So here is what my designer has come up with. What do you all think?
Design one
A Net In Time Schooling |
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So, I am having new banners made for my blog/facebook etc. Getting buttons and what not done as well. :) So here is what my designer has come up with. What do you all think? Design one Design two Design three Design four Design five This is what my original banner was
Bad cold combined with headache and stuffy ears. So while the boys played minecraft I went to this website and created a cat. :) It was a bit of fun for a while. :) What do you think of my tabby cat? At least it kept me from sleeping the day away. I also made this dog/wolf. Just a blue eyed dog to me. :)
I did up a post for this book, The Magic of Friendship, for Year Round Homeschooling. You can find it here. :) Come learn a bit more about India.
This past year has been a difficult one for me. I was talking with my sweetheart the other day, saying how I have just NOT been in the Christmas spirit this year and how I just want to pack everything away. So today I did just that. I packed away the tree and all the trimmings, even took down my village. I want my house back again. Normally I don't feel like this till mid-January and then i slowly take things down and savour the memories of the year just past. So I'm going to take a moment and see if I can recall some of the good moments of this past year.. So first up would be my family. My family on both sides. These folks are a blessing to me. A mom in law who loves her Lord and her family fiercely Such a blessing to me. A birth family that cares for each other, we aren't the most 'let's do stuff together group" but we love each other and gather frequently together to celebrate each other and life. Family is GOOD. Then there is my own family. One wife, one hubby, one son. They have walked with me through gall bladder surgery, sore limbs, broken thumbs, sore teeth, bumps and bruises and the whole physical knockouts I've been doing to myself throughout the year. Good people these two males in my life. What other good things... I could list the good books I've read, the games I've played, the critters that I raise, the joy of a garden... these are all good things. I could tell you about a friend who touched my heart...bringing me back a mug on a trip away that was totally unexpected. :) Of a boy who is a friend to my boy and how his whole family welcomes him in. :) And of another friend who is becoming like extended family, how sometimes families mesh and that's a blessing sorely needed. I could talk of field trips, of homeschool groups, of interests shared. Good things that you know? I could spend time talking about the hard things.. like a father living in a nursing home in constant pain. Losing his battle with Parkinson's and infirmity from hip replacements gone sorely wrong. How it is so hard to watch that whole process...wanting desperately for it to end and at the same time wanting to be spared that. Seeing my mom and her continued love for the man she married.... and wanting to be that kind of woman as well. One who holds a love firm. but you know we learn from these things.
Just as i have learned much about my hubby and my boy and how they help and hold when life hurts. How I am thankful to my church, to people on the crew, for the ease of facebook in letting others know of needs. God has blessed me. And it blows me away. And I am so aware of how much I need him and how very unworthy I am. I am so very very glad that when he looks at me, he sees his son. And I am continually challenged to look beyond me. I must you know. I can't dwell on the hard things or the hard times. I have to look at God. I have to see him. My dad loves the Lord.. he will go home to him. And that's a comfort. My hubby loves the Lord....and through that love he loves me. And that is good. My son.. he learns..and how I pray that he will grow to love the Lord fiercely.. like his dad does, without the hemming and hawing his momma can do. My mom in law.. a fierce warrior for the Lord. In her calm, gentle loving way she holds that standard high. and my family....God is good. He draws us all to him and that is good. I am blessed. And how about you? How has God blessed you this year? My son the other day gave me a revelation about how he sees homeschooling. He's fairly determined kind a child so I don't think I can change his mind. This is how he sees homeschooling. This other stuff that we do is not homeschooling. It's just fun with maybe a bit of learning thrown in. So I asked him, why do you think we do the other stuff?
"Because mom, you decide we aren't doing homeschooling today and because you want me to have fun too". Well.. what can I say. That was a bit of an eye opener. Here I was thinking I providing a good learning environment and well.. he doesn't consider it school and it's just fun so the learning doesn't matter. hmm.... Do you think perhaps I need to give him worksheets to fill out when we go on field trips or do fun stuff like build catapults? I don't know. I don't much want to do that either.... Sure gave me food for thought though. :) So tell me something. How do your children view their schooling? I have WAY too many tabs open in my browser and I really need to close some of them but thought for a moment I jot them down as I do need to remember them. Fascinating Education - Chemistry. This is a review that I am doing FOR ME. Not for my son. Just for me. I like chemistry but I struggled with it at times in Highschool, and now I get to look at it with fresh eyes. :) There will be a review coming down the road. Adventure Hollow grabbed my attention this week with this "free to Canadian Educators" post. Why.. Because I"m Canadian! :) So if YOU are Canadian, perhaps you want to check it out as well. :) A friend of mine had a daughter do some viking knitting, that caused me to look up right what that was and that led me to this youtube video. This post on OPENLIBRARY.COM interested me.. enough that I'll be linking it on one of my pages on my website here.
