my blessed life

As our homeschool takes some time off this summer, my mind almost never stops thinking of and planning ahead for the upcoming school year.  This is probably because I'm Type A and an obsessive planner...lol Whatever the reason, I do enjoy this season of planning.   But I also need to be refreshed as a homeschool mom.  Homeschooling can be incredibly exhausting and all-consuming.  It's not easy and it's a lot of responsibility.  And I take that very seriously when I am researching curriculum and planning toward the next school year.  So also taking some time to rejuvenate and refocus myself is very important.   How do I do this?   Each summer I take some time to read something inspiring and motivating that speaks to me as a homeschool mom.  Some of my fave reads from past years--that I have nearby on my shelf and refer to often--are Educating the Wholehearted Child, The Well-Trained Mind, The Charlotte Mason Companion, A T...

Well, summer is in full swing around here. School work is completed for 5th and 7th grades, VBS prep has more-than-commenced, vacation anticipation is growing, and there is LOTS of reading happening. This is our 3rd summer to do our own family reading program.  Yes, we do partake a little in library programs and even some store-sponsored ones, but my kids' favorite (and biggest reading motivator) is the one I put together using internet resources. You can read all about the basic program here .  This is still the main plan that we follow--hey, it works! However, this summer, in an effort to help my kids choose more different types of books (thus not spending the entire summer on one single series--not that it's a terrible thing, just trying to add variety) I have also incorporated this reading 'map' found here .  We aren't using this entire program, just the map which has all different genres and types of books suggested. I like to shake things...

I'm excited about this new year!  I'm so ready to put last year behind me. 2015 was just a tough year with lots of challenges.  Not that I don't expect challenges in this new year but I am just planning to face them with more grace, more patience, more of reliance on God.  Basically just more of God.  Without Him I can do nothing! My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness. II Corinthians 12:9 Some ways I am taking on the new year's challenges are: daily Bible reading ...I'm going back to one of my fave reading plans: the chronological one with the YouVersion Bible app reading a new-to-be but old devotional for the first time: My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers beginning my mornings with prayer and coffee--the best way! How are you beginning  your new year?

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...

Summer break is in full swing around here and we are at it again with our Summer Reading Program !   Last summer I decided to develop a little system all of our own and it was a big hit--so much so they couldn't wait to begin again this summer.   It's really simple:  They get to fill in a spot on their reading bingo charts each time they read for 25 minutes (yes, I upped the time by 5 minutes this year). Every time they bingo they earn a coupon (things like: choose your fave dinner, buy one thing at the dollar store, go bowling, a family bike ride...  primarily these are free experiences or very cheap treats). When they black-out their bingo chart they get to pick a golden ticket (these are things like: $10 at Books-A-Million, something from 5Below, a trip to our local froyo place...  things that cost a bit more but not too much either) Every week they get paid .01 per page of every book that they've finished during that week and recorded in th...

Quite a while ago a good friend recommend The Mother-Daughter Book Club series by Heather Vogel Frederick to me and my daughter.  She and her daughter had just finished it up and had really enjoyed it.  After checking it out a bit, I thought it might be just the thing to read with The Princess. The series kicks off with four 6th grade girls and their moms forming a book club and it follows the lives of the girls--their friendships, their trials, their triumphs--over the course of that school year.  This first book has the girls reading Little Women and throughout it you will find fun facts about Louisa May Alcott, a discussion guide, recipes, and even a great goal-setting exercise. Admittedly, I am selective about what my daughter reads and consequently shun much of modern juvenile fiction, but there are definitely good new books being written and I think this is a worthy series.  It does include some middle school drama and while we escape quite a bit of th...

Happy New Year to you!! I hope you have a wonderful first day of the first month of this fresh slate we're blessed with each year. While any time is a good time to read the Bible, January 1st is an obvious choice to begin to read the Bible through in a year.  And a great way to do that is by using the You Version app on your smart phone, tablet, or computer! I used this reading plan for the first time last year and loved it!  I could pick up my phone anywhere and have my reading plan at my fingertips.  And as a person who loves to see progress on my 'to do' lists, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the little graph each day showing me my reading progress for the year:) Another benefit to this app is that you can choose different styles of reading plans.  Last year I chose the chronological plan and absolutely loved it.  It was so interesting to see exactly where all of those prophets fit into the timeline of the Old Testament!  You can also choose diff...

I don't know about you, but Labor Day weekend always marks the end of summer to me.  Even though the actual first day of fall comes a few weeks later, it just seems like the beginning of September really makes it feel like fall. And with fall here I thought I would do a little Summer Reading Wrap-Up ! The kiddos have been busy reading and earning $$ all summer with our very own custom summer reading program .  They've kept me on my toes making up coupons and coming up with prizes!  As the summer began to come to an end, I resorted to recycling coupons and then finally just saying "if you bingo, I'll give you a dollar" (just so I didn't have to make more coupons...haha).   The Princess ended up earning $47.81 and Mr. B earned $20.27.  That was at a penny a page.  You can tell who loves to read the most:) I'm just glad they were motivated to read though.  The Princess was definitely more motivated than Mr. B was but they both ...

