V is for Value

 

I have been reevaluating things recently.  I think much of it started when I realized that this is not what I wanted my homeschool to look like.

I was very blessed to review the book Flourish and I am again very blessed to be reviewing these Student Logbooks. 

I have also discovered a Podcast from The Savvy Homeschool Moms that refreshes me and inspires me.

I have decided that I have to treat time with more VALUE!

I that you don’t spend time.  It can’t be earned back.  You just use it up.  Never to be replenished.  This really struck me and I have decided to cut back on quite a few things in order to treat my time with more value.

I won’t be on my phone and facebook so much. 

I will cut back on the amount of moms group activities I  do.  I will still be on the board and participate monthly.  Just not weekly anymore.

I will cut back or possibly cut out the co-op classes I teach.  I will probably still teach an archery class since I have signed up for training for that.  I also won’t sign my kids up for very many co-op classes.

I will still work nightly cleaning the doctors office, but may or may not keep my job at the grocery store.

I will treat my time with more value than I have been.

U is for UP!

 

I feel like I am beating a dead horse here, but I am just not happy with how our homeschool went last year.

I feel like I focused too much on making money. Don’t get me wrong, we needed it.  My husband had switched jobs and then was injured on the job shortly after that. For now, I am in a position where I work because I like it.  I realize I will probably have to cut back on that.

I feel like I focused too much on other peoples children.  I completely enjoyed teaching my co-op classes and they benefitted my children as well.  I understand that we all have to take our turn in order to create successful group classes.  I think I am going to have to cut back on that too.  Not only the co-op classes they take, but I just don’t think I can teach any this year.

I feel like I focused too much on my phone.  I always had it on me.  I got caught up in the games, and in Facebook.  I realize this and have made a commitment to leave my phone on my nightstand until after we are done with school next year.  This is actually going to go for my children’s phones as well.

I feel like I focused too much on to much.  This year we are completely going to simplify, and while I haven’t made all my curriculum decisions for next year,  I have made some.  The goal is going to be simple (on me) and efficient.

So while I feel like this, my 5th year of homeschooling was a total bomb, it can only go up from here! 

I am excited for the future!

 

T is for Timing!

 

Things in my life have been hectic to say the least.  I have tried and tried to focus on bringing the balance back.  This has not necessarily come easy for me.  I am the type of person that takes on and tries to do way more than I should.  From simple things like, going to many places, traveling to much, over planning, I always buy way more then I need at the grocery store. 

I have recently read a book by Carol Tuttle.  Remembering Wholeness is the name.  This book has taught me about positive affirmations and creating the life you want.  I have struggled with deciding the type of life I want.  I struggle with narrowing it all down.  I don’t want to have to give up the fun things in order to have more money in the bank, but I want more money in the bank.  That kind of thing.  

I have been doing quite a bit of pondering on many things.

I took another job.  This one is cleaning a doctors office nightly.  While I am at the job I often listed to audiobooks or podcasts.  I have began listening to The Savvy Homeschool Moms Podcast and it is amazing.  I feel so normal!  I feel like they are talking about me.

I have received and read the book Flourish – Balance for Homeschool Moms by Mary Jo Tate and this book has been a life changer for me. (Review coming very soon!)

I keep being asked what co-op classes I am going to teach next year and honestly, I don’t have any idea.  I’m not even sure if I will.  I think I may focus more on just my family and create the homeschool life I want.

S is for Spontaneous or is it for Scheduling.

 

If you are a blog reader, you know that I am at the point in my life where I am trying to find Balance!  I need to find the balance between being spontaneous and getting the biz done, ya know?

I  mean I want and I do pick up and take my family fishing on a whim.  We head on out to cross the state line on a drive and return hours later, starving and with no dinner plans mind you.

I can and love to be able to do things at the drop of a hat.  I have absolutely no problem there.  The problem lies with getting the nitty gritty done.  The menu planning and prep work, the laundry, the taking out the trash, the well…. everything.

 

This past year we have resided somewhere between unschoolers and over achievers.   We would go days with out getting “work” done and then we would go days getting more than we could ever imagine done.  Often those were the same days.  

Most days, I am on the verge of being completely fine with how are last year went.

Do I want to repeat it again next year? NO!!!

No, sir. No, mam.  No, way. No, how. No, thank you!

