Which are you?

So the question I continue to ask myself is:

Which one am I??? 

A pond 

or

 springs of living water?  

What IS a spring of living water?  It's when we are brimming, and FLOWING, and spilling everywhere with Jesus. Our water is always refreshing and doesn't stay in one place,

John 7:38 - He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.” 

Of course I want to be a spring, but it's SOO easy to get dammed up - build the rock wall bit by bit, and the water slowly grows bacteria.  Of course the enemy of our soul doesn't want us to be flowing springs of living water, so he's sneaky.

We were not created to live for ourselves, as a standing pond.

The first reaction when we realize our water is stagnant & dirty, is to "CLEAN IT UP!"  So we look for ways to fix the problem and make the water healthy.  But the simple solution is BREAK DOWN THE DAM, let the water flow.  Running water doesn't grow algae.

The 3 reasons we become dammed up are:

1. We're BUSY.  We've locked ourselves down to get our schedule accomplished.
2. We're STRESSED.  We shut down and say to ourselves, "I can't deal with any more."
3. We're OFFENDED.  We feel hurt so we build walls up to prevent further destruction.

When I get an amazing revelation of being the living springs of Jesus to either people close to me, people groups, church groups, neighborhoods...you can bet the enemy is going to push one of those buttons on me so my knee-jerked-reaction to is "dam up".

BUT WE NEED TO USE A BIGGER SLEDGE HAMMER TO BREAK THE DAM.

Push through the schedule, feelings, & hurts.

All through scripture, the answer to ALL our life problems is BUILD THE KINGDOM.  Here are just a couple references I have found, but I could list pages, and pages...

- "Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom and His righteousness, and ALLLLLLLL these things will be added to you."  Matthew 6:33
- "...Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."  Philippians 4:9

It is SOO easy to go on with our daily lives and consume ourselves with the troubles that just today brings.  But I know in my knower, and by reading the Word of God, that being purposeful in building the Kingdom of God plays a VITAL ROLE in being an over comer of our troubles.  When we are about HIS business, HE will be about ours.  So we need to be much more purposeful in being kingdom minded, using Jesus as our example, and flowing to the world around us with the Love of Christ.

Let's practice waking up, and saying, "Jesus, what can I do to work with YOU today to seek first & build the Kingdom?"

Why do we often wait for a tragedy to happen before reaching out to people we love?

SOOOOO...for the next few weeks, my girls and I are doing some servant projects. 

This week, we're going to PEEP IN on our neighbors.  

Since we just moved into our neighborhood, we're bringing these over to a bunch of our neighbors:  

Peep cakes & Neighbor Fridge Magnets!

 

 I hope you will do some with us.  Let's incorporate being the hands and feet of Jesus into our regular lives.

 If you want more information about our Neighbor magnets, you can read about them HERE.

School Project...EPIC FAIL!!!

So here we are into week 3 of school, and we've had a ball (so far).

Today we did a project out of "America the Beautiful" (by the Notgrass company) and laughed so hard while trying to accomplish the impossible.

We were to build an Iroquois Long house out of toothpicks & gumdrops.  You'd think we could find gumdrops anywhere in the state of Florida...nope.  So my husband thought perhaps we could use mini marshmallows instead of gumdrops.

Here's the mission (if we choose to accept it)...

 All smiles and confidence as we start to construct the walls...

We built the smoke stacks for the interior of the structure - Micah even made cotton "smoke"...

 

As the wall assembly begins,

we're still confident in our ability...

Things VERY quickly began to FALL APART...

It was becoming very clear there was NO recovery, 

our mission was crashing & burning

 

So we tried to cut it in half, 

surely it would hold up if it's a smaller structure, right?

A BIG NOPE!  EPIC FAIL!!!!

So we decided to do CHUBBY BUNNY! 

Yep, I give you permission to laugh at our non ability to build a simple longhouse.  Good thing we're not Iroquois or we may be kicked out of the tribe.

