November 30th

30 days of Thankfulness....

Today is the last day of the 30 days of Thankfulness series. I honestly did not think I would make it through the last 30 days but with the Lord's help here I am on the last day. Today I am thankful for quiet time with my girls. Today was a fun day spending time outside while the girls played. Mommy hasn't felt well this week so we did not get any school done but we did make memories. While I type this the big girls are stringing popcorn to put on their outside Christmas tree to feed the birds. Since Abby is so small we don't want to chance her allergies with a real tree inside and the girls really wanted one so we cut down a small tree to put outside on the porch. 

November 29th

30 days of Thankfulness.....

Today I am thankful for opportunities to play with my children. A while back we made edible play dough and stored it in the icebox. Today the girls decided they wanted to pull it out and play with it again. Unfortunately it was hard and crumbly so I experimented and brought it back to life. The girls are now happily sitting around the table making "gingerbread" men and other Christmas "cookies" out of their play dough. Just for the record even though it is edible, it doesn't taste very well.

November 28

30 Days of Thankfulness....

We only have two more days to the month of November. I have slipped up and forgotten to post each day on my Thankfulness but each and every day I have been blessed beyond belief and am Thankful always for the things I have been given. I pray for my friends and family and am thankful that the Lord Jesus is my Savior and has blessed me even though most days I don't deserve Him. Thank You Lord for sacrificing on the cross to save me from my sins.

November 27ths Thankfulness

30 days of Thankfulness....

Today I am thankful for the medical profession. Without their tireless pursuit of education we would not know when something is seriously wrong. We often think that we are fine until an appointment shows things are not quite right. Thankfully they are educated enough to figure them out and help us fix things. I am praying that the problems that have been shown to us are small problems that are easily fixed. Either way I am thankful that the doctors have taken the time to educate themselves. 

November 26, 2012

30 days of Thankfulness....

Today I am thankful for time spent with my children who bless me everyday with their presence. I am so thankful for the opportunities I have been given with my girls. I couldn't imagine life without my girls. Today we are going to spend the day doing household chores. I have termed Mondays HomeEc day in our homeschooling adventures. So today we do laundry, clean house, and get things ready for another week of learning. 

Thankfulness catch up

30 days of Thankfulness.....

November 18

Thankful for life and health. Today has been a hard day trying to get everything done around the yard before the hubby goes to work. But thankfully we both have health to be able to do these things.

November 19

Thankful to have a paid for house to live in. Concerns with money do not affect where we will live. So very thankful for having our house. 

November 20

Thankful for family. Tonight was the first Thanksgiving meal with family. Thankful that we were able to spend quality time and eat good food with family.

November 21

Thankful that today  my husband was able to go to work. After a year with no employment, he finally has a great job and today was the first day he worked. YAY!!! so very thankful for this opportunity for our family.

November 22

Thanksgiving Day!! Today I am thankful for family and friends and great food. We had a great day with our family and friends eating a wonderful Thanksgiving meal together. I couldn't ask for a better day!

November 23

Today My husband had his first official day of work. He worked Wednesday at the shop but today was his first real day working. I am so blessed that God has helped us through the past year. I am also blessed to have good friends who are always there for us no matter what. I couldn't do it without yall...

November 24

Today I am thankful for new life. My husbands cousin and her husband have been trying for a baby for 15 years and today is their baby shower to welcome their new bundle to be delivered Monday. I cannot wait to see the new blessing. God has proved himself once again. When the doctors say it's impossible He proves them wrong everytime!!

November 25

Today I was blessed to wake up to a peaceful quiet house with my beautiful babies sleeping peacefully. I was able to spend half an hour relaxing and enjoying the quiet. I am thankful for little moments of quiet alone time. 

November 17th

30 days of Thankfulness.....

Today I am thankful that I am healthy and able to be the mom that says yes that sounds like fun when the girls wanted to build a fire pit. Daddy told them to start collecting limbs to have a small bonfire so they wanted to make an area to burn it in. We (with the help of their Uncle Craig) built a mini fire pit and spent the evening collecting wood then burning it in our new firepit. They loved it as did the grown ups. So for the time spent with my family I am thankful. 

Aggravating days

Some days in life are more aggravating than others. Today was one of those homeschooling days that make me question why I decided to homeschool the girls. Destinie was determined to fight me every step of the way. She is so ready for next weeks break for Thanksgiving and did not want to complete her work. After a lot of fighting, crying, and taking away of points and privileges we finally got her school work done.

Once everything was put away she was a happy go lucky free child and was no longer aggravated or emotional. It's amazing how quickly she can change her moods based on what I need her to do.

