Fall Break

We are actually 2 days ahead of our school schedule so we decided to take off today and Monday and enjoy a fall break.  We are usually 2 weeks behind schedule by this point....so a fall break is definitely a new concept for us :)

I was so excited that I planned a day full of fun for the crew....

After breakfast we got dressed and made goody bags for a neighborhood outreach we are participating in on Halloween.  We made some good goodie bags.....full sized candy bars and skittles and play-doh!  Thank you Costco for the timely rebate check!  The kids had so much fun making the bags.  I love to see them doing for others!  They were happy to see that there was leftover Play-Doh and promptly added it to their collection!

Then the kids spent a little time outside with the neighbors.....Following playtime we had some errands: Pick Grammy up from doctor, pickup check, go to bank, take Andrew to Basketball, Take Grammy back to doctor, pick Andrew up from Basketball.....

We then picked up lunch and headed out for our Big Adventure....

THE PUMPKIN PATCH....

Oh, what fun we had....I only have a few pictures because my camera batteries died :( so here is what I have:

They really enjoyed seeing the goats, turkeys and roosters.  One rooster was VERY vocal we had quite a laugh!

Twinkie Girl and The Baby played in the sandbox while the other kids went down the giant slide!

The water pump duck race was a huge hit with all the kids.  They could have played with the pump all day....

very clever and simple setup and the kids had so much fun!

The train ride was a highlight of the day.

The kiddos also got to go on a hayride and pick a pumpkin, crawl through a hay tunnel, jump around a hay maze, bounce in inflatables, and mine for gemstones.....but there are no pictures....only happy memories!

We were all tired and on the verge of meltdown when we left the farm to begin our trek home (about 40 minute drive)  I got all the kids ice cream and a drink and within minutes they were full, sticky, and the 3 little ones were fast asleep. 

We didn't get home until 6:30 so we are having a late dinner.  I'm cooking and blogging while Daddy does baths.  3 kids are clean and in PJ's, one is in the process of getting cleaned up, and the baby is zonked out on the bed!  To wake or not to wake is the question?

Dinner tonight is a Randy and Kim comfort food.  Hamburger Casserole.  Not healthy but quick, yummy, and filling:

1 lb. hamburger

1 pkg. tator tots

2 cans cream of mushroom

Cheddar Cheese

Brown meat.  Mix together meat, tator tots, and cream of mushroom.  Put it in a casserole dish and bake at 450 for about 20 minutes.  Top with Cheddar Cheese and bake until cheese melts....

Season with salt and pepper to taste....

It's not much to look at....but it is

YUMMY!

I think we are going to rent a movie and eat dinner in front of the TV and call it a day!  I LOVE fun days!!!

Goodnight and Happy Weekend!

Kim

An Apple A Day

We've had an uneventful week at our house.  Which is always a blessing!  We've been enjoying fall and the preschoolers and I have been doing a unit on apples!  We've made apple crowns, sorted apples by size and color.  Made apple patterns.  Painted using apple stamps, "planted" an apple orchard in the sandbox.....made apple pie.....it's been all about the apple. We've written about apples, sung about apples, and read about apples....I love fall and to end our unit on apples I am planning to made a yummy apple caramel cake tonight with my little apple jacks!

Making our apple crowns in an A-B pattern.

Picking "apples" from a tree and sorting them by color.

Practicing our "reading" with facts about apples.

Sorting apples by size.

It's been a nice peaceful day at our house.  I spent the morning cleaning the downstairs...and it looks good (so ya'll hurry over in the next half hour before it's a mess again!) and Randy took the kids to a birthday party.  When they got back from the party I took THE GIRL and THE TWINKIES to sign up for basketball (the GIRL and TWINKIE BOY) and cheerleading (TWINKIE GIRL).  This will be a first for all of them with organized sports and they are very excited!  We got home and the kids are in roomtime and Randy is snoring-LOUDLY beside me and all is well.  I realized I never posted any pictures from our beach weekend with Randy's family.  Part of the reason is because my camera broke....so by the time I replaced it the trip was winding down.  I only got a few photos and none were at the beach.  I got my new camera on our last night there.  We did have a good time though and I will post the few pics I have:

We were suited up and heading down for our last night of swimming!  We had so much fun at the indoor pool/water slides!