I decided to do this project this morning, because although our school spirits have been high, some tension was brewing a bit.  The girls had to do some work over the weekend to complete last week's assignments. They chose to play one afternoon - and were warned they'd have to complete their work before Monday; they agreed until the time came to finish.  They were NOT impressed, but I don't want to fall behind.

Nothing reduces stress faster than silliness, so giggling over our inability to do a longhouse was JUST the medicine needed to start the week.

A cheerful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

The Beautiful Imperfections of Homeschooling

When my girls grew to school age, we made the decision to homeschool for reasons most here reading this will understand.  Oh boy, we were going to get SOOO much accomplished, they would be ready to graduate and head to college at 10 years old (well, maybe 14), and every day was going to be an incredible amount of fun...right?

Here we are 6 years later, and my girls are ELATED to start school this year - and I know it's genuine, but that did not come without ironing out some HUGE bumps in the road.

• I purchased sooo many great books over the years...that did not get finished.
• I have had some knock down drag out fights with my daughters...and work would not always get accomplished.
• I planned on being sooo scheduled...then we had to move, or deal with LIFE & distractions, and the schedule would go to pot.

Some years I felt were an EPIC fail. I'd feel so defeated and I'd have to lick my wounds. BUT, to attempt to rise to the challenge, I'd bust out the cheer pom-poms, and Hoorah us on for another "GREAT YEAR" (through gritted teeth at times).

What I've learned - all through failure I must admit:

1. Don't set your expectations too high:  
I would look at some amazing blogger's homeschool schedule that is fine-tuned down to the minute, see all the wonderful subjects & lessons, art, music & geometry...and I'd think to myself, "I need to do ALL THAT to be successful!"  Then I'd tie myself into 12 knots trying to make that work for us, having to CONSTANTLY adjust my lesson plans (and eventually I just left them blank not knowing if I'd get ANYTHING accomplished), get grumpy at my girls because they couldn't meet my expectations, then feel like a failure because I couldn't accomplish it A-L-L.

The lesson I learned while trying to untangle myself is this:  One of the reasons we homeschool is because each family is UNIQUE, each child is UNIQUE, so we can tailor our curriculum, schedule, and style to fit the individual & family.

2. Involve your kids in the planning process:
Sometimes it was a battle to get my girls to do their work, and the reality that our system was NOT working was when the tears started to stream down my beautiful daughter's cheeks.  This was NOT the experience I wanted for them to remember as they look back at their homeschool years.

When I would start asking questions like, "Would you like to do THIS one, or THAT one?" I was amazed at their eagerness & response.  I'd offer choices in style of work, topics, and books.  When they felt invested in their learning, they were far more motivated to accomplish their work.

3. Encourage their individual learning style:
I have a daughter who can't sit long without fidgeting - so I will let her stand, and I'll have munchies at her desk so she can accomplish a lot if she's not forced to just sit still & concentrate for long periods of time.  I also will occasionally allow them to go long periods of time on one topic, rather than switch every hour - they do better that way (at times) when there's choices...so one week we may do all math to get to a certain place in their book, and another week may be a large variety of subjects.

4. Start simple (if you need to):
When I first thought of homeschooling, I started doing my research, and there are SOO many great resources out there - but for my type of personality, TOO MANY that caused me to short-circuit.  I wanted to do it ALL and be the mom/teacher to the next brain-y-ac. 

What I found the most peaceful was to start simple. The basics. Do the type of curriculum that is simple, and lays out the foundation very easily.  I purposely dodged homeschool conventions, curriculum catalogs, and magazines.  Now, I  AM a researcher, but to get a fire hose full of information when I was a newby was NOT helpful, in fact it was down-right overwhelming.  Now, this is ME, and to all you "MEs" out there, find peace in simplicity.  I found "shutting out" what many people considered the "norm" helpful for a season until I could learn MY girls, and style - and build from there - once I grasped the basics, I started adding upon my core work & style year after year.

SOOOO...Here's to our (and your) 

AMAZING YEAR OF LEARNING & FUN!

This Year, my girls are in Grade 5 & Grade 6.

