I quit! Ok not really :-)

Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress.
Tears blur my eyes.
My body and soul are withering away. Psalm 31:9

Sounds a little dramatic doesn't it? Yet I could have said those very words myself today. What happened you wonder? Did my love one die, had my kids been hurt, did I just get my house foreclosed? No nothing that serious, just a hard day in mommy hood......

I woke 30 minutes after my alarm. Yep a late start never helps anyone. The 2 youngest kids who usually sleep through bible time with the older kids and dad, woke up. Olivia was screaming at David, David was screaming at Olivia, and they both were screaming at me (now I am not a screamer, so it upsets me easily). My daughter Abigail announced both by a grumpy face and by her voice that she didn't get enough sleep and she was in a bad mood. (Is that what I sound and look like?) Stephan worked really well, which is a big change from our rough year last year. I guess the incentive of drivers training in the summer after this grade is working. Robert and Abigail began to mess around and I had to repeat over and over to them, to stay focused...... Everybody wanted cereal for breakfast and of course there was no milk. I still haven't figured out how to get my grocery shopping done in the midst of this new school year and everything else I am doing. I said to Robert and Abigail "watch the littles and I will get some...." As I walk out to the car in my flip flops, capri style workout pants and an oversized shirt, I realize my hair isn't brushed and neither is my teeth... Did I wash the makeup off my face or was it smeared under my eye? As I was thinking about this, I realized my husband who had just left for work was still in the driveway in his car. He took one look at me, rolled down his window and said "Is milk all you need?" I nodded my head. He said "go back inside" I must look horrible I thought... Well either way I guess I should be grateful I am not going to the store.
I went back in, my coffee was now cold, the kids moods and fighting hadn't improved any despite my spanking, time outs and various other disciplines.... Nothing was working!
Fast forward a few hours, not much had changed with the kids, and now something at the office needed my immediate attention, and so we have to quickly dress and grab all school left to do and load into the car. That was it.... I was tired, my jeans I put on were too tight, I was losing my voice, and my head hurt among many other things.


I called my husband to tell him I quit. Not really, but yeah in this moment I feel like it. The thing I love about the Psalms, is that I can relate. Those highs of God is amazing, he is all I ever need and want.... to I have soaked my bed with my tears, everyone is against me......

Just another day in my life.... Praise God tomorrow is a new day. Rob is my rock and blessing from Jesus that always comforts me and keeps me sane.
Janet Cobb

- Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires.

Blogging by iPhone

Sitting in my office at MVCF, trying to figure out how to blog from my phone. Pretty sure thanks to Katie M. I did it!


- Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires.

Some of the ways I organize my school...

Well the pictures loaded out of order and since I don't want to reload them, I will just talk about them as they appear. :-) Gotta be flexible.

This first picture is the school schedules attached to the boys bedroom doors.

Each child has their own schedule. It lasts 3 weeks. Every day needs to be signed off by the parent that it all was completed. It includes their schoolwork, chores, hygiene, bible reading etc. It was very easy to make in word on my PC and now I make it in pages on my Mac. I have used one of these every year. Every 3 weeks I sit down at my computer and plan out what needs to be done. Some stuff stays the same and I cut and paste. It doesn't take long. Maybe 1 hour every 3 weeks. I use ACE paces, so they typically take 3 weeks to get through which is why I use the 3 week schedule.





This is part of my dining room where we do school. We have lined the walls with bookcases which hold all kinds of books, and inside the cabinets I have puzzles, flashcards, other school stuff. A small desk, my laptop and printer are new additions to this years layout.

This is a small bookcase that is next to my small desk. It holds the extra ACE paces that they will use throughout the year. I set a small amount of money aside every month so that I can buy all the curriculum for the year at one time, but then that means I need a place to store it. Also stored here is coloring books for Olivia, markers, crayons, and other supplies the kids might need. The case labeled school forms holds where I keep attendance, my grade book, forms that www.gracechristianschools.com requires.

We at one point had a bedroom that was a classroom and the kids had desks set up. However the minute I would need to leave the room, the play time would begin. So having them do school, right where I can be the entire time helps tremendously. However the problem of having them all work at the dining table is that they face each other. Well at lakeshore (a school supply store) they sell these lovely dividers. I can then post on the inside of them important things for the kids to see and remember, and they can't see each other.

Each child has their own basket which is where they keep their bibles, daily journals, school books, a small pencil case with a few pencils and pens in it. A slim dictionary I found at target and anything else that they might need for each 3 week session. They take it to their spot at the table, and then when they are done, clean up and back on the shelf it goes. I found silver duct tape to place across the bottom so that I could label them.

This is a calendar I make every year to show the kids what days they will have school. This year I added the local public school days their friends go to, so that they could see that they will have similar vacations.