I want the scales to balance more on the let’s actually get what is on the schedule done.  Some ways we are doing that is by getting it all out of our system.  We are having the Summer of a lifetime.  We are all traveling very much and experiencing so many fun activities. 

Hopefully we don’t get to attached to this lifestyle as we will return to our regularly scheduled programing.

R is for Routine

 

I would like to start with a truth. 

My original idea for R was to write about rebellion. 

Since I’m a rebel and all I am not going to write about what I had planned. 

Routine is what has saved my sanity lately. 

Remember back when I posted about how I wanted to be more spontaneous.

How do you plan for something like that?  Well next time I will write about other ways I plan so that I can be more spontaneous.

But the biggest way is by having routine.

If every day when my kids get up they follow their list then I know they are ready for the day and whatever we decide to do. 

With a bedtime routine if no matter where we are or what time we decide to go to bed they know the routine and can do it whenever, where ever.

The way I have began incorporating routines is with the bedtime routine. 

I found this great premade one, which is the one we use for bedtime.  I like this one because it is simple enough and has no bedtime snack or drink.  We don’t do those things.  I also like it because it has no time.  If we stay up late because we are watching a family movie, or went for a drive to the mountains to have a campfire it’s fine.  If we need to go to bed early because we spent all day at the pool or park and are just worn out, we can.

Our morning routine is a little more complicated and I am still working out the kinks of it.  I will post more about it when I have it done.  I will explain what I think I am going for though.

I want it to be like

• Wake up
• Eat breakfast
• Get dressed for day

Can I watch TV?  You must answer yes to all of these.

• Did I do all of the above things?
• Have I read for 15 minutes?
• Have I done something helpful?

Can I play outside?

• Did I do all of the above things?
• Do I have sunscreen on?

These routines are for my kids.  I am also incorporating routines for me.

Routines are allowing us to be spontaneous while still having some structure. 

 

Q–Well Quirky of course

 

Quirk is defined by Merriam Webster as being:

: an unusual habit or way of behaving

: something strange that happens by chance

 

Quirky is the adjective form.

I often refer to myself as quirky.  But after looking up the definition I realize that I we are all quirky.  We are all unusual.  We all have interesting habits.  Strange things happen often. 

This discovery is also helping me on my balance discovery journey.

  I often compare myself to what I think of others.

Suzy June can homeschool her kids, go to school full time, work part time, and all her kids are incredibly smart, oh and did I mention she is a single mom.   I think WOW! She is so amazing!  I want to be like her. 

But in reality, I don’t.  I want to be me.

Clara Mae is a stay at home mom, all her kids go to high end private schools, her family goes on extravagant vacations two or three times a year, her house is always spotless, he kids are impeccable in their looks, their education, their manner and they are all above grade level.  She has the life! I want to be like her.

Truth is, I don’t.  I want to be me.

Patricia April is a stay at home mom, all her kids go to normal public school, sometimes her family struggles to pay the bills, her only hobby is reading and she doesn’t get dressed most days.  WOW! She has it easy!  I want to be like her.

Nope.  I want to be me.

 

Alisha March is an amazing homeschooler.  She works from home. She always does fun hands on school that her kids just love.  She even writes her own curriculum most of the time.  She enjoys a very active social life for her and her children.  Her family travels often and there is always money left over.  He kids go to bed on time, get up  on time and her house is always white glove clean.  She is an amazing blogger with an insane amount of followers that actually read her blog daily and look up to her.

This one is the hardest one for me.  But I still want to sit down for a few minutes a day and not be stressed.  I just want to be me.

Sometimes I look at each of these people, each of their families, (and more) and I get envious of certain aspects of their life.  I try to achieve what they have.  Then I realize all I would have to give up of my life already or myself already to attempt to create what they have.

I am happy with my life now.  I am happy that we are all quirky in our own ways.  I am extremely happy to know such a wide variety of people and see a glimpse into their lives.

I am so grateful for blogs of all types.  I enjoy getting a look into how others do things so that I can decide if I want to try them in our home.  I am finding the balance of not thinking that I alone can do it all!

I will see you all again later.  Thank you, Thank you for your time in reading my blog and ramblings and dealing with all my quirkiness.

 

P is for Pressing On!

When we fall we just have to get up, brush off and press on. 


