Grateful Monday: Marriage Enrichment Weekend

This weekend, we hired a sitter and left our three crazy, wild boys to attend an annual marriage enrichment hosted by our church.  What a weekend!  The title of this weekend's event was When God Writes Your Love Story.  What an incredible time. This year there was a general assembly, then we were broken into three groups, blended families, married with children and empty nesters.  The room was full of laugher and shouts of amen!  I am always encouraged to hear the stories of others.  It's a reminder and so affirming to see how God is working in my life and the life of others.  Being apart of a fellowship that values marriage has been such a blessing.  In addition my marriage has benefited tremendously countless workshops.  Despite what the statistics show, it is possible to have a great marriage.  Today I am grateful for my husband and that God has written our love story.

Wordless Wednesday: Jr. Photograhper

This is what you get when you let a three year old loose with a camera. 



"Look mommy a sword!"  He said as he snapped the picture.



Black History Month Wrap Up

This month I decided we would read about some historical Africans and African Americans.  In all honesty.  I am not ready to handle some subject matter that comes with black history.  However I thought I should pick up a few books and see how it goes.  We read a few biographies, Christopher really enjoyed learning about George Washington Carver, Shaka Zulu, Martin Luther King Jr and Elijah McCoy. 

 What first grade boy does not like to hear a great warrior tale.  Very interesting story about a boy who would become a great king of the Zulu tribe.

Elijah McCoy was born on May 2, 1844. His parents were runaway slaves that found their freedom in Canada.  Elijah's parents sent him to school in Scotland where he studied engineering.  Upon completion of his studies Elijah came to the United Sates where he found it difficult to find a job in his field.  He arrived in the U.S. shorty after emancipation.  While working as a fireman/oilman  for the Michigan Central Railroad he invented a device called an oil cup.  The oil cup automatically oiled the movable parts of a train.  Unable to patent his design he began to use his invention at his job.  Soon the word spread, and all the railroads wanted the automatic oil cup. Several attempts were made to imitate his product but engineers knew the difference and would ask for "the real McCoy".  Elijah McCoy invented lots of other things including the water sprinkler and ironing table to name a few.  He is most famous for his oil cup invention.  But the best part of reading The Real McCoy was hearing my son tell me that he too is going to invent something great one day. 

If You Lived At the Time of Martin Luther King was a good selection as well, sad but good.  This book discussed what life was like for people who lived through segregation and the civil rights movement.  It discussed the non-violent protests and Mart.in Luther King Jr's role during this time.  Again the best part for me was the discussion with my son.  He shared his feelings of anger about segregation and how he was happy he did not live during those times.  He also commented that if he lived during that time he would not get to be friends with his best friend Mikey.  What a blessing to have a front row seat to his thoughts on such a tough topic.
 One of the benefits of homeschooling is I get to have wonderful heart to heart discussions all the time. Our school time does not have to be politically correct so to speak.  I can freely discuss "taboo subjects" without fear of offending others.  In addition, my children are getting factual information about life from me in age appropriate chunks.  I know that we can never shelter them from the world but we can create learning opportunities in nurturing, safe environment our home.

Homeschool Planning Update

We are wrapping up our kindergarten year and what a year this has been! Currently I am planning for our first grade year. I really enjoy the planning phase. Researching curriculum, looking at samples and reading reviews is exciting and overwhelming at the same time. I have narrowed down my selections and once everything is in house I will post what we are using and our tentative schedule.


After one year in, one thing I was searching for was a homeschool planning software that had a journal feature and was not tied to the internet. The current planner I use is great but it is tied to the internet and does not have a journal feature per se. The selections out there were underwhelming. Of all the software sampled, I found that either the program lacked planning or scheduling features or the learning curve was pretty steep. One other problem I encountered was lack of customer service. After paying a nominal fee to sample one product, I had several questions but I could not get any responses from customer service. As a busy mom I need something that is intuitive and easy to use. I can't spare two to three days learning software. And I certainly don't have money to give to a company that does not value their consumer enough to answer questions. The lack of response surprised me as I read positive reviews about this company's customer service. I really considered using a paper planner for next year. My husband convinced me to continue using software. So after searching high and low, I have decided to stick with my current planner. I am moving forward and we are so excited for next year. Below I am including a list of sites that offer software or paper planners.


http://www.donnayoung.org/
http://www.homeschoolskedtrack.com/
http://www.edu-track.net/
http://www.homeschooltracker.com/
http://www.simplycharlottemason.com/
http://www.homeschoolreporting.com/
http://www.homeschooldaybook.com/
http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/
http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/
http://www.wellplannedday.com/


Happy planning!

