Monday Musings for 1/21/2019

So over this past weekend, my husband has spent a large portion of his time rearranging our living room and trying to get things better organized.  With three days of our week devoted to music, this means we have a lot of instruments in our home.  We need a place to keep them as well as places to practice.  Since there are 6 of us who play instruments and four of us play more than one, there are quite a few instruments in our home.  So watch for me to be sharing how the living room looks once we get everything situated the way we want them to be.

Also we are just really getting back into our homeschool routine, which means either my children or I want to change some things up.  For our sixteen-year-old daughter, we are going to be adding French, which we found on the Schoolhouseteachers.com website.  I love the ease I am able to find what I am looking for on this site.  If you want to read a review I wrote for Schoolhouseteachers back in January of 2017, click here.  This site provides everything a homeschooling family could need or want.  Be watching in the next few weeks because I will be sharing when the Home School Review Crew goes live with the reviews of this program for this year.

And speaking of the Home School Review Crew, I am pleased to say I will be participating on the Home School Review Crew again this year.  So be watching for upcoming reviews.

So what is going on in your world today?  I would love to hear from you.

Monday Musings

So last week was a very busy week around our home.  We were preparing for our Band and Strings concert.  Our youngest son was supposed to have a tennis class.  Plus, my husband and I went on a partial weekend date to San Antonio – primarily so we could pick up a produce order from Bountiful Baskets on Saturday morning before we rushed home to play in the concerts.  Here are some pictures of our Bountiful Baskets produce.

But before I write more about the concert I have to talk about our date weekend.  This weekend we went someplace we had never been before – which is Wimberley, Texas.  This place amazed and astounded us.  Having moved to Texas from the mountains of Pennsylvania, the views and scenery around Wimberly took our breath away.  Even though it rained and was cloudy, we were still able to take a short walk to see the river/stream in Wimberley.  Here are some pictures.

 

The problem with all of our family members being in the band and strings groups is that it makes it difficult to take pictures.  Also, because I am one of the moms who helps coordinate things like the food for after the performances, it is even harder to get pictures of our whole family.  This time I failed completely at getting any pictures at all.  Here is one picture another mom took of us during the beginner strings performance.

 

So now the Homeschool Band and Strings program are both on break until after the first of the year, but Nathan, Dennis (my husband) and I still have two performances this coming Saturday with the Community Band.  So be watching for updates next week about how that goes.  This Thursday we have a Christmas party for the tennis group as long as the weather cooperates.  Then Dennis, Nathan and I will be heading to Austin/Round Rock to go to Ikea and more.

If you would like to read what other members of the Home School Review Crew are blogging about this week, click here or on the image below.

Thoughts for Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Since October 14th, our family has been in birthday mode.  Our daughter celebrated her 16th birthday on the 14th.  Then on the 20th, our youngest son turned 18.  Finally, on the 23rd, our second son turned 20.  So now we are done with birthdays for the year.

For today’s installment of Tasty Tuesdays, we made Ham Bean Soup over the weekend and had some ham left over.  So tonight I took the ham,  a stick of butter, some milk, and a two-pound block of cheddar cheese.  Here is the final product.

And finally, from the Art Department, here are two pictures – one is an original our daugther did some time ago and the other is a redo she completed this week.

 

If you are a homeschool blogger and are interested in becoming part of the Home School Review Crew, applications are now open for new bloggers.  So check it out for yourself.

So what have you been up to this week?  If you would like to read what the other members of the Home School Review Crew are blogging about this week, click here or on the graphic below.

 

Our Youngest Son’s Birthday

 

So today is my youngest son’s birthday.  Eighteen years ago today, he came into the world.   He was my one child whom I actually believed might enter this world with out any coaxing or intervention.  For a couple of weeks before he was born, I felt like he was on his way.  But that was not to be the case.

Instead on Friday, October 20, 2000, we went to the hospital to be induced.  We went in to the room.  My husband and his sister-in-law (his brother’s wife -aka my coach for all four children) and I settled in.  It was typical labor for me in that I spent most of it on my side because of my blood pressure.  At some point during the morning the nurse wanted to check how far along I was, so my husband stepped outside of the room.  To our surprise, he found two of his aunts there because the daughter of one of the aunt’s was in the room directly beside me.  Talk about interesting.  The nurses began taking bets on which one of us would deliver first (me on number 3 or her with her first).  He was my one child who made us nervous prior to delivery -well other than my first who did not seem interested in being born).  

This son came into the world and brightened our world.  There was not too much he was afraid of.  He would be on the opposite side of a hotel swimming pool and jump in having absolute faith that his father or I would be there to catch him.  He is also the son that required our first trip to the ER for stitches. 