This year my word of the year is Balance!
I’ve been worrying about everyone else so much that I haven’t thought about time for myself, or doing things for me.  After reading my last post you may think, what? You  are doing more than enough for you.  I get it, I am involved in quite a few things. Many of them are just as much for my benefit as they are for my kids.

This has not proven to keep the scales balanced.  Sometimes I do things to make my life easier, like delegating, freezer meal swaps, changing up the schedules and more. 
I still feel like I am not getting enough done in the day.   I have always been a spontaneous flexible type and I love that about me.  Sometimes.
Without a schedule or a plan things get put on the back burner…. forever.  That could mean they are not important enough.  Sometimes they are.  Some examples of important things that I have let go over time that should have been more are important to me are:

• Budgeting
• Menu planning
• Schoolwork
• Cleaning
• Quality time with each child
• Yard work
• Educating myself
• Supporting my husband

As I am working on balance this year, I have realized all of these things play a role in what I want vs who I am.
Recently I had a few day of alone time with my husband.  We did some reevaluating and talking about how far we’ve come and how both of us have changed over the 10 years we’ve been married.  We absolutely do love each other very much and we are not having any problems, we just want more spontaneity in our lives, like we used to have.  I realize this year with trying to find balance in everything that there was a time in our lives where we had too much spontaneity, and then the time now where we don’t have enough.

How do you work on being spontaneous?  
To that I have no idea!  We are going to start by making less plans and being prepared for adventures.

Alright, I am going to stop now, since this is turning into a total ramble. 
Until next time!

O is for OOPS!

 

I was on such a good standing with my blogging.  Then… well, I have no excuse.  I really wanted to be able to complete the alphabet in one month.  It’s okay.  We all struggle with goals every once in a while.  I will just pick up and move on.   It will just take me more than a month to get through the alphabet.

In the meanwhile, let me share some things that have been going on in my life. 

I am very active in both my homeschool group and my moms group.  I also still work part time and we do a laid back summer homeschool schedule. 

In my homeschool group, I am not teaching throughout the summer, but my girls are still in classes.  They also do weekly get togethers that we occasionally participate in.

In my moms group, I am active in the book club, freezer meal swaps, craft days, moms night outs, park days and much more.  I am also one of 3 moderators in this group, so I have to make sure everyone is following the rules and passes our screening to be approved.  (Our moms group is no joke, with by laws and a code of conduct and an application process).

Our summer school schedule is still up in the air.  The month of June is crazy with Emily having girls camp, a vacation trip to Missouri, then a 4H camp all right in a row.  The little kids have two weeks at their grandparents houses in June. Tommy has a fishing trip planned and a big backpacking trip planned for Havasupai. Both in June.  As well as keeping his part time job. 

I have been getting my bearings back and I am feeling really good about things! 

N is for New

 

Spring is often a time when things are considered new.  The new babies being born on farms or in families.  The new buds on plants.  The hustle and bustle of the bees getting ready for the season. I love it all!

In the homeschool world it often means old.  The curriculum is almost done. Your kids have been working in many of the same books all year. 

Not here. 

We have some new math in the house!

I have recently purchased a variety of new curriculum.  I switched out Katey’s math.  We are going completely back to Math U See with her.  I used it with her, with all my kids actually, I just didn’t have the level she needed, so I put it off, not wanting to shell out the money.  But I ended up doing it anyways.  I bought it new from the company.

One struggle that I have with Katey’s math is that I have had a hard time teaching her the times tables.  Well, teaching them in itself has actually been easy.  She gets the concept amazingly well.  She just can’t memorize them.  It has been like this with addition and subtraction as well.  I have been drilling her, playing games with her and she plays Timez Attack often.  We just have to keep at it and she will get them. Right?

I also have finally got my hands on a few levels of Teaching Textbooks, something that I have always wanted to use for Emily.  She has been working at it, and I have been letting her “test out” of the first few quizzes of level 7, while I gauge where she is at with this math. 

Even though Summer is almost here I decided I didn’t want to hold off on starting these math programs until the Fall. 

Both girls will most likely be doing math all Summer, and since it is new math, they are actually both excited about it!

I am also back to my real normal life.  So I am resuming with my duties on The Homeschool Crew. So we have also had some new curriculum with them. 

Emily is very excited to be learning about Poetry from Moving Beyond the Page and I am excited to do a quick WWII study with the older kids.  I am hoping to peak their interest enough that we can continue it into a Summer study.

 

M is for Momma

 

I know, I know, I fell behind. 