Daddy and Twinkie Girl and The Baby taking a relaxing dip in the hot tub....

All the kids had movie night with Pepa.  Benji + PJ's + Popcorn=FUN

Don't let all the smiling happy faces fool you....they were crazy whiny the whole way home from the beach they were just putting on for the camera!

Well roomtime is almost over and we get to go to a sweet Crabtree Cousin Birthday shortly so I better gear up!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Love,

Kim

Hurting

Love me gently, Lord
I'm hurting now.
I've lived to see Your sovereignty
You've taught my knees to bow
I've caught glimpses of Your glory
I've seen Your righteous ways
But right now I need You, Father,
Just to face another day.

You have promised not to always be
Exactly what I please.
But You give me sweet assurance
You're exactly what I need.
I need a gentle Father
And the lullaby He sings,
"Let Me tuck you safely
Underneath My healing wings."

Love me gently, Lord,
I'm hurting now.
You said, "Take Your cross and follow Me."
I beg, please show me how
To celebrate my weakness
That in You I might be strong.
When desperation grips my soul
A moment seems too long.

Oh, God, what noble plans I had
To do this whole thing right
Now I fall before You wounded
And I've lost the will to fight.
There are soldiers all around me
They're depending on me, too.
I fear I've nothing left to give
So, again I ask, Can You?

I'll love you gently, He says,
I know you're hurting now.
You've oft revered my sovereignty
Your knees have dropped to bow.
If you could only see things
From My throne's clear point of view
You'd see glimpses of My glory
Are fast at work in you.

I'll love you gently.
Let Me soothe your hurting now.
I've said, Pick up and follow-
I'll do more than show you how.
I'll turn this Throne of brilliance
Into a rocking chair.
Crawl aboard, My precious child,
And I will rock you there

Written by Beth Moore

As I look at the pain around me.  Real, intense, excruciating, grief....to the point it becomes a physical pain...I'm brought again to my greatest loss.  Matthew.  His name means "a gift from God" and that he was.  That sweet boy taught me so much and stole my heart in the short time he graced our family and I will never be the same.  I can't understand the pain of losing a spouse, a mother, a father, or a child you've known for years but I do understand a grief so deep it causes physical pain.  So when those around me grieve I grieve with them.  I look back on the years after Matthew died and realize now the only way I got through that time was God.  For those of you who don't know, Matthew was our second child.  I'm not really momto5 I'm really momto6.  I was 8 months pregnant with Matthew when he stopped kicking.  He had died due to a knot in his umbilical cord.  The doctor induced labor and 3 days after he died he was born.  A precious, beautiful blessing.  A pain the world would never understand.  I could spend hours telling all that God has done in my life from the loss of my sweet baby.  I do want to say this though God graciously carried me through the pain.  He used writings like the poem above and people like (Linda Reyner and Kim Salmon just to name 2) who showed their love with no strings attached and lavished us with cards, prayers, and kindnesses.  But more then anything He used His word.  I would feast on it.  I clung to it.  My world was shaken to the very foundation and it was all I could trust to be true.  And it was..... and still is.  I have pages of verses I typed out during that time and I would read the truth over and over and over.  I am so thankful for God's true and unchangeable word.  It literally sustained me for the first year.  These verses became my prayers for myself.  They became my hope.

Isaiah 53:4 
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.

Psalms 147:3
He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 27:5
For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in His pavilion, in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me.

Psalm 29:11
The Lord will give strength unto his people.

Isaiah 61:3
And to provide for those who grieve in Zion-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

Psalm 56:8
Record my lament, list my tears on your scroll-are they not in your record?

