~ Friday ~

Lots of fun today!

Morestarfall
Jumpstart
PBS.org
Sproutonline.com
Minecraft
Roblox

I found a wonderful and FREE preschool program that I signed up for ~ Chalk Preschool! Maddy loved it!  She was dancing and singing along... so sweet. Levi and Cohen even joined in :)

Nintendo

Books we read:
Mia Dances Back To School - Robin Farley
Dinner With Olivia - Emily Sollinger
How To Convince Your Parents You Can... Care For A Pet Guinea Pig - Stephanie Bearce
My Big Animal Book - Roger Priddy

Played with guinea pigs

Created with Sculpey

~ Wednesday ~

My body is healing!!  Woke up this morning with a slight headache (day 3 of this headache), but no stiffness in my ankles!  It seems like whenever I return to eating grains I am miserable with stiffness in my ankles and hips.  I think I'll stay away from the grains for good.  It's nice waking up and being able to walk without limping!

Breakfast this morning was 2 cups of coffee with homemade coconut cinnamon creamer, two fried eggs, small amount of sauteed kale and some delicious homemade "cereal".  It was actually very good, and just what I was craving on Day 5 of my Whole 30 Challenge!  Here is what I did ~

Handful of slivered almonds and sunflower seeds, toasted

1/2 small apple chopped into small cubes

full fat coconut milk w/ cinnamon (Mine was chilled in the fridge. It's also what I use for my morning coffee)

Mix together and ENJOY!!  Yum! :)

Our children have had a good day ~

Minecraft

Playing house
Morestarfall.com
Read about St. Felix of Valois
Read/discussed lesson 2 in The New Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism
Took Unit 1 test on My Catholic Faith Delivered ~ aced it!!
Completed Chapter 5 of Jesus Our Life (on My Catholic Faith Delivered)
Read "Forgive Us Our Trespasses" from the book Today I Made My First Reconciliation.  This is an absolutely AMAZING book.  I highly recommend it!  It is broken up into sections that are the perfect size to read and discuss.  It is great for either a Charlotte Mason or Classical education approach. The story line is great and is holding our children's attention.  They actually stop what they are doing to see what's going to happen next.  They are truly learning about reconciliation.
The boys attended their last Sacramental Prep class with daddy.  The next step is their first reconciliation!
4H meeting
Created habitat pictures :)

~ Monday ~

I got up this morning and enjoyed 2 cups of coffee while reading a book.  Once the children started strolling out of bed I started breakfast.

Today was our day to go to Catechesis of the Good Shepard.  This is an amazing program and every Monday morning all of the children are excited to get going :)

Before heading out though, I wanted to get the house picked back up and vacuumed.  I was able to get the bedroom, school/toy room picked up and vacuumed. I also got the laundry done for the day ~ huge accomplishment that actually took me 2 days!

Today is Day 3 of my Whole 30 challenge and it's a struggle for me today.  I don't really want to eat what's not approved, but I have a horrendous headache and just want to crawl into a hole and sleep it off.

We didn't get any formal school done today, other than CGS.  However, the children enjoyed their day doing other things.

Jumpstart together
Drawing
Played restaurant with each other
We are going to counting it all good.

Sam's picture of heaven that he drew today in CGS

~ Saturday ~

We are slow morning movers.  I'm usually up about the time Mike leaves for work, but I'm not moving very quickly.  I like to sit and enjoy a couple cups of coffee before really getting going.  Gradually, one by one, our children begin to wake up.  Their slow morning routine begins with laying around watching television, or playing on the computer.  Then they all slowing get up for breakfast. Our day today started out the same as usual :)

Reading ~  Pirateology; Fancy Nancy, There's No Day Like a Snow Day; Pirates Most Wanted
Team Umizoomi
Jumpstart  (J & P) ~ They enjoy playing at the same time!  They play on 2 computers and can talk with each other.
Lots of laundry
Drawing

Clown Shows :)

Perfect kitty hiding spots...

 4 player chess game :)

Mass
Michigan Football

It's been an amazing day!!

~ The Beautiful Freedom of Homeschooling ~

We enjoy homeschooling so much!  The children get to enjoy themselves, take their time, really focus on something if they want.  Of course, if they don't like something we are doing, they hurry to complete it and move on :)

Sometimes, using a textbook gets rather boring.  Other times, the textbook just isn't doing a very good job of explaining a concept.  When either of these happen we find something that will do a better job.  We recently took a break from our science textbook.  We decided to get some "hands on" science in with a study of seeds!  The children had a blast!  They drew pictures of their findings when we were done.

The concept of "place value" was always a tough thing for me to understand.  Our children were struggling with this concept as well.  To help them understand, we pulled out our Math-U-See blocks and "built" our numbers.  Just one afternoon of "playing" with these blocks helped!  They have since been flying through the place value portion of their math.

It's been a wonderful couple of days of school and home-keeping.  We have completed our work and had lots of time to play, read and rest!  When I get up in the morning, I drink my coffee while reading e-mails.  When I'm done, I close up the computer.  Very freeing! 

~ Letting Go ~

Life is hectic without homeschooling.  Life is hectic with the average size family.  Homeschooling and 9 children, 8 of which are still home (as well as a sweet grandson), makes my life CRAZY!!

Homeschooling, as much as I would argue differently, results in a lot of time away from the outside world.  Sure, we go to the library, on field trips, activities, and different types of classes. But, it isn't the same as heading off to work in the morning and spending the day with other adults. I know, I worked for many years. I enjoyed that part of it. I enjoyed my job. But, I always longed to be home with our children.

So, home I came.  I can honestly say, I've never been happier than when I'm home with my family.  However, there is one drawback... or so I tend to think at times.  That occasional drawback thought would be adult conversation.

For a very long time I swore off social media in the form of Facebook.  It looked like a waste of precious time... but, many of my family members were on there. Many of my old friends were on there.

After a few years at home, the lack of adult conversation began to haunt me.  Yes, I had my husband to talk to, but he began (like all husbands) to get tired of hearing about the dishes, laundry, housekeeping (or lack of), etc.  I really needed someone to talk to who understood.  In came Facebook...

Finally, I was talking to long lost family members; finding groups with similar interests; meeting many new and wonderful friends and prayer partners.  It was lovely! I had a "social life" again. It was wonderful to be able to see what others were doing and to glean wisdom from them. But, along with all of this wonderful "socializing" came a whole heck of a lot of DRAMA, and a lot of hurt feelings.

I saw and read many things that I could have gone without seeing and reading!  It was very difficult at times to follow St. Paul's words: " For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things." ~ Philippians 4:8 Not that I didn't try! But, things would just show up in my news feed.

It was a place where I found myself spending way too much time.  Too much time being concerned about what others were doing or saying.  So concerned in fact, that I found myself checking FB several times a day.  Telling my children to "hold on just one minute, let mommy finish reading this".  I can't tell you how many opportunities to read, snuggle, or nurse my sweet little man, I missed just so I could catch up on what somebody else was doing.

So, I let it go... I left... and I already feel better.  Period.

What am I going to do now? Get back on a routine with my family; do nothing when I take a break; read in the evenings with my husband; write letters; just enjoy life.

And hopefully to find time, after all of that, to continue to journal our families journey here.  We find it such a joy to be able to look back and smile at these memories.