Simplifying Schedules...

As our summer nears it's end, I'm reminded of just how hectic our life is going to be once September rolls around. ALL of our activities start back.

When I started planning out this year, I made it a point not to over-schedule. Simplification was KEY to my planning efforts. And then....

Then all the ideas and opportunities popped up. My son is active in sports, so my daughter must be, right? I can't have her skimping out on physical activity, can I? I mean, we take walks and such, and she's active, but I'll be neglecting her if she's not in a sport.

Never mind the fact that she takes two separate music classes. SHE MUST HAVE SPORTS!!!!

Why do I do this to myself? Now, I look at September, and I start to hyperventilate. What do I do? Do I drop an activity? Or, do we dredge through it for 10 weeks.

How painful will that be?

I know what I need to do, especially since the sport my daughter is taking changed what day and time she will be participating to a time period where I would have to be in two places at one time. It's pretty obvious.

I just can't stand that I fell for it again. You know, the "in order to be the best homeschooling mom in the world, I must have my children in everything!!!!

Now, I'm not sure when I decided I had to be the best in the world. Actually, I'll be happy with my children learning how to not kill one another. Reading would be nice, too, but I'm not picky.

So...My thought to you:
As you go along planning your child's year, ask yourself "Does he/she really NEED this?"
Or, could they benefit from an evening (or a few extra hours) of peace in your home?

I'm going for peace!

I wanna be ____________

High school is on the horizon for this homeschool family. My daughter is entering 7th grade. Before we know it, 8th grade will be over. Of course, this has us thinking more about her future: high school classes, college, career, etc.

Some of my friends are already entering this stage of homeschooling, and I see them asking the same questions:

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Ask this of a child when he or she is young, and you're sure to get high reaching goals: President, doctor, lawyer, ASTRONAUT!!!!!

My family is no exception. I have heard so many ideas that I have to chuckle. But, my daughter came to me earlier this year and stated plainly to me that after thinking about everything, her goal in life is to be a homemaker.

At that time, I was thrilled. We've talked a lot about it, and what it means (and what it DOESN'T mean, IE - it DOESN'T mean she'll be selling herself short by not being a career woman).

Then the temptation and guilt set it. I listened to other moms share with me their daughters' dreams, various careers they wanted to settle into. And I thought, "My daughter needs to do this!" Before I knew it, I was challenging her to think about what she really wanted to do in life. 

Looking back, I want to give myself a big facepalm.

Why did I suddenly feel like what my daughter wants in life isn't good enough? Recently, I've seen friends of mine either go back to work or express how badly they want to go back to work. I keep saying to them, "You know, there's nothing wrong with staying at home!!!"

And then I tell my own child she needs to pick a career.

Ooph!

Don't get me wrong - I don't think going to college or having a career is wrong. I do think the optimal career for a woman once she has a family is to take care of that family. I never thought that before I did it. Now, I realize how much happier I am!

So...Now's the time for me to eat some humble pie...and remind my daughter that there's nothing wrong with her original decision to want to be a homemaker. And...remind myself of that, too!

Classroom photos

There was a recent request on one of my online communities for families to show their "classrooms" for ideas. As promised, here are a few shots of our homeschool room!

The "work area" Both kids have a student desk, and I use an old table.

Our electronic white board. You can rotate 5 different screens!

Here's another white board with prepositions written on it, a collection of posters, and the book case holding 1st grade books.

My work space. I have all my teaching aids organized by subject here, plus my planner and portfolios for the children.

Ok, I don't know why this is sideways. Use your imagination (tilt your head!) It's the homeschool cabinet where I keep all of our extras, plus drying shelves for artwork!

Raising Homemakers HUGE Giveaway!!!

                                                 Raising Homemakers One Year Celebration!

Raising Homemakers is having a HUGE giveaway to celebrate their one year mark - a complete collection of Sally Clarkson books! Be sure to stop by the RH website (link above) to check out this wonderful deal.