Psalm 119:28
My soul is weary with sorrow, strengthen me according to your word.

Psalm 119;50
This is my comfort in my affliction, that thy word has revived me.

II Corinthians 1:3-5
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

Acts 20:24
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

I wish I could ease the pain of those who suffer.  I wish I could tell them why this had to happen.  I wish I could undo the losses that cause their pain.  I can't so I hope that perhaps these verses and words will be a salve to your hearts as they were to mine.  One more poem for now also written by Beth Moore:

Extremities

Satisfy me not with the lesser of you
Find me no solace in shadows of the True
No ordinary measure of extraordinary means
The depth, the length, and breadth of You
And nothing in between.

Etch these words upon my heart knowing all the while
No ordinary roadblocks plague extraordinary miles
Your power as my portion, Your glory as my fare
Take me to the extremities,
But meet me fully there.

Goodnight.  Much love and many prayers
Kim

It was ONE of THOSE days!

Where do I even begin?  What a day!  It began early....Randy was headed out of town with his boss so I was a little stressed to begin with....and then...as I walked him to the door and kissed him goodbye....he said...Honey...I hate to tell you this and I have to leave but you have a flat tire!

YEP....I did.  A flat tire isn't a huge deal except...Randy had to leave for his meeting.  He wouldn't be back until late Wednesday.  His parent's who live nearby were out of town.  My sister was at work.  I have 5 kids most of whom are young and can't stay home unattended and we don't really fit in most peoples cars....

What to do?

Call Daddy!  Daddy came right to my rescue and with quite a bit of maneuvering he got me to the mechanic and had me set up and delivered us all back home safely....

THEN THE MECHANIC CALLED.....
There was evidently a bit more work needed and they thought it would cost $1,000.....
Randy said NO THANK YOU....

So......a few phone calls later, some tough negotiating on my part, and another rescue...this time by Randy's sweet sister Rhonda....and we were off to a new mechanic....and my sweet in-laws who were out of town told me to go in and get a key and take their Expedition to drive while my car was in the shop! 
How blessed am I?

Now I'm holding my breath and praying this mechanics estimate comes back much lower!
We expect to hear in the morning.....ugh.....I really don't like messing with car issues! 

So my man is in Atlanta :(, my car is in the shop, and evidently it is going to cost a small fortune to get it back....UGH.....we did not get all of our school done, and of course as always....my house is not looking the way I wish it looked and the laundry pile is there again!  What's the deal with that?

HOWEVER.....
My sweet husband has a job....PRAISE THE LORD!  My Dad, and Mom, and Sister-in-law, and Mother and Father in-law ALL helped me and blessed me today....THANK YOU!  I have 5 beautiful, healthy kids who got to see first hand about blessing people today.  My Mama took THE GIRL today and invested in her life, which ALWAYS blesses me.  My BOY got to see me stand firm, but not lose my temper, and negotiate with a mechanic that wanted me to pay $100 for diagnosing what was wrong with my car and he got to see that you can be firm, not sin, and still stand up for yourself.  So all was not lost.....(I didn't pay the $100)
I got to visit with my sweet neighbor and we treated ourselves and our kids to dinner out which was a real treat.
And my Mama even surprised me this afternoon with a container of my favorite chocolate/strawberry tea and a pretty pumpkin dish towel and a cute fall notepad.  She spoils me!

I LOVE my Mama, My husband, My kids, My In-laws, My Daddy, My Neighbors......I am one blessed lady.  We all have THOSE DAYS but God gives us people to get us through!
Can't wait to see what tomorrow holds.....Maybe a clean house????   DOUBTFUL :)
Goodnight.

Workboxes

I get asked a lot of questions about homeschooling and how we can practically get it done....so I decided I would blog about some of the "secrets" we've figured out over the past 8 years for those of you interested. 