He is best friends with his baby sister, well for the most part.  He is also our first child to fracture a bone, which was quite the adventure for me.  He is full of hugs and love.  He has a heart of gold. 

Right now he is learning to play the bass clarinet and the viola in addition to continuing his study of the alto saxophone and the piano.  He is quite musical and has intentions of pursuing it in the future.

So happy 18th birthday to my wonderful son Nathan! If you would like to read what other members of the Home School Review Crew are blogging about this week, click here or on the graphic below.

 

 

 

Tasty Tuesdays for October 9, 2018

For this installment of Tasty Tuesdays, instead of focusing on meals my husband or myself prepared, I am going to highlight our two oldest children (both sons).  Our second child and second son makes a fantastic curry, and every once in a while, I ask him to fix it for our family.  It is something he does fantastic cooking.  Yesterday he prepared his curry for us.  Only this time, he did a few things differently (and because he prefers to not be in photos, I am going to have to write about it rather than show you pictures).  This time, he added freshly grated ginger root and 2 freshly grated apples.  Also, he added soy sauce, ketchup, and a few other miscellaneous ingredients along with the two boxes of Mild Curry Mix we bought at the store.

I have to say it turned out fantastic.  Our son began cooking the meal in the morning, so it simmered for a good portion of the day.  Our house smelled incredible, and he kept us laughing for most of the day…  The end result was incredible.  The only disappointment was the lack of leftovers.  Because he is also my son who loves noodles, he served it over noodles.  I have to say the meal was a complete success.

Today our oldest son and I had to go out and do some errands since he did not have to work.  So while we were out, we picked up some London broil so he could try out the new dehydrator he bought a few weeks ago.  He broke out the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and other seasonings and began marinading the meat.  So here are some pictures of that.

I can not wait to try this.  Now it will marinade overnight, and then tomorrow, my son will continue the process.  I will be back to post more pictures.

So what is going on in your world?  I would love to hear from you.  If you would like to read what other members of the Home School Review Crew are blogging about, click here or on the graphic below.

Sanctified Sunday – September 2, 2018

According to a search on Google, “sanctified” means:

sanc·ti·fy
ˈsaNG(k)təˌfī/
verb
past tense: sanctified; past participle: sanctified

set apart as or declare holy; consecrate.
“a small shrine was built to sanctify the site”
synonyms: consecrate, bless, make holy, hallow, make sacred, dedicate to God
“he came to sanctify the site”
make legitimate or binding by religious sanction.
“they see their love sanctified by the sacrament of marriage”
synonyms: approve, sanction, condone, vindicate, endorse, support, back, permit, allow, authorize, legitimize
“we must not sanctify this outrage”
free from sin; purify.
synonyms: purify, cleanse, free from sin, absolve, unburden, redeem
“they sanctified themselves”

The definition of “sanctified” is to set apart as or declare holy. So that is what our family tries to do. Most Sundays we spend at least part of our day at church. However, on some Sundays, like today, we determined it is best for our family to stay home and spend the day as a family. Of course, today we also have company coming over to eat with us. Ever since our oldest son started taking the classes back in June to become a Certified Nursing Assistant at a residential care facility, one of the Certified Nursing Assistants became a good friend to our son. In fact, she drives him back and forth most days. So the other day, when she dropped our son off she came into the house. So my husband asked her when she was going to come to eat with us. Today just happened to work for our schedule and her schedule. So, my husband made a pot of his homemade beef stew and will be making homemade biscuits along with a pot of rice. I will be preparing a salad to go along with our meal. Then we are planning on making a cake for dessert. I always look forward to having company over to eat with us.

Tomorrow is Labor Day in the United States and we will have another friend coming over for dinner. So stay tuned for a post about that either tomorrow or the next day.

What is going on for your weekend? I would love to hear from you.  If you would like to read what other members of the Home School Review Crew are blogging about this week, click here or on the graphic below.

Back to School Blog Hop (5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement) – Friday Favorites

We have been homeschooling since our oldest son was 10 years old and he is now 22-years-old.  So over the years, we have found quite a few favorites.

My first favorite came almost as soon as we began homeschooling.  We were blessed to be in a military community with a homeschooling group that met once a week at Camp LeJeune.  When we pulled our son out of public school, I immediately signed us up for the group.  Even though our other children went to public school, there were still plenty of opportunities for them to interact as well.

Because this was a military homeschool group, the moms had a lot of helpful advice and fantastic products to recommend.  I was introduced to Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 Picks that included sections for determining the parent’s teaching styles, the children’s learning styles, how to create a homeschool mission statement, suggestions for curriculum based on learning and teaching styles and more.  This book is my go-to resource when looking for information for myself or helping other homeschooling families.  I can not tell you how many times I have recommended this book.