I love this website. It is one of my favorite blogs to follow. It is very uplifting, and reaffirms what I believe is important to pass along to my daughter. I have a few of the Clarksons's books. They are such a blessing!

You can visit Sally's blog from the link to the left ----> It is "I Take Joy", another wonderful resource!

Know when to say "No"

Knowing when to say "no" is a vital lesson to learn. Too many times, we take on the weight of the world trying to be super woman. Why? I have no earthly idea. Maybe we like punishment? I know I fall victim of this all.the.time. I'm trying to do better. I pray. A LOT. I pray about what jobs I should do. I pray for God to open up opportunities for me, and until He does, I pray that I don't jump into something I shouldn't be meddling in.

Sometimes, that works....Often times, it doesn't. When it doesn't work - I pray for grace and the courage to come to the person I have promised, and let them know I just can't do it.

I hate when this costs me money. For me personally, I have said "yes" to two things I shouldn't have: coordinating a football team (being the organizer, contact person, registration back up), and taking college classes again.

The first was easy to fix. I swallowed a little pride and emailed the director. I told her I couldn't do it anymore, and I explained why. Fortunately, she is a godly lady and understands.

The second takes a little more effort. I have a big pride problem with school. I don't know why! Yes, I do. Because I'm prideful. I never earned my degree, and I somehow think this limits me or labels me something that I'm not. God has given me purpose in life, and it does NOT require any form of a degree. I have gone back and forth to school for 5 years now. It doesn't get any easier.

I thought I had learned my lesson once before, but it would appear that I hadn't. Right now, I'm signed up for 2 classes. One is going ok. The other is an accelerated class, and I just can't keep up. I need to drop it, and I know my husband will not be pleased that I wasted more of his money.

Hopefully, he'll show me grace...AND won't agree to allow me to take more classes in the future.

I have to realize that God has said "no" to me on this part of my life. I need to accept that and move on. And...I must do this JOYFULLY!

Our Homeschooling Journey...take 2

Our homeschool journey began much like many other journeys. My husband and I saw a need, we prayed, and were lead to homeschool. With much enthusiasm, we researched, bought, registered, and prepared for our school year.

                The first year ran incredibly smoothly. Sure, we had our struggles, but they were all worked out quickly. One might imagine that with such a wonderful inaugural year, our second year would be equally smooth. We were experienced! Surely, the wisdom gained would carry over to our next year.

                Unfortunately, I entered the school year with a lazy heart. I felt as though I had quickly mastered the fine nuances of homeschooling in merely a year. With all that pride swarming in me, I no longer sought God’s will for our school. I found a new curriculum that would allow my child to do her work on her own via a computer. I squealed with delight at the thought of not having to do much more than checking her progress once a day. I quickly rationalized the curricula switch and made the purchase.

                The following months were embarrassingly horrible. My daughter felt neglected and behaved extremely rebelliously. We fought constantly. Our house became a war-zone. We tried to switch back to our old curriculum, but it was too late. I was angry with God. I found it completely unfair that I had to deal with such stress and angst. Naturally, I decided to rebel. Four months into our school year, I re-enrolled my child into public school.

                Somehow, during this stormy season I convinced myself that all of this was God’s will for our family. I would pray, but I would never slow down enough to really listen to His answer. Honestly, I didn’t want to hear His answer. I had my solution, and that’s all I wanted.

                I saw my child change a lot in the next few months. She would come home angry every day, upset at her modest clothing. They made her a target for her classmates. She just wanted to fit in, but to do so would require sacrificing our family values. She stayed angry most days.

                As the year drew to a close, it was time to tour the middle school my daughter would attend. I remember arriving at the school completely confident in what we were about to experience. What I received, though, was the most disheartening, disturbing, and disorganized presentation I have ever seen. I was shaken to the core. It was then that I realized God was gripping my heart. I was on fire for homeschooling. I would not, could not stand by and allow this horrid mistake to continue metastasizing. A commitment was made that day, to my children and God. And life hasn’t been the same since.  