Here is my excuse, for what it’s worth.

I had totally planned to write about how great and wonderful my Mother’s Day was.

The thing is, it wasn’t.

So it took my feelings some time to get over it and here we are.

My husband was at work, which is fine, which is very normal, which the kids and I all knew in advance.

I woke up to smelling a delicious breakfast cooking.  So I stayed in bed, waiting for the kids to bring me breakfast.  About 30 minutes later my son comes upstairs and asks me for a ride somewhere.  I said, “Okay.  Is breakfast ready?” 

“Huh?  I just cooked me some eggs and toast.  I already ate.”

“Oh, I see, sure, let me get up and take a shower then I will drive you.”

Then my other kids remind me that we are out of milk, and eggs and cheese and a whole grocery list of items.  Fine, I’ll go grocery shopping.

They all wanted to go with me.

I dislike grocery shopping. Dislike. It.

The whole time they were all can we have this, can we have that? 

Perfect!

My brother had offered to cook a nice dinner.  He needed London Broil.  The grocery store I went to didn’t have any.  So I had to go to another one.

And home, unload the car, put away the groceries. By then, Tommy needed a ride home.

No one had even told me Happy Mother’s Day.  I called my mom and told her, “Happy Mother’s Day.”  We talked for a while and I talked to my Grandma. 

My husband came home and reminded the kids that it was Mother’s Day.  He could tell I was disappointed with my day and did everything to make it better. 

I’m not writing out this story to complain, really, I’m not. 

The thing is, I feel responsible.  I feel like I didn’t raise my kids with enough…respect…consideration…gratefulness…whatever. 

I actually feel guilty that my kids didn’t feel the need to celebrate Mother’s Day.

Since then, I have, taken the challenge.  I want to raise children that will care. 

I hope all your Mother’s Day whether you are a mother or not, was Amazing!

 

L is for Love and Marriage

 

I absolutely love my husband.  Some things that have kept our love for each other strong, therefor giving us a strong marriage is:

• We are very attracted to each other.  I don’t do my hair everyday, and sometimes I wear sweats, I hardly ever wear makeup, but I make sure to make myself presentable.  I try more often then I don’t.  I also do little things, like wear his favorite style of underwear, put on his favorite pair of my pants.
• We flirt with each other all the time.  ALL THE TIME!
• We show affection.  We don’t make out at stop lights (all the time), but we do sit next to each other at dinner.  We hold hands often.  We are never afraid to kiss.  We snuggle when watching a movie or TV. 
• We help each other meet goals.  If I have a dream of rearranging furniture, he helps me.  He may not be happy about it, but he helps.  If he wants to build something. I help him. 
• We do things together.  Some weeks it’s just grocery shopping or driving somewhere. Some weeks it’s date nights. Some weeks it’s just a lot of texting or talking on the phone.
• We try to make each other happy.  If I don’t want to cook dinner, he will.  If he doesn’t want to mow the lawn, I will. (or I will get one of the kids to do it.)
• We do special things for each other.  Maybe a gift or a note. Maybe just a favorite snack or drink when we are out and about. 

 

K is for Katey

 

 

Katey,

You are so cute.  I love your blonde hair.  Every time I look at your cute face I see your freckles and smile.  You are very friendly and make friends where ever you go.  You work amazingly hard at your schoolwork, sometimes you even keep me on better track than I keep us.  Your fashion sense in unique and you always surprise me with the clothes you choose out. You are a natural leader. You are very good at math.  Science and History are your favorite subjects.  You build really neat things in Minecraft. You always play well with your little brother.  You show your feelings and let us know what you really think about things.

I love you and I am so glad you are my daughter.

Love Mom.

J is for Just Great!

So I am not going to lie.  I had pre-written a bunch of posts for this challenge.  I knew I had to blog in bulk to get many of them done.  That has been working just great! 

Then…. I took to long of a break and it caught up with me.  Then I got behind.  Just Great!

Anyways, life has still been treating me well.  I am still feeling good about everything.

We have been wrapping up our end of the year stuff just great!

I have made quite a few decisions about our learning next year.  I have even already purchased some of our curriculum, just great!!! 

I have read and book that is simply just great.
It is Creating Homeschool Balance by Lee Binz. 


This book really has changed my outlook and help me to take the pressure off myself, or put the proper amount of pressure on. Just Great!