What we're doing for Math, & Language Arts is a basic curriculum called Rod & Staff.  It's old fashioned, but extremely simple.  They have it set up where the girls simply do one lesson per day, per subject - but spelling is only once a week.

For Science, because we had some "hiccups" in our year/schedule last year (traveling, moving...), I'm still finishing up Apologia's "Exploring Creation" and LOVING IT!

We have so much fun with the experiments - from clay people, to edible cells, and watching their teeth rot in coke!  Then when we're done this one, we'll discuss what science topic we'd like to explore next!

For History & Geography, We're doing America The Beautiful...and it has been most excellent so far ;)

The girls have been loving coloring the maps, writing creative stories, and doing the crossword puzzles in their workbook.  We'll be building the Iroquis log house at the end of the week!

Finally, for Bible studies, we're doing Apologia's "Who is my Neighbor" which teaches a bit more history, and the Biblical view of servanthood. This is another one we're finishing up from last year.

This has lap books, puzzles, drawings, and scripture memory.  They LOVE all the ways this teaches stories, and interacts with the lessons.

Here are my AMAZING students/daughters on their exciting first day of school of the 2013/2014 year!!!

We ended our school day doing Apologia Science - A skeletal system demonstration.  We made clay models with skinny arms & legs to see how floppy they are without structure...then we made them WITH toothpicks so they could be held up. 

My husband made Gumby.


5. Seek God's Direction
The last thing - but it's really the first thing to do while working on, and planning a school year is PRAY.  I dedicate my year & daughters into God's care, seeking His direction for their learning and growing. 

Each year, He leads me to what seems like (to the natural eye) "stumbling upon" what we need to do for the year.  For example, as I was preparing & praying for this year, I started looking for some type of History lessons that would fit my girls learning style.  Literally AS I was deep in this thought, prayer, and scouting out some curriculum, my friend Sarah over at MY JOYFILLED LIFE posted a review of America the Beautiful. When I read it, and showed it to my hubbs, we both agreed that was the last missing piece of our school year puzzle.  I had the girls read up on it to get their "thumbs high", and the rest is HISTORY ;) and we're loving it. 

As a side note, being a Canadian living in the USA, I think I'm doing most of the learning!

HAPPY SCHOOLING EVERYONE!!!

"Not" Back-to-School Blog Hop - Student Photo Week

 

Here are my "Cuter than ever" students... 

Miss Abigail on our "Field Trip" to the Canadian Rockys - in Banff, AB

The end of an Era - boy she was happy to be done with 4th Grade!!

A new beginning - 5th Grade...SOOO EXCITING!!

Miss Micah on our "Field Trip" to Vancouver Island where we learned to Crab Fish

HAPPY DAY!!!  All done with 3rd Grade!!

VERY excited for the beginning of 4th Grade!!

As you can see we're pretty informal around these parts!  No, I did not let the girls trash their books, but they wanted a picture for their scrapbook of being dramatic and saying GOODBYE to their last year's books.  

We're super excited to see what God does in and through our family this school year as we remain yielded to HIM.

5 steps to change a day

As a homeschool mom, there are days I'm ready to put a "For Rent" sign on my kids, and park them on the curb...THEN there are days I'm ready to park myself on that curb.

DISCLAIMER...For those who don't know me, I would NEVER give, sell, rent out, or trade my beautiful, amazing daughters...but admit it, we've all thought of some creative way to obtain a break during the stressful moments.

As we've been working ourselves back into a routine, I was confronted with some of the same issues I wanted to forget we had last year.  The discouragement tried to set in.  Then I remembered the power of the Word of God, and The Lord reminded me of the times when I equip myself, HE helps me WIN!!!

One of the enemy's BIGGEST plans is to rob us of our peace.

The Word of God - Weapon of Mass (Enemy) Destruction




When I take the time and feed myself with these & like scriptures, it LITERALLY changes the course of my day and any situation.  I can be confronted with the SAME challenge, but because I've handed it to God, and stood on His Word, no weapon can stop me.

 Here are my 5 powerhouse day-changers...