Returning to the nook

I stopped posting on this site for a while, focusing all my time and energy into trying to lose weight. Somewhere I lost sight on what was most important, though. I've since canceled that blog. I need a place to muse, vent, ramble, giggle, cry, etc., so I've decided to breathe life back into my *nook*.

Before I get too far into this, I just have to say, if you happen to be reading this post (or any other post on this blog), you may notice that I last wrote that we were quitting homeschooling. A lot has changed since then (obviously...a LOT of time has transpired since then). The best way I can sum up what happened is by posting a personal essay I wrote regarding that matter. I'll post that separately from this. Suffice it to say, I am still homeschooling :) Not only that, but I've recently been appointed as the director of my local homeschooling group. What an adventure!

Although I can't say that I'll be regular with posting here...I would like to say that I want to see my posts be uplifting, encouraging, but mostly - real. There may be humor involved, or frustration beyond comprehension, or even elation over the latest "rainbow moment" in my life...but mostly, there will be honesty.

If you are reading this, I hope you enjoy!

-Shannon

Ah HAH!

Ok..So, I think I stumbled across what's causing my case of the BLUES...

I recently had to start taking this special anti-inflammatory medicine for my tail bone. It has a lot of possible side effects, including mood swings and depression. Duh. This funk really started last week, when I started the medicine.

Man, I'm glad I figured that out. Unfortunately, I have to keep taking the medicine. Hopefully, this is something I can adjust to, because I really need to keep taking this medicine for a few more weeks.

On a lighter note...HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!! Wear your green proudly!

My ode to the Irish today: I'm making Split-pea soup for lunch. :)

Bummed out

I've been fighting this feeling for a while. It comes and goes, but over the last few days, it just hasn't gone anywhere. When I start feeling drab, I've been making myself move, either by running errands, walking outside, exercising, etc. It helps, but eventually, the feeling returns.

In a way, I think it's because I feel isolated right now. My daughter is back in public school, and I'm not doing things with my old homeschool group anymore. Luckily, my Sunday school class is having a ladies night out Thursday, which I desperately need!

Anyway...Not sure what else to put here for today. Just feeling really blahhhh as of late.

Here's to sunshiny days soon!

For my John

Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for agreeing to do (and then doing them with a smile) the things you know that will bring joy to my life (even if the thought of doing them alone would make you cringe).

Thank you for making it a goal in your life to bring me pleasure.

Thank you for loving me in ways that cannot be expressed by words.

Thank you for forgiving me when I concentrate too much on what the world says romance is, and not opening up my eyes to all of the romantic things you do for me on a daily basis (hint, chocolate and flowers aren't really romantic if you think about it!).

Thank you for being everything I need in a husband, even when I think I know better.

I love you :)

It has been a while...

I noticed that all of my posts were really me complaining about one thing or another. So, over the past few months, I've taken a break from a lot of things.

A lot has happened since then. The greatest thing is that we have decided to close Silver Maple School next year. Both of our children will be entering (or re-entering) the public school system. We didn't come to this decision lightly. Both John and I have prayed about this matter many times, and we feel as though we've received the answer to our prayer.

Now comes the wait game. Both children are enrolled, and we will be attempting to place them in a school of our choosing over the next few months. I have a strong feeling that God will open the right doors for us.

I've come to realize that every Christian is given a different path to walk. Ours, for a short time, was the path of homeschooling. Never during our time homeschooling did I feel like we were doing this for similar reasons that other homeschooling friends are doing it. Over the past year and a half, I have heard countless numbers of women talk about how they HS because of "_____" (fill in the blank). Although I would nod and smile politely, I could never said "oh, us, too!" because I knew it would be false.

Simply put, we chose to homeschool because we felt the calling at that time. We were in a bad situation with our daughter and the school she was in. God gave us a solution for the few years we needed it. Now, He's giving us a solution for the next few years.

