my blessed life

I love this time of year!  Having our curriculum plan for the coming school year ...and reading about others' plans is always exciting to me.  I've gotten some great educational leads by checking out what others are using.  Today I'm sharing our choices for the '15/'16 school year. For The Princess... ...who is now....gasp!...a 7th grader !  That means we've been truly homeschooling now for at least 8 years.  Wow.  That sounds like I'm a veteran, but really I learn new things every year.  And now that we're moving into secondary education I've got a lot more to learn about. Bible Study & Christian Character: ~ The Pilgrim's Progress curriculum ~ Our 24 Family Ways ~ Child Training Bible Math: ~ Teaching Textbooks 7 (primary) ~ Life of Fred (supplemental) ~ Khan Academy (supplemental) Language Arts: ~ Learning Language Arts Through Literature Green (grammar) ~ SchoolhouseTeachers.com (spelling/vocabulary) ~ Total Lang...

I don't know about you but this time of the year I always begin to long for the routine that fall brings.  I thoroughly enjoy summertime and the fun, spontaneity, and flexibility that it brings.  But the planner in me loves the routine of fall: regular meal plans, morning routines, bedtime routines ...my children--especially my son--really do much better with routine. While I have kept up menu planning through much of the summer, I haven't been posting it here and often I fail to do it if I'm not posting it.  So in the spirit of 'back to routine', I'm back to posting 'what's for dinner'. Here's what we're having this week: Monday:   Cheesy Stuffed Shells  (from the freezer) with Salad and Bread Tuesday:  Beans (in the crockpot) and Buttermilk Cornbread Wednesday:  Grilled Hot Dogs, Creamed Corn, Baked Beans Thursday:  Stuffed Peppers (maybe these ) Friday: yet-to-be-decided Saturday: Snacks & Leftovers (a bit of a f...

Is your summer flying by as quickly as ours is?!  I am kind of sad that it's already almost the end of July.  It has been such a busy summer for us that there hasn't been much relaxing getting done. However, this week has slowed down for us quite a bit {thank goodness!!} and the schedule doesn't look too terribly bad through the end of August.  I think that we even have a real vacation in there somewhere! Anyway, I thought I'd post a little update on what we've been up to this summer so far. Reading: My personal reading list for this summer is clicking right along.  So far I've read: Just RISE UP! by Sarah Francis Martin  {motivating and inspiring} Life of Pi by Yann Martel  {captivating story, twist in end really got me} Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie  {loved ...as I love all of her books} Crooked House by Agatha Christie Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie Miss Marple, the Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christ...

From the archives. This was originally published on June 27, 2013. (just yesterday here in Kentucky) Family picnics : these words may bring various visions to our minds depending on our families.  For my family these words bring visions of fried chicken, potato salad, baked beans , mac & cheese, pickles, olives, deviled eggs....mmmmmm  Yes, as long as I can remember this has been my mom's standard picnic fare. We ate A LOT of picnics when I was growing up.  My family owned a camper and traveled quite extensively when I was very young.  We hit every state park and national park that we could find for picnics.  And my mom would even whip up the a fore mentioned menu in our camper--amazing! I've been hungry for one of those picnics recently and just yesterday my mom was gracious enough to make it happen (see top photo!) .  She fried up the chicken and made her world's-best-potato-salad, I baked some beans and made the deviled eggs and we a...

  Here I go again with my summer school scrapboooking goals!  Last year I failed miserably and got nothing accomplished other than ordering a few photos.  This year I am much more determined ...and I have a plan ! :)  Anyone who knows me knows that I love to have a plan!   My plan is to get one grade for one kiddo done each week this summer.  For instance, the first week of June I was scheduled to do The Princess' K5 pages.  This past I was scheduled to do Mr. B's K5 pages.  This week will be The Princess' 1st grade pages ...and so on, back and forth, until I'm current.   OK.  I admit, I'm a week behind already.   BUT I did get The Princess' K5 pages completed!!  Whoo hoo!!  And I'm planning to make up some time this week and maybe get back on my schedule :)   I think once I get into a good rhythm I'll start moving more quickly.  Can't wait to be totally caught up!!   ...

So last week I shared my kiddos' summer reading plan but today I thought I'd share my own summer reading goals with you. I'm afraid that my stack of books for this summer is a bit ambitious but I'm going to give it my best shot! Here they are: Just RISE UP!  by Sarah Francis Martin: this is the book I'm going through with my church ladies for our summer Bible study.  I'm loving it!  Inspiring and challenging! Life of Pi by Yann Martel : I actually just finished this one this week.  It was such a good book ...and then the twist at the end really got me.  I have continued to think about it all week after finishing it.  Now I want to watch the movie.   Murder at the Manor by Agatha Christie : this is actually 3-books-in-1: The Seven Dials Mystery , Crooked House, and Ordeal By Innocence .  I'm currently reading The Seven Dials Mystery and thoroughly enjoying it.  Christie is one of my very fave mystery writers! Miss Marple, The...

This week has been full and fun!!  We began Mr. B's 10th birthday celebration on Sunday (a day early) with our special meal out with my parents and sister (my parents are so awesome to take us all out on each birthday!).  Mr. B picked Chili's this year.     On his actual birthday, Monday, he opened his gifts here at home.  Then we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch (his total fave!) where we also enjoyed a birthday cookie cake.  Yes, celebrations around here involve LOTS of good food! :) Then Monday evening we drove to Union City, TN to spend the night and visit the Discovery Park of America on Tuesday.  The whole family went and we had SO much fun!!   If you have never heard of the Discovery Park of America it could be because it's practically brand new!  It's been open only about a year and a half.  It's located in a small town about 3 hours west of Nashville but it is well worth the drive!  And the ticket prices...