Another one of my favorite resources is the Rainbow Resource Catalog.  From the first year we homeschooled and attended our first homeschool convention until this day, this is one of my absolute favorite resources.  If it relates to homeschooling, you are almost guaranteed to find what you are looking for in this catalog or at one of their booths at one of the homeschooling conventions.  I have spent many hours pouring over this catalog and browsing their booths through the years.

When looking for any type of art supplies, Miller Pads and Paper is my go-to company.  Their prices are incredible.  The supplies they bring to conventions are incredible.  Plus their staff is amazing.

Institute for Excellence in Writing is our favorite for writing.  Our three sons despised writing, but once we found IEW, they tolerated it if not actually enjoyed it.  Of course, our oldest will talk up a storm about the time he rode in an elevator with Mr. Andrew Pudewa and had a great conversation with him.

For math, one of our family’s favorites would have to be Life of Fred.  Our daughter started these books with the very first one for elementary school students and went all the way through the middle school books.  She loved the stories and the amount of work required.

For right now, I think that is enough of our family’s favorites, but stay tuned because I plan on this becoming a weekly post for Fridays.

If you would like to read my other posts from this series, click here.

Here are some of the others who are participating in this blog hop series.

Nicole @ Bless Their Hearts Mom
Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge For Whining
Rodna @ Training Children up for Christ
Stacy @ A Homemakers Heart
Tess @ Circling Through This Life
Wendy @ Life at Rossmont
Yvie @ Gypsy Road

 

If you would like to read the posts by other members of the Home School Review Crew for Friday Favorites, click here or on the graphic below.

 

Back to School Blog Hop – Thankful Thursday

This week I have been participating in the Back to School Blog Hop (5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement)  for the Home School Review Crew.  This is day 4 of the Blog Hop and we are talking about being thankful.  There are so many things I am thankful for about homeschooling.

• I am thankful for how homeschooling has allowed my children to develop deep and lasting relationships with one another.
• I am thankful that we are able to incorporate God into everything we do.
• I am thankful that in the three moves we have made with the Army Reserves, our children always knew I would still be their teacher.
• I am thankful for the flexibility it allows in daily and even yearly schedules.
• I am thankful I was able to spend so much time with our children.

If you would like to visit other members of the Home School Review Crew who are participating in this Blog Hop, here is a partial list.

Lisa @ Farm Fresh Adventures
Lori @ At Home: where life happens
Margaret @ Creative Madness Mama 
Marla @ Jump Into Genius
Meredith @ Powerline Productions: Being World Changers/Raising World Changers 
Michele @ Family, Faith and Fridays
Missica @ Through The Open Window
Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschoolin

If you would like to read all my posts in this series, click here.

If you would like to see all the Home School Review Crew members’ posts for Thankful Thursdays, click here or on the graphic below.

2018 Home School Review Crew Back to School Blog Hop – Work It In Wednesdays (5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement

 

 

This week I am participating in the 2018 Home School Review Crew Back to School Blog Hop including 5 Days of Home School Encouragement.  You can come back each day to see what we are blogging about.  Today’s topic is Work It Out Wednesdays, where we are examining how to fit in electives, social activities and more into your daily schedule.

As the mom of only high school students now, one of the things that cause both myself and my children concern is how to fit everything in each year.  Prior to entering high school, I took most of the decision-making and curriculum choices on myself.  At times, we would offer the children choices to select from after narrowing things down significantly.  However, our children are now in high school and have directions, talents, and gifts, so we need to figure things out based on their individual personalities and goals.

A few weeks ago, we went to an activity fair for our area’s homeschool group.  We went partially to represent our area’s homeschool band and strings program, which our entire family is active in right now.  But we also went to find out what activities our children may want to participate in this year.  Our son already knew he wanted to play tennis, which occurs on Thursday mornings.  The Home School Band program is on Monday and Thursday afternoons.  So those two times were already out.

Our son also wants to take piano lessons and we found out there was a possibility our homeschool 4-H group would be offering piano lessons along with archery lessons and photography.  All of these are activities our son and/or daughter are interested in now. So we went to the meeting, but when we got there, we realized the times may not work for our family since these activities occur on Thursdays as well.  So it is a matter of deciding what priorities we have.  Band and strings are two activities that are non-negotiable since all four of our children (yes even our 22-year-old and our almost twenty-year-old) participate along with my husband and myself.  So that is a one-time slot that will not be taken away.