I know that we will be facing much scrutiny from the homeschooling community when we let everyone know. It's almost as bad as when we told friends a few years ago that we were starting to homeschool. I suppose there are extremists on either side.

But, I have peace about this decision, and I am excited for my children and this next chapter of their lives. So, here's to our final semester of homeschooling. May it be the best it could ever be!

Saved by butter

The Silver Maple School has been met with many challenges over the last few weeks. Attitudes and personalities have been on the front line of the battle field for many days. The casualties (Mom's frayed nerves) lay strewn across the countryside.

Today started with yet another bombing attack. Amidst all the smoke and shrapnel, an unknown ally came to the defense. His gallant name is Butter. Butter was able to help Attitude and Personality see past their differences, if for only a brief moment, and unite in a common goal. A cease fire occurred, and for one glorious moment, the Silver Maple battlefield rejoiced in Peace!

How, you ask, did this occur? A simple science experiment, of course!

Today, I decided to interrupt all other activities with a neat little experiment, making butter! It's simple enough, it just takes a lot of arm work. We used:

1 recycled peanut butter jar
1 container heavy cream
salt
muscles!

I filled the jar 3/4 way full with heavy cream, and added about a tablespoon of salt. Then, I put the lid on tightly and started shaking. The kids also took turns shaking the jar. We had to shake it for 20 minutes total.

It was a neat experiment. For the first 15 minutes, you really can't tell that anything is happening. Then the changes begin to happen. The children were excited, and they couldn't wait to try out our creation. It was during this brief moment that all the stress of the morning fell away, at least for now!

Humbling experience

Today started off rough already. Both kids have been intolerable. The sounds of bickering were filling all of the rooms in the house. And, of course, they had their mommy ear plugs in, so neither child heard my cautioning words.

This, if you can imagine, made me quite angry. I was irritated to the point that every minuscule thing aggravated me. I could tell it was going to be a l-o-n-g day.

I decided to brew a pot of decaf and nurse my "wounds" so to speak. After prepping the coffee maker, I stepped away for a few. When I returned to the kitchen, the entire floor was COVERED in coffee. The counters were soaked, the walls were splattered. In my haste, I forgot to put the coffee pot in place. Having an older coffee maker, that didn't stop anything from brewing!

OI! I wanted to get mad at someone, but it was my fault! Quickly, I felt all my rage melt away, and I just had to shake my head. My son saw the mess and lovingly stayed patient with me as I cleaned up the place. In fact, he found the mop quite fascinating. He never paid attention to me mopping before, and didn't understand how the coffee got out of the mop.

Now, I feel much better, oddly enough! I know God used my "oops" this morning to humble me a bit.

Now, let's see if I can get through the rest of the day without starting any fires.

Sunday Fiasco...

First, I'm very thankful that we had a special evening worship service at church tonight. Attending our Music Gala really lifted my spirits, and helped me calm down from the "incident" today.

If I had tried to blog out my feelings beforehand, I'd need a censorship button :)

I think the worst part of the whole situation, was knowing my daughter succumbed to the pressure of "impressing" her friend, and acted very poorly.

My daughter (9) and her friend were in her bedroom playing, when her friend came downstairs and whispered to my son (4) that my daughter wanted him to come upstairs to play. Now, my mommy radar was going off..but I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt (slaps forehead).

About 45 seconds later, I hear him begin to yell, which suddenly became muffled...hmm. Going upstairs, I saw him sprawled out on the floor on his stomach, with my daughter on top of him, barking in his ear asking why he was in her room bothering her (?!).

Apparently, she didn't request his presence, and the friend took it upon herself to invite him up, thinking it would be funny (my daughter was ignoring the friend momentarily). Once he was upstairs, everything fell apart, and dd decided to "strut her stuff" and show off.