This is a close up of Stephan's schedule. He has spanish this year. I hope I learn it too.

Well that is some of the ways I have organized my school. The number 1 thing I have learned in home schooling, organizing and scheduling... Is leave time for life. One of the blessings of home schooling is that we get to keep our own schedule. So when I schedule things to the very half hour, I am throwing away the very benefit of home school. So we have our lists and we get them done, but at our own daily pace and schedule.

1st Day of School

I started my 10th year of homeschool today. It is hard to believe that time has gone by so fast.

We started our morning with 8AM bible study with Dad. Then we went over our behavior contracts, prayed for our day and had breakfast.

Stephan is 14 and in 9th grade. He has decided to take a full class load plus 2 electives as he is hoping to graduate a year early.

Robert is happy with his 8th grade work and was pleasantly surprised that his first day of math wasn't as hard or frustrating as he expected.

Abigail had 2 different projects the first day of school, but we only had the supplies for one, so she will have to make up the other, but even she stayed focused and finished school relatively early for her.

David, is only 4.5, but wanted to start school like the big kids. Kindergarten is a lot of work for me to plan and prepare and then sit with him every day and do, but I was willing to try since he wanted to. The nice thing is there is absolutely no pressure. If he doesn't get it, we can just repeat next year and he won't be behind age wise.

Olivia slept in like usual, which was incredibly helpful for the first day of school. I was able to do K with David before she woke up.

I decided to set an alarm clock this year and start my day at 6:45 am. Yes I know that is sleeping in for some of my friends, but for my 1-2 am bedtime, it is EARLY! I am hoping though that after a week, my body clock will change and I will be able to go to bed at 11PM like a normal person.

Today has been a great day, the kids are now having PE in the pool while I get to peruse FB and Blogs. So thankful for a great day.

Worst Blogger Ever....

Just call me the worst blogger ever.....

I have been so busy since overseeing MVCF women's ministry. Here is a link to the latest studies I have taught.

http://www.mvcf.com/ministries/women/womenMinistry.php

Enjoy!

Ok the family update....

Stephan is entering high school this year. I can't believe this will be my 10th year of home schooling. I always said I wanted to teach all the way through 12th grade, but that I knew from wisdom I gained from my mom to just take each year as it came and do what worked that year for our family. So with that said... yes I will be home schooling him this year. He is so funny, he cracks me up all the time. He has a great sense of humor. We get each others jokes. I love spending time with him. He isn't always patient with his siblings, but him and I are both praying that he grows in that area. I tell him weekly I can't wait until he is driving, he is 14.5 and I have no doubt he will be a great driver. The deal is he has to do really well this year of high school and if he does we will let him get a job and his learners permit next summer.

Robert Jr. is a ladies man.... every where we go all the girls think he is so cute. He of course loves the attention. He is very athletic. Not in a sports kind of way, but he can do flips and parkour and basically anything he tries to do physically he does well. He is super patient with his younger siblings, but doesn't share as much or hang with me as much as Stephan does. He is a social bug and loves to always be spending time with friends. He has no problems entering himself into the center of any group of friends.

Abigail..... what can I say about her.... well in my opinion she is absolutly gorgeous. She is turning into such a beautiful woman. She is super sweet with the her little siblings, and feisty and always trying to get the attention of her older brothers. She is funny and shy. She sits with me in church and I LOVE THAT! She has the prettiest hands, such long fingers, and she plays the piano beautifully. I think she plays by ear like her grandpa does, but I don't think her piano teacher knows that yet.

David. He is going through a new stage of testing me, and he can say no and scream like the rest of them. But.... then he comes up and looks me in the eye with his big sweet eyes and says I lub you mom, and I am melted. He is starting Kindergarten this year. He is a young K and if we were in school I wouldn't do it, but since we are at home and its easy to repeat if he isn't ready we are gonna try. He is very excited about starting school. I think he is going to be like Stephan and school is going to come very easy to him.

Olivia, the baby of the family. She has us all wrapped around her cute little finger. We do as she says. She is feisty, sweet, funny, and incredibly smart. She is at a stage where I have to constantly follow through with discipline and teaching her to share and be kind all day long. She says something hilarious pretty much every day. She has timing. It is just born into her you can tell.

Well that's the update for now.

Rob and I are great. Madly in love, I couldn't do what I do without him.

No weight loss for me, but we have been through months of crazy health issues with me. I had an appendectomy and was 7 days away from having one of my ovaries removed when at my pre op she did one more ultrasound and the issue I was having was gone.... So we are praying that soon we will have the time to dedicate to exercise and weight loss, but in the mean time we are so busy with family and ministry that it just takes a back seat.