So this meant we had to decide how important archery was to our daughter.  The 4-H activities basically collide with both tennis (at least one week out of the month) and the band classes every week.  So we are still trying to figure that one out.

The photography classes have already been eliminated and so the only one who may participate in 4-H will be our daughter.  So stay tuned to see what our final decision is.

You know your children.  You know what is important to your family.  So you need to take every activity your children may want to participate in or elective they may want to take and examine it to see if the benefits make it worth fitting in at this time.

Another way of making things work is to find someone for your child to ride with or find a similar activity or class that meets at a time that is more convenient.  As far as electives go, especially at the high school level, you may decide your child could fit some of those in during the summer or do more intense classes, like college classes, for a shorter period of time.

You and your family need to decide what is important to you and go from there.  Here are some of the members of the Home School Review Crew who are participating in the Blog Hop this week, you may want to check some of them out for yourself.

Jennifer @ Dear Homeschooler
Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory
Karen @ Tots and Me…Growing Up Together
Kelly @ Hope in the Chaos
Kellyann @ Walking Home …
Kimberley @ Vintage Blue Suitcase
Kristen @ A Mom’s Quest to Teach
Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break
Laura @ Four Little Penguins
Linda @ Apron Strings & other things

 

So if you would like to read my other posts from this series, click here.

If you would like to read posts from the other members of the Home School Review Crew who are participating in the Back to School Blog Hop, click here or on the graphic below.

 

Back to School Blog Hop – Take a Look Tuesdays

Welcome to day 2 of the 2018 Home School Review Crew Back to School Blog Hop.  Today’s topic is Take a Look Tuesday.  Today I will be sharing some of our curriculum choices for this year.  We have two children still homeschooling.

Our youngest son is seventeen now and is planning on graduating by December 2019.  Currently, his coursework includes:

• Bible -still to be determined
• Math – CTC Math (we love this program)
• Grammar – GrammarPlanet and Picta Dicta
• Literature – still deciding this one as well
• History – Notgrass World History
• Science – Chemistry and probably Apologia’s Marine Biology
• Band – Homeschool Band and Strings Programs along with Piano either on his own or with a teacher (still need to figure that one out)
• Photography
• Spelling
• a Foreign Language

Our daughter is almost sixteen and is basically between ninth tenth grade.   Here are her subjects:

• Bible Study with Mom or Dad – still deciding this
• Math – CTC Math
• History – Mystery of History along with TruthQuest History
• Biology/Botany and then moving into Chemistry probably after the first of the year.
• GrammarPlanet and Picta Dicta
• Literature – to be decided
• French
• Homeschool Band Strings Program
• Art Classes either online or in person

We homeschool year round, so we are still finishing up some coursework. Then whenever those courses are finished, we will begin new subjects. So stay tuned during the year to see what our choices are. Also, we do a limited or reduced school schedule during the summer, so that is why some courses are still being determined right now.

If you would like to visit the other Home School Review Crew members who are participating in this Blog Hop, here is the list.

Angie @ Run Ran Family Adventures & Learning
Annette @ A Net in Time
Ashley @ Gift of Chaos
Betty @ Let’s Get Real
Brenda @ Counting Pinecones
Carol @ Home Sweet Life
Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses

Christine @ Christine Howard
Christy @ The Simple Homemaker
Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag
Debra @ Footprints in the Butter
Diana @ Homeschool Review
Felicia @ Homeschool 4 Life
Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning
Jeniffer @ Thou Shall Not Whine
Jennifer @ A Glimpse of Our Life

Jennifer @ Dear Homeschooler
Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory
Karen @ Tots and Me…Growing Up Together
Kellyann @ Walking Home …
Kimberley @ Vintage Blue Suitcase
Kristen @ A Mom’s Quest to Teach
Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break
Laura @ Four Little Penguins
Linda @ Apron Strings & other things

Lisa @ Farm Fresh Adventures
Lori @ At Home: where life happens
Margaret @ Creative Madness Mama 
Marla @ Jump Into Genius
Meredith @ Powerline Productions: Being World Changers/Raising World Changers 
Michele @ Family, Faith and Fridays
Missica @ Through The Open Window
Monique @ Mountain of Grace Homeschooling

Nicole @ Bless Their Hearts Mom
Patti @ Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy
Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge For Whining
Rodna @ Training Children up for Christ
Stacy @ A Homemakers Heart
Tess @ Circling Through This Life
Wendy @ Life at Rossmont
Yvie @ Gypsy Road

If you would like to read what other members of the Home School Review Crew are posting about today, click here or on the graphic below.

You can read my post for Monday here.  If you would like to read my other posts from this series, click here.