Being the 3rd and youngest child in a family, I have been the recipient of many cruel gags in my life. It's not something I tolerate well. I was very disappointed and angry at the two girls. I was more angry at my daughter though, because she knows better than to act that way towards her brother...We had a long talk with all of them, and I still haven't finished with her yet. I think we will need to work together this week on some issues.

I know the ordeal wasn't much, really, in the long run. But, my child is more mature than that! Our family tries to emphasize a close-knit, loving relationship. Not "my brother/sister is a punching bag, watch this!"

Ugh!

Today just reminded me that we're "not quite there yet" with our progress.

Running out of August!

Wow, the month is almost gone! I feel like it passed by in a blur. Soon enough, Girl Scouts will begin, then sewing classes, and soccer and softball games will start on the weekends. Someone will have to remind me mid-October what "free time" means!!

I've been awfully tired the past couple of days. I think it is mental fatigue. I've been doing a lot of scheduling and that always drains me. I'm looking forward to some renewal soon. My homeschooling group will be having our first Ladies Night Out & then a Bible study within the next couple of weeks. That will surely help!!

I'm juggling the idea of year round schooling. Maybe an adaptation of 9 weeks on 4 weeks off. Dunno quite how I'll do that, since Kierstyn must be in TX during the summer. That MAY be her 4 weeks off...again, I must adapt, because there are a few other times when we will need to take time off from school. We'll see. Maybe it will be 9 weeks on, 2 weeks off, 9 weeks on, 4 weeks off...etc. Nothing is finalized.

On a different note, next week marks Labor Day weekend, which means..duh duh duh...HOME IMPROVEMENT TIME....again. This year we are replacing the roof over our back deck, replacing the back door in the sun room, and replacing the floor in the sun room, kitchen, wash room, foyer, and downstairs bathroom. Lots to do! Maybe we'll be finished by 2012 :)

That's about it for now. Next week, things get tricky around here. I'm not sure how all that is going to go.

Well, my last post ended abruptly, because, well, that's how I felt at the moment.

God's faithfulness never fails, though. The VERY next day, I received a wonderful email that addressed exactly what I was struggling with in my previous post. I love the Lord's timing!!!!!

The number one thing the letter talked about was making sure your dreams are in line with God's dreams for you. Too often, we get caught up in the noise of the world, and we can't hear the soft melody of God's plan. My goal is to stop trying to keep up with the noise, and instead choose contentment in the sweet melody that God has for me.

On another note, I found a blog that I'm rather enjoying...
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/BlessingsUndreamtOf/

I need to get my links page fixed up. I've been lazy!

Choosing Contentment

It's unsettling how quickly we can become dissatisfied with life. It can happen even when you are rooted firmly where you are. Contentment quickly washes away.

I know I'm where I need to be in life. I know that God has charged me with a great responsibility in raising my children. Yet, as I see many of my peers pursuing the lifestyle of their choosing...my previous choosing, I find myself wishing that I could, I would, I had.

What a dangerous place this is! Without realizing, I ham turning to God and saying "Thanks for this gift, but really, can I have the receipt?" Who knows better what is right for me? Certainly not me. But all too easily I forget.

The Fired Dryer...part 2

I've just washed/dried our 6th load of laundry without my dryer. The only adjustment I've made is adding fabric softener to my wash. That has helped with the stiff feeling from line dried clothing. I've also found that it works much better doing one load of laundry per day. This may seem a little tedious, but I have found that I actually like it better. I don't end up with an enormous load of folded clothes to deal with. Typically, I wash a load of laundry around 7am, and have it hanging up by 8am. The next morning, I usually fold the clothes while the next load is washing. It's a pretty simple process!

So, all in all, we're going to continue our adventures in a dryer-less world :) Stay tuned for more updates as the seasons change!

Thoughts on home...

As we begin our second year of home education, I've had a chance to think about my role in life. It is much different than I had imagined. I've always imagined myself as a self-sufficient person that would be very successful professionally. I wouldn't be dependent on anyone, least of all a man! That's what I was always taught.