When I feel worn out, I remember to stop EVERYTHING and spend time with HIM...

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." 
Matthew 11:28-30

As a recovering busy-body, I know first hand the compulsion to "fix" or "keep trudging" when there's chaos somewhere - but in God's economy, "working through" isn't as powerful as stopping, and handing it to HIM - learning the unforced rhythms of grace.

When I want to kick myself over mistakes I've made, I remember...

I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. Philippians 3:12-14

As one who reaches to be like Christ in my daily living, sometimes I expect too much from myself.  I love that even Paul said here, he's NOT perfect!!!
 

When I want to do things MY way, I remember...

 But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.  Galatians 5:22-23

I don't want to force my way in life, but permeate holiness - having affection for others, and a willingness to stick with things.

When I need to forgive myself or others, I remember...

If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. I John 1:8-10

So I need NOT punish myself or anyone else who's not perfect.

I AM the RIGHTEOUSNESS of GOD!!!!!

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  2 Corinthians 5:21

Definition: Righteousness is the state of moral perfection required by God to enter heaven
However, the Bible clearly states that human beings cannot achieve righteousness through their own efforts: "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." (Romans 3:20).

I cannot express into words the peace & freedom that comes to my family, or myself personally when I apply the principles of standing on God's word, believing who I AM in Christ, forgive when needed, not beat myself up, love passionately,  and follow God's leading through my day.

Back to the books

There's something so beautiful about being a part of your children's soaking up of knowledge.

Today we started our school season with a fun science project out of Apologia's "Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy & Physiology".  We did the "Edible Cell" project.

Jello "Cells" with "Organelles" ready to be placed

Centrioles & Mitochondria

Lysosomes & Golgi Body

Ribosomes, Nucleus, & Endoplasmic Reticulum

 Once the Jello hardened, the girls were able to place the "organelles" into their cell.  

The girls had their "Cell Wheel" (from the Notebooking Journal) they had created as a reference - so as the different organelles were being placed into the cell, they'd tell me the function of each one.

Cell Wheel

Yummy cell #1

Yummy cell #2

My hubby even got involved...because it was candy ;) So he added LOTS of organelles!

It was a wonderful day back at school - and a small taste of an amazing year to come...I am believing it!!!!!

I didn't realize how much I love & missed doing school because by the end of our last school year, we were about ready to hang each other off the roof by the toes - and very ready for a break.  I think my favorite scripture when it comes to teaching my girls is Lamentations 3:22-23

²² It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not.

²³ They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.

And one of the most beautiful gifts is that my girls mirror God's mercy during those days when I need EXTRA...because there are times it seems my "receive-mercy tokens" should have run out.

I was grateful for the break so I could step back, PRAY and implement new "policies" to make the year just that much smoother, more fun & productive.  By the time they graduate, we'll have it all figured out...NOT!

So here's to an AMAZING year for us, and all you wonderful homeschool families out there!!

Eating the Cell - YUMMY!

Homeschool Servants

The biggest goals within our home school is to teach the values of being a servant for Christ. I want to grow to love and serve God WITH my family.

We all want the best for our kids, but we do need to pull back a bit on what the world and society says is the best – and look at God’s best.

Praying for lady in care home

It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. 

For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom.  

Galatians 5:13-14 (The Message)

This world is deteriorating quickly and we need servants to be manned to help those around us in crisis – whether emotional, spiritual, or physical. Why can’t our kids be part of the solution too?  We tend to isolate & shelter them into their routine, and if God burdens our hearts for a need, we just do it ourselves around their schedule…IF we can help. 

We tend to be a people of routine, so if school, sports, and friends become the total emphasis of a child, then as an adult that is where their drive will continue.  But if we instill the importance to our children of being the hands of our Savior, then they will grow with a love and importance in their heart to be Jesus' friend to this world.

Now I’m certainly not expecting my kids to shoulder a ton of responsibility, but there's always something they can do so there's an emphasis on being helpful towards people around them, and beyond.

Some ideas are...