I can't remember who recommended this book to me 50 Christians you'd want to know, but it intrigues me, I just haven't ordered it yet...Christmas is coming you know. :) I'm teaching a class on survival to a group of 9-12 year olds, so I have some tabs open from that research. 16 uses for plastic sheeting. This pinterest board on survival skills. And The Survival Mom. Homeschool Giveaways Has this huge link page for learning about pigs. I'll be pinning this to my nature study board. They also have this list on the Animal Kingdom. Lucan Area Donnelly Museum. A local museum focusing on a sad part of history in this area. The science behind baking the right chocolate chip cookie continues to intrigue me. :) Last but not least is Doors Open London. It's on this weekend. The last time we did this we had a lot of fun exploring places in London. :) The crew round-up for this week is called "Books to encourage the Homeschool Mom". I read the topic and thought to myself.. what on earth could I possible write for that? And then I recalled short book written by a member of my homeschool group. Laurie wrote this book to encourage her fellow homeschooling parents. It's not a horribly long book, if you sat down to read straight through and read at an average speed you should get it done in a night or possibly two. :) Me.. I read fast so it's hard to judge sometimes how long a book might take. But if you take your time, you will be encouraged. You will gain thoughts that might assist you in your journey. So check it out, I've included the link for your convenience below. I remember when I started my journey someone in the group lent me a book about homeschooling myths. It was written in a humourous style and just caused me to relax. I can't remember the name, but the gal who loaned it to me said it was the book she loaned EVERYONE who was embarking on this journey and how much it helped folks just to chill and realize that it is a journey that we take with our children and people won't understand it, and we won't understand it and it's okay. And it really is. :) Sorry I can't recall the name or the author (it's been a few years now). :) But you know what it the greatest encouragement for me? it's what refines my goals.
It's what reminds me of what my true calling is. It's what binds me together with other homeschoolers. It's God's word. When it comes right down to it, God's word is the most encouragement I get from ANYTHING that I read. It inspires me. It pushes me. It's tells me I can do better with my schooling, with my life, with my "you name it". God leads me on all the time. Books are good. I've looked through the well-trained mind, I've read books on how to homeschool, I've been encouraged by "Pinecones", and other books, but it's God's word that spurs me on the most and makes me question my decisions and supports my long-term goals. And makes me realize how imperfect I really am. So I know it's okay. I don't have to be perfect.... I just have to keep moving on and trust him to mind the rest. So tell me.. what encourages you? Have you read books lately that I can check out? Would be kinda neat to know what they are. :) OH! And if you want to know what books have encouraged other homeschool parents, check back on the 17th to read more. You can GO HERE to do so. :) Unlike many folks, I don't worry a whole lot on generic screen time. We do a fair amount of homeschooling on the computer and The TV.. well.. it's just on. I live with a man who works in front of the TV unless he's working outside the house and trying to turn it off goes against his grain, so we work with it. (or around it) BUT I have learned that I MUST manage my son's game time. I must. If I don't the following will happen 1. he'll get moody 2. he gets demanding of I NEED TO BE THERE NOW. 3. he'd spend his entire day on the computer playing. 4. he won't sleep well. so as much as my lad (and his father) like playing minecraft... we need limits. So this is what happens in OUR house.