Even though we have officially wrapped up our school year, the learning doesn't end there.  It just looks different for the summertime. One of the most fun things we do to continue learning through the summer is to READ!!   In years past we have participated in lots of reading programs (you can find a great list of those here ) from stores to libraries.  And they have been varying degrees of fun.   Sometimes we live too far from a particular store to really reap the benefits of the program.  Sometimes the program is too complicated.  And sometimes it's just not fun.  And I think reading should be fun! {reading 'in a favorite chair'} So this year I decided to come up with our own reading program with great incentives.   I found some great free printables online and pretty-much cherry-picked what I wanted from them.   I am using the awesome reading bingo cards and prize coupons from HowDoesShe?'s Summer...

I've been reading A LOT so far this year!  I hope that's a good sign for the rest of the year.  I have so.many.books. that I want to read right now.   I'm just glad that I've read as many books this year as there have been weeks so far! What I've been reading: {Fiction}: The Prairie Legacy Series by Janette Oke The Tender Years A Searching Heart A Quiet Strength Like Gold Refined Stealing the Preacher , by Karen Witemeyer The Mysterious Benedict Society , by Trenton Lee Stewart (with the kiddos) The Clocks , by Agatha Christie {Non-Fiction}: Intentional Marriage , by Crystal Brothers Bucket List Learning , by Kimberlee Wilkes Say Goodbye to Survival Mode , by Crystal Paine Notes From a Blue Bike , by Tsh Oxenrider  (more on this one later this week!) No More Perfect Kids , by Jill Savage and Kathy Koch (more on this one later this week, too!!) I'm currently reading Emma by Jane Austen.  Trying to get some more cl...

Summertime is not just a good time for my kiddos to pack in some reading time, but it's also a great time for me, too!  I admit, I LOVE to read, but as a wife and mama with lots of commitments I often don't have nearly as much time to read as I would like.  But summer is more of a relaxed time for me and I can enjoy having some extra reading~yea! I've been downloading lots of freebies for my Kindle lately and getting some good recommendations from friends, so I've got plenty to keep me reading for quite a while. There are several specific books that I really want to be intentional about reading this summer though and I thought I would share them with you today. 1. Unglued , by Lysa TerKeurst: I am actually reading through this as part of a summer book study that I'm leading for the women at our church. I'm loving it so far!  It is really speaking to me about some areas in which I am so wanting to see some personal growth.   2. Desperate , b...

With the beginning of May also comes enrollment in summer reading programs .  I don't know about your kiddos, but mine really love those reading incentives--thankfully they also love to read just for the fun of it, but prizes never hurt, right? So I wanted to pass these ideas along for you and your kiddos.  The following are the ones I've found so far for this summer. Your local library~always check there!  Our local library not only has a reading program with prizes, they also have a few fun events {animals shows, etc.} planned, too. Barnes and Noble's Imagination's Destination Pottery Barn Kid's Summer Reading Challenge Chuck E. Cheese~reward your kids with free tokens for reading (and many other things, too) Scholastic's Summer Challenge And you never know, there may be other programs local to where you live, so always do a search to see if there are. Plus, you can also create your very own reading program for your home.  We have one!  For...

Wow.  Where has January gone?!?  This may have been the fastest, busiest start to a year that I've had yet.  I hope this isn't a sign that they just keep going faster the older I get. When my friend Nancy at There Is Grace first gave us this Thirty for 30 challenge I really didn't think it would be that hard.  Little did I realize how this month was going to throw me for a loop. I had visions of kicking off our new homeschool semester by getting up extra early, enjoying winter mornings in peace and quiet.  But my night owl tendencies kept showing up, my early-bird son got up before me nearly every morning (while I continued to hit snooze), and I experienced a strange period of extreme fatigue during this month.  Still not sure what that was about, maybe it was a winter weather-related thing.  Whatever it was though was really hard.  I dragged around for days. Then there was my decision to try the Read-the-Bible-in-90-Days plan.  Um....

Today I am blogging over at There Is Grace (thank you for inviting me, Nancy!).  I hope you'll join me there! During this month of getting back to the basics of daily time in God's Word, I have also been reading a new book for mothers.  With the title  No More Perfect Moms , the tone for the whole book is set. It has really been speaking to me and it seems that the theme of "striving for perfection" has been jumping out at me in more ways than just this book.  Or perhaps my reading this book has just made me more aware.   Without  completely  ripping off my husband's message from church a couple of Sunday's ago, I want to share with you some thoughts that have really spoken to me.   ... {click here} to continue reading.