• Serve at a local soup kitchen.
• If there’s a natural disaster locally, go volunteer to help disperse supplies and be part of the clean up
• Go to a care home periodically to befriend & pray for the residents.  Many have no one to talk to. Maybe bring flowers for the ladies - or some sort of small gift item of choice.
• Gather some money in change, make some sandwiches (or whatever you’d like to) and go to a local Laundromat and make someone’s day.
• Bless someone you know who's having a hard day - Make them a meal, rake & mow their lawn, wash their car...the sky is the limit with what you could do!
• Serve at a local food pantry. 
• Volunteer with animal rescues.

Beach Clean-up

I'm loving all the input and wisdom from the blogging community so if you have any other great ideas to add to the list, I'd LOVE to hear them!  I'm putting together a calendar of "servant events" for the up-coming school year and I'm looking for more creative ideas to do with our kids, and the homeschool group I'm putting together for our area (obviously things to do that are within safe areas).

Planning 2012-2013 School Year ALREADY?!?!

I actually rolled all the weeks into one post

First, let me share the family schoolroom rules...

I take my hat off to all the wonderful blogging Homeschool Moms who are already planned, prepared, and organized for this coming school year...can you come to my house???  PLEASE???

So, I'm now inspired to get my game face on...Thank you all!!!!

Our School room

We moved a few months ago, and I do miss our fun schoolroom wall that my creative hubbs made for us...sniff, sniff 

Here's a tribute to THE WALL

Here is our new set up - The Wall has been replaced by a big window which I do love too; and we finally found a spot for the wood letters I made for the office

Curriculum for 2012-2013 School year

My Saving-Grace this year... 

Is it weird that getting this planner was better than Christmas????  I absolutely LOVE IT!!!  It has everything for school & household (including tear-out shopping lists, report cards, and a huge section for planning the Christmas holiday season) - WOW!   When I saw the first article in the planner started with "Successful Homeschooling for the Scatterbrain", I knew we were meant for each other.

English, Math, Spelling, & History - Grades 4 & 5

We had a very successful school year doing the Rod & Staff curriculum for our core subjects.  It's extremely simple to follow & teach (might I add easy on the budget too) so we're going to stick with it again for this year.  It's laid out so you do 1 lesson a day which I appreciate for it's simplicity.



Geography

We began the "Flat Stanley" project at the very end of this past year as a fun geography project and they loved it.  So, this year, we're going to put a map of the world on the wall, and place pins on where "Flat Anna" and "Flat Summer" travel to throughout the year and study the countries they visit.  The girls will then make a scrapbook of their adventures.  

Science

We LOVE doing Apologia Science.  We will be working through "Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy & Physiology".  This has wonderful experiments like putting a tooth (that NATURALLY fell out...just wanted to clarify) in coke to watch it be eaten (I'd like to think it turns them off from all things sugar - here's hoping), make an edible cell (with Jello, Skittles, Twizzlers...), make a clay little person...and LOTS more.

We also have the companion journal which my girls love working in.  It has scripture memory, crossword puzzles, mini lap books, and places for illustrations & journaling.  We started this book this past year, but were privileged to do a lot of cross-country traveling, so science was the subject that didn't get worked on as much as we hoped.

Exploring Creation 
Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day

For the spring semester, we're also planning on doing "Exploring Creation - Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day"  

This also has the companion notebooking journal. This has many different activities that we love.

Bible with some history...

 

This year we're going to do the Apologia "Who is my neighbor - Biblical World View on Servanthood"  I've read many positive reviews on this curriculum, just got it today and we can't wait to get into it.

 

 As always, Apologia created a companion notebooking journal that DID NOT disappoint!  It has a lot of fun activities that go with the textbook.

 




Here are my cuter-than-ever students...

Miss Vanna White

The newest "Deadliest Catch" crew member

Every year I look forward to being a part of sowing new things The Lord wants to instill into my girls.  I'm humbled by how much God is doing in and through them.  I'm honored by the opportunity to be their teacher & Mom.

Here's to another year of God's teaching & blessing - and serving HIM as a family.