1. all chores need to be finished. 2. all animals must be fed. 3. all homeschooling must be done 4. Lunch must be done. If not.. no minecraft until send things are accomplished. THEN he gets to play for one hour. He likes that. Then he needs to do something different.. reading, playing a game, helping with stuff, doing something active and involved. Minimum effort involved of one hour doing something. (we often play a game, go for a walk, play with snakes etc) After that.. he can earn additional time to play. One hour of work = 1/2 hour of play time. SO work for two minutes, earn one minute. This works for us. NO game time after 7 p.m. One night a week he can play on his tablet while reading books and that's usually on a Friday night. Some days.. if it's rainy or dad has a day off or whatever he gets extra time cause he and dad play together. talk talk talk, whatcha' doing now? I love the conversation I hear. I feel sad sometimes that I can't play with him or even watch them play it makes me feel ill. So sometimes he catches a break and he is EVER so thankful on those days. THAT I like. :) Knowing the rules has removed the angst of "can I play, can I play, can I play" which was driving me crazy. Driving me crazy has one of two results: 1. I yell STOP IT and can be unfair. or 2. sure go do whatever (cause I just want it to stop). Neither is conducive to settled home environment. It's gives him the freedom of working out when playing works best. It gives him room to do some negotiating. "Mom, I couldn't play today because of _____" can I play for 1.5 hours tomorrow without having to work?" My usual response is.. NO attitude and good homeschooling and you've got a deal. Makes for a much calmer house. And I have much less angst cause he's not asking ALL THE TIME if he can play. Things are established and it's working out well. :) Pray tell ... .. how do you manage such things in your household? Here are two that I did up this morning. What do you think? Here is my John Dewey quote and here is one on Motherhood. So what do you think? I am pondering going out this afternoon to take pictures of different things. I know people can buy photos and what not... but I don't have the dollars for that, plus I'm too dutch in my background to want to spend money where it is unnecessary. Makes sense no?
Do anyways, what are you thoughts? The Kelly's are looking to adopt, such things don't come cheaply and they would like some support. Check out the sale below. :) Sunu has done up a little book on Adoption quotes. You can see it here: http://bit.ly/1AMKOrk I believe it is free, so check it out. :) You've seen a lot of eBook bundles this year, we know because we've seen them too. But we hope that you'll give us a few moments of your time today though, because we're bringing you a bundle that doesn't profit affiliates or authors. The Kelly's Bundle of Joy Adoption Sale & Giveaway was designed and compiled by Bridget from Becoming a Godly Wife and Misty from Beautiful Ashes. They created it to raise money for their dear friend Mandy from Women of Worship. Mandy and her family have been on the road to becoming adoptive parents and they've reached the point in their journey where a large amount of money is due. Bridget and Misty reached out through their blogging circles and received several donations for a bundle sale AND an amazing giveaway to help promote The Kelly's Bundle of Joy Adoption Sale & Giveaway. It is their prayer that God would use this bundle sale to raise funds for the Kelly's upcoming adoption and that God blesses them with their little bundle of joy soon. 100% of the funds raised through this sale will be donated to Mandy and her family to help bring their little one home.Below you'll find all of the details for the bundle sale and the giveaway. We would greatly appreciate it if you would share this post across social media. Together we can be a blessing to Mandy and her family. Together we can bring the Kelly's bundle of joy home! The Bundle Includes:
This contents of this bundle are valued at over $100 and you can have them all via The Kelly's Bundle of Joy Adoption Sale & Giveaway for just $10!>>>>Get Your Bundle Here<<<<Simply add The Kelly's Bundle of Joy Adoption Sale to your cart.
If you prefer to simply make a donation to the Kelly's adoption, you may do so via their go fund me page below.The Adoption Sale Promotional Giveaway Details:To help promote The Kelly's Bundle of Joy Adoption Sale & Giveaway and to thank you for considering donating to the Kelly's adoption, Bridget and Misty worked to put together a giveaway package for one of you! They're tremendously thankful to all of their giveaway sponsors, without them this sale would have been impossible. Please take a moment and stop by one or all of their sites and thank them for their support.
This giveaway package is valued at over $300! Be sure you take a moment and enter to win via the Rafflecopter form below.
Sunu from Clothed in Scarlet designed a wonderful booklet of motherhood quotes specifically for this bundle! >>>Download The Little Book of Motherhood Quotes Here<<<Rebecca from Mom's Mustard Seeds has graciously donated a freebie for all of you too! It's Misty's favorite Bible study to use when entering a new school year, so it's the perfect time to get started with it! >>>Download The Homeschool Mother's Prayer Journal by Rebecca Brandt Here<<<Jolene from Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy graciously donated another freebie for all of you!>>>Download The Dolch List Word Wall Printable Here<<< |
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