Does your family enjoy reading books together?  Ours sure does!  Reading through a book together, a chapter or so a night, has become a wonderful "habit" for our family. Some of our favorites that we've read together are: Charlotte's Web Stuart Little The Little House on the Prairie Series The Chronicles of Narnia The Hobbit The Ralph S. Mouse series The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew The Paddington Bear series We have just started reading Heidi and we're all loving it!  Some of the books we've read are also new to me, but many I've read before and am loving them all over again.  Heidi is one of the latter.  I'd forgotten what a great story it is and it's really fun to read out loud.  We are planning to attend a local little theatre production of Heidi later this month, so I thought this would be a great way to prepare for that.   I have tons more on my list of those I still want us to read together.  It doesn...

It's January so I have, of course, had new goals on my mind.  One of those goals is all about reading. I LOVE to read~I am a total book nut.  Just ask anyone who's ever helped us move--we get more comments about how many boxes of books we have than anything else:)  I just can't help myself.  And, frankly, I don't want to.  A book addiction is not a bad thing, right?  And I'm more than happy to pass along my book addiction to my kiddos.  They love books, too!  We are always having a shortage of bookshelf space at our house. When it comes to setting reading goals for myself, I've never really ever been specific.  And I certainly don't want to set goals that make me feel bogged down if I don't meet them.  However, I do want to track my reading this year.  I plan to keep a book log throughout the year.  I found this adorable one that I'm printing off and keeping handy to write in.  I also found these and these for...

(one of my little readers squeezing in some Nancy Drew while waiting at a local carnival:) Today I wanted to pass along some great links for you to check out for your young readers.  My kiddos always LOVE the summer reading programs offered at so many places.  They don't need much motivation to read, but it's certainly nice to be rewarded. So if you're looking for some really good ways to motivate your kiddos to read this summer, here are some great places to start: ~ Book-It Summer Break Reading Challenge ~ Barnes & Noble Summer Reading ~ Pottery Barn Kids Summer Reading Challenge ~ Half Price Books Feed Your Brain ~ Chuck E. Cheese Reading Calendar ~ Homeschool Journeys' Summer Reading Club ~ Scholastic Summer Reading Program ~ Books-A-Million ~Your Local Library Also, here are some links to some great reading printables: ~ Free Summer Reading Game ~ Reading Logs Happy Reading!!

I have been thinking lately about all the books I want to read this year and there are always too many to count, it seems!  I LOVE to read!  In recent years though I have to let something go--at least temporarily--in order to get some reading done (usually it's a basket laundry waiting to be folded) . I got quite a few new books for Christmas and now my stack of waiting books is getting pretty tall!  I thought I'd share with you what I'm working on reading right now. {in no particular order} Experiencing God the daily journal , by Henry Blackaby (a re-read) Celebration of Discipline , by Richard Foster (a re-read) The Power of a Praying Parent, by Stormie Omartin (a re-read) The Charlotte Mason Companion , by Karen Andreola (currently reading) The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Romance , by Heidi St. John The Distant Beacon , by Janette Oke and T. Davis Bunn The Solitary Envoy , by T. Davis Bunn and Isabella Bunn The Innocent Libertine , by T. Davis Bu...

It's summertime and that's when I usually do a lot of pleasure reading. How about you? While I've had my kiddos busily earning books, prizes, etc., with their summer reading programs I've been sneaking in a few good books, too. First up: Jan Karon's latest, In the Company of Others . I really did enjoy this book and stayed up several nights in a row getting it finished. It was a bit more difficult of a read than her others, but I loved the *Irish-ness* of it and the very historical feel~I'm a history nerd, there's no other way around it. I've also read Nicholas Sparks' book, The Guardian . I'm not really a fan of reading his books, although I have enjoyed some of the movies made from them. However, a friend had passed this one on to me and I thought I may as well read it, plus it did have an interesting plot outlined on the back cover. It turned out to be a good little mystery, seemingly different from his other books. Stuart Little wa...

(a painting inside a local library) I have gotten a little carried away with signing my kiddos up for summer reading programs this year, but I just can't resist! Reading is SO much fun and when there are prizes involved that makes it even better. In case you haven't seen any of these great opportunities, I wanted to share these links with you: Scripture Adventures ~ go here to download 2011 summer Bible reading calendars. They include coloring sheets for your kiddos. The rewards are eternal!! Barnes & Noble ~ go here to print off the reading program form. After you child has read 8 books and recorded them in the form, you can take the form in to redeem a free book from their approved list. Borders ~ go here to print off the reading program form. When your child has read 10 books and recorded them on the form, you can take that in to redeem a free book from their approved list. Books-A-Million ~You must go into your local store and ask an employee for the reading form for t...