Wednesday, December 16, 2009

A Little Holiday Blogging Break

Hey Wonderful Blog Readers!

Thanks for sticking by me even though I've been such a terrible blogger lately!

Transitioning our life and family into homeschooling has taken all of my time, attention, and awake moments. If I could figure out how to blog in my sleep, that would be very helpful. : )

I need to take a little break from blogging until after the holidays or we will not make it to Mom and Dad's house with clean underwear.

I love having this creative outlet and all of your support and prayers. Please don't go away! I will be back in 2010.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Love you!


Wednesday, December 9, 2009

My Favorite Christmas Song This Year

The Christian radio station I listen to only plays Christmas music during the month of December. There were times in the past when I thought this was a little over the top.

Now it has become a tradition and I really look forward to it. And every year, a new song makes its way into my heart.

Last year it was "Here With Us" by Natalie Grant.

This year, it is "How Many Kings" by Down Here.

It's the lyrics that make me love it. I ponder them for a long time after the song stops playing.




My favorite line?

How many Gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that has torn all apart?


Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Thank You!!

Thank you so much for the encouragement you all gave me on the last post. Today was a much smoother, sweeter day. I felt your prayers.


I think I need to let go of perfectionism and some of my teacher training. : )


Home educating is not going to look exactly like my classroom did when I was teaching. I'm learning a whole new thing here. Our learning isn't going to always fit into neat little class periods, but that isn't a bad thing.

(Side note: My classroom in public school was a good thing, too. I keep meaning to make sure I say here that I'm not anti-public school. This was just a decision of what was best for our particular girls and family).


I need to remember that I'm establishing a lifestyle of learning and we can keep learning year- round. If I wasn't able to finish the Science lesson today, plenty of other learning still happened, and we can still get to that lesson, too. (When I figure this whole thing out) : )


You can see some video from our school day over here.


Thanks again for your prayers and cheerleading. They meant so much to me.

And thanks to Prince Charming for taking such a nice, long nap and giving us lots of uninterrupted learning time. You can do that again tomorrow, Sweetheart. We won't mind at all.



Monday, December 7, 2009

Hard Day

I only have a few moments to write something quickly, but I wanted to make sure that between this blog and the girls' school blog, that I'm not painting too rosy of a picture of our homeschooling and most importantly of myself. I always want to be real and not put on a show.

Bottom line: Today was HARD!! And it isn't over yet. : )

Last week really was blessed and memorable. I plan to treasure those memories. But today was a hard day. I'm definitely in the learning curve stage of all of this. Figuring out how to balance a busy, into-everything toddler, with the girls' individualized lessons and learning styles, our online school's requirements, King Charming's weird schedule, feeling like a single parent, and the groceries and the laundry and the cleaning and my book and the commitments I've made to other people.... well you get the picture.

I have a lot to learn. Lots of mistakes to make, too, I'm sure, until we figure out a routine that works for us.

Well, I better get the baby off the middle of the table, pick the girls up from AWANA, get everyone tucked in for the night and plan tomorrow's lessons so I can start over again in the morning.

Literally living on prayer, : )

Love,

Friday, December 4, 2009

Our New Adventure and the Princesses New Blog

Awhile ago, I wrote a post about a decision I was trying to make. Well, I made it and our family has taken on a whole new adventure- homeschooling!

Well, technically we are still public school students who happen to school at home. It's a long story. The reasons behind our decision to pull our kids out of regular school and embark on this new adventure are also a part of a long story. And although this was an amazing week, I'm too tired to type out the story right now. So you'll have to be patient for more details. : )

I did want to invite you to jump over to the princesses' new blog and see what adventures we have been up to this week. We rode a train through the mountains today!

For their safety and privacy, I plan to eventually make their blog a private blog that you'll only be able to view by invitation. So if you are interested in following along with this learning adventure of ours, let me know and I'll make sure you get an invitation.

And the name behind the blog? At Maple Tree Academy? They came up with that! They named our school, Maple Tree Academy because of the maple tree in our backyard, and I couldn't miss the spiritual significance of a tree planted in good soil. Enjoy your visit over there!

By the way~ They are just like their momma- COMMENT JUNKIES. Please make their day and leave them a comment


Thursday, December 3, 2009

Prince Charming Lost Some Hair, Too

So, King Charming isn't the only one to lose some hair around here.


Prince Charming lost some, too. I finally put my foot down and declared, "That boy needs a haircut!"


Look at all those curls hanging out underneath his hat~





If you look in the mirror, you can see Grandma got to be here for his first haircut.

(She may have been the one to really put her foot down about the long hair. Something about your Grandma calling you, "Nancy" just isn't right. : )



He really looked shaggy when we took the hat off.



He was a trooper! I think the nice lady, the super fun "car" seat, and the Disney Cars video playing on the TV, distracted him from what was happening.


Ok, maybe it was the candy she bribed him with that REALLY did the trick.


Whatever did the trick, we walked out of that salon with one

SUPER HANDSOME DUDE!!!!!!!





Tuesday, December 1, 2009

I'm Thankful for...RAZORS????

I have been a terrible blogger! I have so much to tell you all about! Our family has been up to a lot these past few weeks!

But I want to begin with some thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving Day, I had so much to be thankful for: a wonderful family, good food, a roof over our head, love, and razors.

???? Yep. I was thankful for a razor.


I bet you all were not aware that November is 'STACHE month, were you!

Yes, indeed, my husband came home earlier this month and informed me that he had been informed at work that he would be required to GROW A MOUSTACHE!!! As a new supervisor he really needed to to play along, to be a team player, yadi yadi yada...

Yuck!!!

I'm not a fan of hairy faces. Not even a little bit. Tom Selleck was the closest to looking OK with a mustache, and I'm sure he would have been cuter without one. To say the least, I was not thrilled about King Charming's announcement or his ever increasing 'stache.

I kept watching it grow, until one day I no longer recognized the man I married:


I just closed my eyes and kissed him anyway. : )


And pretended I didn't know him when we were in public. I'm such a sweet, supportive wife.




I even accused him of developing a lisp:


Thop that you thilly thavage!!!

To which he replied:


Whacha talkin' bout, Willis!

Thanksgiving night he obliged me and ended 'stache month a few days early.

AHHHHH, I am one content, happy woman, enjoying my smooth faced man.

I just realized I haven't taken a picture of the restored King Charming. I've been too busy kissing him. : )