Mount Washmore

The big girls and I have been working on excavating Mount Washmore the last couple days. We no longer have a mountain of dirty clothes but rather a mountain of clean needing to be folded and put away clothes. So our pile is being renamed Mount Foldnow. Tomorrow is going to be dedicated to folding and putting away all these clothes. Then cleaning the hallway. Hopefully next week we will have time to tackle the Master bedroom which will be our last battle after the hallway and Mount Laundry is done. Wish us Luck! We shall need it!

November 16

30 days of Thankfulness....

Today I am thankful for my mom. Today is her birthday. Happy Birthday to my mommy. I love you and am forever thankful to be your daughter. Today and everyday I am thankful that God gave me to you. 

November 15, 2012

30 days of Thankfulness

November 10, 2012

Today I am thankful that I have a great family who are always there to help out with whatever project we need them to. Today we started building our new porch. My father in law found a great deal on the boards a few months ago and bought them for us. Because of him I am going to have a bigger better porch that I know will be much safer....

November 11, 2012

Today I am thankful for all of our veterans, past, present, and future for their sacrifices in the name of freedom. Without them we would not be a free country and our children would have a much more uncertain future. So thank you to all the countrymen who fight (fought) for our country, including but not limited to my husbands cousin, Kristina, and a great friend of ours Ricky. We do appreciate all that you have done for us. 

November 12, 2012

Today I am thankful for the ability and know-how to buy groceries on a VERY limited budget so that I can feed my children. Thanks go to my mother in law for teaching me how to shop on a budget for good deals. 

November 13, 2012

Today I am thankful for my husbands cousin and father who have helped us to build our porch. without their expertise we would have a crooked porch that wasn't stable. 

November 14, 2012

Today I am thankful for my new safe porch. It is completely safe for my children to play on and there is no risk of them falling off. So thank you to Tanzy, Roger, and dad for building us a great porch.

November 15, 2012

Today I am thankful for opportunities for employment that my husband has found. Hopefully this is the last step to take to full employment. This past year has been rough but things are starting to look up. Crossing our fingers and praying hard that we are finally on the upswing after this year.

Big Difference....

Today we (the whole family) got outside and cleaned our yard... for those who actually know me yall know that our yard is huge.... so cleaning it is always an all day task. We unfortunately did not have all day as daddy was gone half the day. But we got out there and did it anyway when he got home. We spent several hours out there and got most of the yard clean and wow! What a huge difference it made. We are a tad bit overly proud of ourselves.

Tomorrow starts another day of work though. We still have a lot of yard to clean up and get looking nice. We also are building a new porch because the existing one is getting a little (okay a lot) to rickety for safe crossing. So we are going to tear down that one and build a bigger one with a roof so even on rainy days we can be outside.... I cannot wait!!!!

Today we hurt from all the raking, bending, hauling, raking..... but today is over and my house is clean and my yard is cleaner.

Today we (me and the girls) also did 4 complete loads of laundry. As in washing, drying, folding, AND putting away of 4 loads. Mount Washmore is starting to shrink!!! We also got all of our daily chores completed!!!!!

thankful for .....

30 days of thankfulness....

November 9, 2012

Today I am thankful for being saved. The Lord works through us throughout our lives to come to Him and become saved. Jesus died on the cross to take my sins from me and for that I am thankful. Without His sacrifice I would not be able to one day join Him in Heaven. It took me a long time to come to the realization that I am a sinner and need to be saved but once I did I realized that a large piece of my life was missing. My prayer is that all my friends and family will one day come to this same realization and become saved so that we may all be together in Heaven. Also that by my examples and teachings, my children will do the same. 

Daily Checklist x's 2

Daily Checklist

Today I have not one but two days worth of checking to post. Yesterday and today I got all of my chores done. I even got one section of the master bedroom clean. Today me and the hubby got his desk cleaned, inside, outside, and underneath. The girls and I got all of our housework done before Glee came on at 8 so we were able to sit down and spend the hour together. 

So there we have it. Three days in a row I got everything done minus laundry and the master bedroom which are multiple day chores to complete but which I am working on slowly but surely. 

Maybe by next week I can say my entire house is clean but then who knows between now and then I may slack off again. I am going to have faith that I won't though. It only took us 30 minutes to put supper away, clean the kitchen, living room, all three kids rooms, and the bathroom along with sweeping each of those rooms. I say if we keep that up we may succeed after all....

On November 8th I am thankful for...

30 days of thankfulness....

Today I am thankful that we are a family that loves no matter what.... Sometimes we have days where we just cannot seem to get things going but under everything we always love each other. I am thankful that I was granted my husband and children to love each and every day!

Thankful for November 7th

30 days of Thankfulness....