So today I'll tell about workboxes....Please try to contain your excitement :)

I love workboxes because they quite simply changed my life.  I know they don't look too exciting...but they really are!  I did not come up with this concept.....I rarely have an original idea....I love to read and research and borrow all the ideas other people have!  The set on the far left of the picture is shared by The Baby and The Twinkies, The middle set belongs to The Boy, and the set to the right belong to The Girl. 

Each evening I fill each child's box with their schoolwork for the next day.  So simple....yet so amazing!
1. It keeps everything organized.
2. It keeps the kids from asking me every 15 minutes what to do next.
3. They are motivated to work as they see their boxes come off the shelf...and the empty space.  They can immediately see how much is left.
4. It forces me to plan ahead so we are ready to go in the morning.

The Little Ones Boxes are filled with
1-Preschool Activity: Craft to go with theme, song, Cubbie verse, Speech work
2-Special Toy of the Day: Monday (coloring books) Tuesday (blocks) Wednesday (cars) and Friday (Play-Doh)
3- Movie
4-Book for Story time
5-Activity Bag (This are zip lock bags filled with an activity: ie tracing, simple craft, simple counting/sorting etc...that a preschooler can do independently)
6-Art Monday (Finger Paint) Tuesday (Water paint) Wednesday (cutting) Friday (project)
7-Game
8-Room time
9-Outside Time
10-Free Play
11-Sibling Play
12- Mommy's Choice of Activity

They know to go to the first box and we do preschool together, then to get the second box and the three little ones can play with the toy of the day together, get the third box and they watch a movie mom has already picked out (so no arguing!)....etc.  We throw in lunch and snacks and sometimes have to reorder boxes to fit with the other kids schedules but it works.....

The Girl's Boxes are:
1-Bible Reading/Sparks verse
2. Handwriting
3-Phonics
4-Spelling
5-Reading
6-Writing Activity
7-Math
8-Story time
9-History
10-Art
11-Home Ec
12-Other

The Boy's Boxes are:
1-Devotional
2-Keyboarding (Tues/Fri) and Health (Mon/Wed)
3-Math
4-History
5-Story time
6-Writing
7-Spelling
8-Grammar
9-Vocabulary
10-Guitar Practice
11-Reading
12- Spanish (Tues/Fri) Geography (Mon/Wed)

The Boy and The Girl Also have cards that are put between their boxes with things like:
Chores
Outside Play
Play with younger siblings (this is an assigned activity and assigned sibling   for example I may tell The girl to play Candy Land with the Twinkie Girl and The Boy to play army with The Twinkie Boy while I play Little people with The Baby)
Lunch
Room time (we all have room time everyday for 1 hour.....RARE is the exception)

That is it....it is so simple....but it is a sure way to make sure everybody gets their responsibilities done for the day and that everyone get enough mom time and that mom uses her time wisely. 

So.....that is why I LOVE WORKBOXES!  It's made homeschooling so much more efficient and helped us manage our time better.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!
Night!
Kim

Pajama Day

Well.....as I sit here sipping my lukewarm coffee I am enjoying a more relaxed pace today.  So often I jump out of bed and feel like I am off to the races until the moment I have all the kiddos tucked back in bed about 14 hours later.  NOT TODAY!

Last night....much to the kids delight....I announced that today was our annual PAJAMA DAY!  That is a special school tradition.....Usually once a year (sometimes twice) the kids get to sleep in a little (until 8) and then are awakened to breakfast in bed.....

followed by some of their school work in bed.......

They get to keep on their PJ's until lunch.......

and it just gives the whole day a much more relaxed feel. 

I like PJ Day!

Our Week in Pictures

I haven't blogged about our daily activities much this week so I thought I'd use tonight to do a short re-cap.  It's Thursday so that means co-op.  I have several pictures from today:  This is a shot from history class where we were learning about the Nile River.  The kids each made a model and are very excited to see if their "crop" of grass seed grows along the Nile.

