not too bad we will go to Mom and Dad's for supper. We will see.

sara

should be in bed

It is late and I need to head to bed but I realized I have not written in awhile. I have been working really hard to declutter. I will take pictures tomorrow of all the books I am taking to get rid of at our book sale.
The baby has been really cute lately. She loves music (just like her great grandparents). She will dance and clap. She also knows how to turn up the radio. Her new trick is undressing herself and taking off her diaper. She is also a big hugger.

That is all for tonight, I am off to bed.

sara

remodeling

Ok, after I wrote Monday my husband felt led to remodel the house. This has led us to live in only part of the house as the rest of the house may be used for ministry purposes later. I have spent the last 3 1/2 days getting rid of clutter. I have rid our house of about 50% of our things. Many of these things we were just hanging on to because I MAY use them someday and we had a large place to store them. I am so excited about how our house is turning out and how God is leading our family.
Tomorrow I will be doing more decluttering. We are also going ice fishing ( a group is putting it on and it is open to the public.) I also have a lot of dishes to do. So good night all. Hopefully I will get a chance to write tomorrow.

sara

today's bible study

Bible study was a great encouragement today. I think it will go very well. Our main goal is to encourage bible study as a family. We all are in the midst of homeschooling and working on being a Godly wife. This will be a great time to help each other through our daily work in our homes.
I am off to bed. We have a busy day tomorrow of decluttering.

sara

it has been awhile

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted. We have had a crazy week. We decided that we were no longer going to be foster parents as I have not enough time to focus on my family. The kids moved a few days ago so we need to get back into a normal family routine.
Friday we made a day trip to visit some friends from church. On the way there we got into a car accident but everyone is ok. The truck may have a broken tailgate but that is about it. We were all pretty shook up and stuck in a snow bank. Luckily someone came with a chain and pulled us out. We finally got to our friends house. We had a wonderful time. While we were there they made Virginia and I matching skirts and another skirt for me. We stayed for devotions and enjoyed spending time with a God fearing family. It was a great encouragement for Mark and I.
Mark's mom came down for Saturday and Sunday. We enjoyed the visit.
Tomorrow, we will get the house back in order from the weekend. We are also going to work on a routine for the family. I am starting a small women's bible study tomorrow. I hope we start off well and our able to encourage each other to be the wives and mothers the bible tells us to be.
We are going to Mom and Dads for supper tomorrow night.
I will write more tomorrow. Hopefully it will be more often from now on.

sara

meal plan

Tuesday- read next post to learn about my crazy day.

Wednesday
breakfast- we had eggs and toast
lunch- homemade macaroni and cheese (Mark is having leftovers of chicken spagetti last night. He wanted them.)
Supper- chicken soup

Thursday
breakfast- toast
lunch- whole wheat pancakes
supper- sloppy joes and macaroni and cheese


that is all for now. I have to finish cleaning.

sara

school tomorrow

Mark will get the extra kids on the bus in the morning and then it is school for Virginia and Nathaniel. Nathaniel has been doing an online treasure hunt where he is learning history of a lot of different states. He will finish Kentucky tomorrow and start the next state.
Virginia and I will practice reading and math. We are doing addition which she is doing very well. She also will need to clean out her desk which is a mess.
I will be working on straightening the house. The weekend always leaves some extra work for Monday.
Hope everyone is well. Enjoy the rest of Superbowl Sunday.

sara

meal planning success

I decided I really like this planning thing. I am not a very organized person. I so far have not followed it completely but I know what I need to do. We ended up having leftovers for lunch yesterday so nothing would go bad. We had pizza for chapel today becuase at 8:00 last night I had not started making tortillas. But I feel much more relaxed knowing what is going on.
I will write tomorrow our next three day plan. Sorry if this is boring but writing it here holds me accountable.
sara

the weekend

I am so happy the weekend is here. I am not used to the afterschool chaos of homework, supper, baths, and bed. It is too hectic and stresses me out. I am glad we can now relax.
Tomorrow will be spent cooking and spending time together. We may go swimming which we all enjoy. We want to read more from Little House on the Prairie.
Sunday is chapel. Sunday night, Dad, Mom and kids are coming over for Superbowl and Nathaniel's birthday. That will be a nice evening, but a late one. I hope we all survive without too much whining (especially on my part).
That is all for now. I am too tired to write anymore.
sara

meal planning

I have never done meal planning before as I don't always want what is planned. Especially when I am planning for a week. I always thought it was easier to just grab what we were all in the mood for. However, the last few days 4 O'clock has arrived with me not even giving a thought to supper. Ground Beef does not thaw quickly enough to have dinner on the table by 5:30.
So I have decided to do meal plans for about three days. I can plan according to our schedules but I do not think I will feel so stuck with it. I can also prepare the night before. I have been planning homemade baked beans for about one week but kept forgetting to soak the beans overnight. I forgot to make the bread to go with supper tonight. This should help me be more on the ball.
Saturday breakfast- banana muffins
Saturday lunch- grilled cheese, apples
Saturday night- baked beans, homemade bread, and corn
Sunday breakfast- eggs and toast
Sunday lunch- at chapel- quesadilla
Sunday night- Subway and junk food for Superbowl
Monday breakfast- pancakes
Monday lunch- pasta and butter
Monday night- chicken and potatoes
I have the beans soaking for tomorrow. I have to get the corn out of the freezer, make 3 loaves of bread and 24 tortillas tomorrow. I may also make a cake for Superbowl. I am going to try to have Virginia and Nathaniel make lunch most days to help out.

sara