Say Cheese!

Grateful Monday: Happy Valentine

On Sunday, I sent my husband out to pick up a few items from the store.  He returned with a valentine card and roses.  When I opened the door he got down on one knee and asked me to be his valentine.  I am blushing as I type.  What a man!  How blessed am I that someone loves little oh me.  Thank you God for your gift of love and preparing the right man for me to be a suitable helper for. I am so thankful for my husband.  He is so wonderful.  An awesome provider, wonderful companion and so much more.  He really does complete me.  Valentine if you are reading this today and everyday.  I am so grateful for you.

Social Networking and Children

While watching Good Morning America this morning I was a little annoyed by one segment titled social media and your child.  They played a clip of Michelle Obama stating her stance for her children and Facebook.  Her stance is that her children will not have a FB account because they don't need it.  Personally, I agree with Mrs. Obama.  My children will not have FB account either.  At least not while they are living under my roof.  So what annoyed me was some of the commentators made remarks about how hard it is to deny their children.  One particular commentator said that right now she has not allowed her child to get a FB account and when her child asks why she stated that she follows the strict guidelines of the child's school.  And now she will tell her child that Mrs. Obama children don't have a FB page.  What in the world!  Is it me, or does anyone else find that strange. How come we can't state what we mean as parents and not stand behind what someone else says?  This is part of what's wrong with our nation today.  In my opinion there has been a decrease in parenting.  Our children, are given some many material things and privileges before they are ready to handle them we can clearly see the results. 
For the record, I  am aware that sticking to your guns isn't always easy.  Many of us who are parents have experienced the whine of a child who feels that if he/she does not have some must have of the moment he will die.  But that's why you are the parent.  It is our job to guide them in the direction that we see is best for them. As parents its our hard knocks and life lessons that we should draw from when parenting our children..  If you have decided that social media is okay for the children in your house then that's fine.  This is not a bash against social media. But this rant specifically addresses the parenting is so hard attitude.  Yes, parenting is hard.  In fact its one of the most challenging roles one can assume.  It is also the most rewarding.  So I would much  rather make the hard decisions now while they are young instead of looking back once their life has gone awry wondering what could I have done differently.
For the readers of this blog I'm sure this post is preaching to the crowd.  However, it is evident that the majority of parents are asleep at the wheel.  Distracted by the demands of work, keeping up with the Jones or something else that at the end of your life really will not mean much.  Meanwhile we only get the privilege of having our children under our roof for such a short time why not make the most of it.  Train a child in the way in which he should go and when he is older he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22.6 Even if you are not a christian this is still a good rule of thumb.  Are you planting any seeds in your child's heart other than mommy and daddy will do whatever it takes to give you all that you want, its okay to not have integrity and you don't need to work hard.   Its astonishing the amount of children who know that latest trends (refuse to wear clothing that is not designer) but can't properly diagram a sentence, much less help around the house or get a job.  Imagine that!.  Key word here is children.  Children do not have the mental capacity to make the best choices so we as parents need to guide, mold and feed their little hearts with as much wisdom, love, (sometimes tough love), and character building lessons while we have the chance.  
Don't be afraid to go against what everyone else is doing in your parenting.  So what if the kid down the block has FB, designer clothes and can stay out all night partying.  Why not have the tough talks with our children, require them to contribute to the home in some way.  Teach them, to have integrity, how to carry themselves, respect their elders, be charitable, honesty is the best policy and working hard for something is better than your parents giving you everything any day.  Your children will be better off.

Outside My Front Door

Outside my front door, there's a winter wonderland
The earth is blanketed with snow
Underneath that blanket there is 3 to 4 inches of ice

All is quiet, still and cold
Very, very cold

Inside you can hear the the clacking of the keys on the keyboard
There is noise and laughter from children running and playing
What a blessing

Update
The sun came out and the majority of the snow has melted
But according to the forecast, another winter storm is headed our way