The preschoolers have so much fun on their outdoor adventures!  So cute!  They have the BEST science teacher ever!  We LOVE our Co-op teachers!

The Girls Art class has been learning mixing colors and the color wheel!

Have I mentioned that I love Co-op!  These women are "my people".  LOVE THEM!

Anyway.....

Yesterday was Wednesday....which means gymnastics!  The girls LOVE gymnastics.  The Twinkie boy did NOT love going......

Twinkie Boy does love speech though.  He gets to go every Monday and Wednesday and while it is very disruptive to our schedule...it is VERY worth it.  Twinkie Boy has a severe speech disorder called Apraxia.  He has come so far and his teacher is amazed at how vocal and smart he is.  Some children with Apraxia never gain speech and especially children who have as severe of a disorder as my sweet boy!  I am soooooo proud of him and I ADORE his speech teacher.  She makes it fun!

This is the rest of the crew working while Jack does speech.

Another WONDERFUL part of our week was The Girl setting the table.  Yes she is taking a manners course at school and one of the things they are learning is how to set a proper table.  She did a great job and the little ones have gotten so excited they are now begging to set the table!  LOVE IT!

This is my favorite picture of the week.  I love it because as I was rushing about the house I happened upon the girls and they were playing the sweetest game.  Twinkie girl was having devotions with the BABY.  It made my heart smile.  Granted its a reading book.......not a Bible.....it still blessed me to see them playing "devotions" and being so kind to each other.....THEY ARE NOT LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME....I PROMISE.

 Okay....these next two pictures are Odyssey of the Mind pictures.  I'm sure I will periodically blog about Odyssey.  It became a big part of our life last year.  It is probably one of the hardest yet rewarding activities we have ever participated in.  It is a HUGE time commitment but THE BOY learned so much.  Here's a short Odyssey overview:
Odyssey of the Mindis an international educational program that provides creative problem-solving opportunities for students from kindergarten through college. Team members apply their creativity to solve problems that range from building mechanical devices to presenting their own interpretation of literary classics. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. Thousands of teams from throughout the U.S. and from about 25 other countries participate in the program.

Last year was our teams first year.  The kids did great.  It was so hard....UGH....I can't believe we signed up for this again.....but it really was worth it.  About half our team returned and about half of our team is new members. 

This Monday our team selected their long term problem which they will spend the next 7 months solving and preparing for competition.  Above is a photo of the kids practicing solving a "spontaneous problem".  They had to build a structure as tall as they could using only index cards and they could not speak.  They had 3 minutes to "plan" without talking and 4 minutes to "solve it".  They were judged on the height of the structure and on how they worked as a team. 

Another highlight of the week was that we finished painting TWINKIE GIRLS room.  It's PINK!!!!  She loves it.  Here's a picture of her in her big girl bed....a gift from a dear friend (THANK YOU MARCI)

And Randy switched out the Cars light that was hanging in her room for a GIRL light.  He did good!

A cookout with the neighbors!  FUN!

As I look back on our week.....I think WOW we were busy!  However....I then remember so is the rest of the world.  A very wise friend/mentor of mine (Linda) told me years ago that everyone has the same 24 hours each day and that we choose how to fill them.....but one thing is for sure we will all fill them. 

My constant ambition is to choose wisely....and I don't always....I check facebook too much, I watch too much TV, I don't sleep enough, and I play bubble burst too much while I watch TV :)  (That is for you Randy).  So I do not have this altogether...at all!

However my sweet friends husband (Shay) has also taught me 2 of the most important focuses of my life.  To INVEST in what matters and to be INTENTIONAL.  As I look back on the week.....I see what matters and what doesn't.  What is worth the investment and what is not.  I'm thankful for my Co-op mommy friends who are investing in me and my kids. 

Love you all sorry this was so long and so random.....but I had a lot I wanted to share.  I'll try to be more intentional next time :)

Kim