I is for me.

 

 

 

I is for me.  Yep, that’s right my friend.  I am going to talk about muah. (me in my fabulous French accent, just picture it now.  I did in fact kiss my fingers as I said that.)

I want to share a little bit about me with you. 

I have always been real in my blog, but maybe not as real as I could be. 

I am a crazy sarcastic person. I have a sense of humor.  I love practical jokes. Well, I love to play them on people.  April Fools day is one of my favorite holidays.  I am a cheapskate.  I hardly ever buy myself new clothes.  I have curly/frizzy hair, depending on the day. I always have my toenails painted.  I love my husband.  I definitely lean on him often. 

I am writing you to share with you that I am going to try to be even more real on my blog then I have ever been.  I am going to try and let more of my actual personality shine though my blog.

I hope I don’t offend anyone.  I am excited and nervous.

Here we go!

H is for Help

I have realized that sometimes helping someone out doesn’t always mean you have to help them with a physical task.

Sometimes it means just listening to someone.  Just being there for someone.

Sometimes people don’t need anything more than for someone to care.  To care about what they are going through.  To be able to lean on someone.  To have a person to vent to. 

Sometimes people need you to reach out to them and be able to share that you are there for them. 

I challenge you to all take time to care about and help someone new. Either by listening to them, by just being there for someone new.

G is for Gardening {mishaps}

 

Let me just start off by saying that I live in Zone 4 which is a cold climate.  We have cold winters, very cold, and dry warm summers.

There is a standard rule to NOT plant outdoors before Mother’s Day EVER!  No matter how warm it gets in Feb, or March, even April.  DON’T PLANT BEFORE MOTHER’S DAY!

I knew this rule.  I have known this rule my entire life since I was a child.  We never planted before Mother’s Day.  Now I live in an even colder climate.

It all started one March day.  I had been taking some gardening classes at the library.  I got all gung ho and came home and planted some seeds in these self watering pots I made out of 2 liter bottles.  I kept them inside on my window ledges. 

They got very big, very quickly.  In just a few weeks many of the plants had out grown the pots.  So my husband talked me into planting them outside.  YES, I am totally blaming him, and he knows it!

I have a raised bed with a green house screen that fits over the top of it. 

The very next day after we planted our plants out there the winds were fierce!  I mean fierce!  55-80 mile and hour wind gusts and the temperature was around 40 F.  We did our best to protect the plants.

NONE of them survived! NONE of them.

I was so sad! I am so sad. 

I do have a small 2sqft box that I plant my cold weather seeds in.  Peas, Radishes and Lettuce.  They all survived, although, I think the lettuce, just barely.

 

I have yet to plant more seeds in my house.  I think I am just going to wait until after Mother’s Day to go buy some already started plants. 

The garden will go on!

F is for Family Fun

 

My family is so important to me.  I want to make some amazing memories with them. I want our bond to be strong and unbreakable. 

I enjoy having fun with my family. 

We have some traditions that I know will be lifelong memories for my children.  Here are just a few of them.

• We have campfires all the time.
• We go for drives and take the scenic way often.
• We play card games a lot.
• We get loud and be proud at any event our children participate in.
• We make it a priority to be at said events.
• We get interested in what our children are interested in.
• We have fun sleepovers in the living room.
• We build big awesome forts for our kids.
• We plan surprises for them.  Simple things like going bowling, or to the go cart track.
• We are spontaneous.
• We give this parenting thing our all.
• We let them know that we value them being a part of our family.

E is for Emily!

 

My Emily. 

She is so sweet,

she is so caring,

she is so beautiful,

she is so sassy,

she is so funny,

she is so accepting,

she is so brave,

she is so athletic,

she is so talented.

She is so amazing!

I am lucky I get to be her mom.

D is for Dinner time.

 

Another overwhelming thing in my life is dinner.  In particular the prepping and serving of said dinner.  I am good cooking dinner most nights, but there was so much weighing on me that I often struggled with it, the planning, the shopping, the prepping, the cooking, the serving, the cleaning up after.  

My husband had this genius idea to delegate it out.  I have 3 completely abled chefs in the house besides me and my husband.  They could each take a day each week and plan, prep, serve and cook a meal.

I grocery shop on Tuesdays so they have to have their grocery list to me by Monday mornings. 

This has been working out incredibly well and may have very well been the bird that ate the straw off the camels back.