Fast forward 30 years or so, and here I sit :). I have left the work force, and well, I'm completely dependent on a man to provide income for my family!

So many women in today's society would frown on this. So often today, we (women) think we must leave the house and enter the work force to be fulfilled or "find our identity". I was that woman for a long time. Initially, I joined the work force because I had to. Simply put, I was the income provider for my family. But, as my life progressed, I became the secondary income provider. I still yearned the freedom that being a professional gave me, so I continued working. I could feel my heart strings being pulled by God to come home with my children, but I had to look after my needs, my desires. As a result, I put God on mute for a few years.

Finally, my husband and I realized what shape our family was in, and we came to the agreement that I needed to come home. Sounds easy, doesn't it?

Coming home was the scariest thing I have ever done. Why?....

1. I am a liberated woman! What about my "identity"? Won't it get lost at home with the kids all the time?
2. What about our lifestyle? Can we live on half of our income?
3. What do I tell people I know? How do I support our decision to those that disagree?

These were forces I had to face all at once. When we announced our decision to family members, we were told that we were "making a terrible mistake at a HORRIBLE time, didn't we see the state of the economy? We needed two incomes over one now more than EVER!!!".

We have found that through FAITH, we are sustained. There have been a few financial crises that we have faced since my departure from the workforce, and each one of them have been handled through answered prayer. There was even a time when we anonymously received a gift card in the mail for groceries!

Well, what about Ms. Liberated Woman? This is what I have to say to her:
The bravest, most challenging, most fulfilling thing a mother could ever do is to take care of her family! There is no accomplishment made in an office building that can come anywhere near the gratification waiting for you at home with your children! We have the (brief) opportunity to build up these children into mighty men and women for God's glory!

I know from personal experience that sometimes we have to work. But, when it isn't a necessity, when it has become an escape for you to "find yourself" outside of your family, I want to ask you: What are you hoping to find? And...once you find it, what will it cost you?

Massive Update

The last couple of weeks have been a blur. I need to make a better effort of updating this blog!

One of the most recent things I've decided to do is to fire my dryer. Now, that doesn't mean I've quit doing laundry. Our house would be overrun by mounds of dirty clothes in a matter of days if I did that! No, what it means is that I'm not using my dryer anymore! I found this great article taking about line drying your clothes. Now, I've wanted to do this for a while, but my husband has been completely against it b/c of pollen issues. My son has asthma, and my husband has a terrible time with pollen season. Peppering our clothes with the wonderful powder would not be good for either of them. So...I've struggled with not being able to line dry our clothes.

Then, I found this great website! that talks about how ANYONE living ANYWHERE can fire their dryer. I never thought of line drying in the house before! So, I'm on day 2 (load 2) of line drying. I'm using our bonus room & I have a ladder set up in the back. I hang most of the clothes on hangers and put them on the ladder. So far, so good. It takes a while...but I can be patient :)

I've also been tinkering with canning food. This is also something that anyone can do! There is a little set up cost. You need to buy a pressure canner (mine was $62) and you need jars, lids, etc. But, the cost is quickly balanced out after a few rounds of canning. So far, I've canned:
- peach preserves
- canned peaches
- sweet pickles
- dill pickles
- vegetable beef soup
- chicken noodle soup
- potato soup

Next up will be pinto beans. I'm trying to eliminate eating store bought soup. It's packed full of sodium and other various preservatives that I'd rather not ingest. ...AND canning is surprisingly a gratifying activity.

Our school year has also kicked off at our house, so we have books and science things everywhere! We'll be doing monthly unit studies on different countries this year -- something I can't wait to do. This will be the first set of unit studies that I have personally put together (instead of finding a pre-made one online). I'm a little nervous, but very excited!!!

I'll update on how the studies go as we start them (September).

Well, that's all I have time for right now. Until next time....