Today I am thankful that I have the opportunity to teach my children all they need to know. Without the blessings of homeschooling, I would not have the chance to direct my children in the ways of learning. Both the big girls are doing so much better in their behavior and I attribute this to the fact that they are not learning from their peers but rather from their parents. Their grades have even improved. I was worried that I was not "good enough" to teach them but each day they show me that something I have taught them has clicked.  God gave me these children to raise and teach and so I shall to the best of my abilities and with the Lord's help throughout. For that I am thankful.

Daily Checklist (a day late)

Daily checklist (November 6, 2012)

Make bed                                         check

            Destinie’s                             check

            Antionette’s                          check

            Abigail’s                                check

Dishwasher

            Unload (morning)                didn’t get to do it in the morning because I did not run

it the night before but had to run it during the day so it

was unloaded before supper

            Load

                        Morning                     check

                        Noon                         check

                        Night                          check

            Run                                        check

Wipe counters/stove                           check

Sweep

            Kitchen                                  check

            Living room                            check

            Hallway                                  still haven’t gotten all the laundry done so still can’t

finish cleaning the hallway with all the clothes created

by Mount Washmore

Clean

            Kitchen                                  check

Living room                            check

            Hallway                                  See above

            Bathroom                                check

Clean bedroom                                This weeks major project!! Hopefully by the end of the week I can say check to it

            Destinie’s                              check

            Antionette’s                           check

            Abigail’s                                check

Laundry

            Wash                                      2

            Dry                                         2

            Fold                                        1

            Put away                                 1

Slowly but surely we will get done with the laundry….

Over and above all I did get a lot accomplished today because of the major de-cluttering and organizing we have been doing for the last month. Each day it gets easier to clean each room because we are keeping them de-cluttered. Just two more big projects and we may have a clean house. 

November 6ths Thankfulness

30 days of Thankfulness...

Today I am thankful that we as Americans are granted the right to vote for our president. Women were not always able to vote but our country is one who adapts and changes regularly so now we women can vote and we should. Today is election day and we are on the cusp of change. Will the country continue on with President Obama or will Mitt Romney become our next president? We shall see in a few hours what the country has decided. Whether we were always allowed to vote or in the scheme of things just recently were granted that vote, we should all be out there voting for who we feel is best suited to run this country. So I am thankful for the right to do that. We very well could be living in a country that takes that decision out of our hands and be living in a dictatorship but we are not so we should be grateful for our freedoms. 

November 5ths Thankful post

30 days of thankfulness...

A day late once again but here it is. My mother in law was in the hospital all weekend sick with pneumonia and was finally able to come home so I spent the day over there helping her out. I made her a yummy vegetable soup to help her recuperation go along better. For my thankfulness for Monday I was thankful for my inlaws. When I got married I was 18 and very unequipped for the tasks of daily married life. I did not know how to cook or run a house but thank goodness my mother in law was willing and able to help me learn those things. She taught me how to cook so that my poor husband wouldn't have to eat burnt suppers our entire marriage. (though he did eat quite a few of them for a while). Not to discredit my father in law either, he can cook up a storm himself. Between the two of them, I can now cook with the best of them. Proof of my skills being better was yesterday when mom asked the father in law to go get me to cook her soup because I knew how she liked it.... if that doesn't make a girl feel good I don't know what will!!! 

I am and forever will be grateful for my inlaws. They have always been here for us through everything and have helped make sure to this day we are never without love, caring, or stuff we need.....

November 4ths thankfulness

30 days of thankfulness....

Today's thankfulness post is dedicated to great friends both in real life and in Internet land.... Without my friends life would be really boring and lonely so I am thankful for finding such great people to surround me with love and that I can support and love throughout their lives. So Jessi, Brandi, Heather, Carly, Malissa, Janelle, and sooooo many more than I can name... I love all of you and am thankful we have each other.

30 days of Thankfulness

30 days of Thankfulness....

November 3, 2012

Today I am thankful that I was blessed with a husband that understands me and my faults and loves me anyway. No matter what I do or don't do, how many times I try and fail, or how much I say I will do but don't finish, he still loves me. We may not have a perfect marriage but we are happy. We may not have the best of everything but we are together. Sometimes we do not have anything but once again we have each other. At the end of the day, that is all that matters. We have each other to help the way seem easier. 14 years ago I wouldn't have believed it if anyone had told me we would be married with 3 beautiful daughters but the Lord above knew what He was doing that May night. He brought to me the best husband a girl could ask for. So today and every day I am thankful for my husband who loves me through and through. I love you Tanzy

30 days of Thankfulness

30 days of Thankfulness....

November 2, 2012 (a day late)

Today's post is coming to you a day late due to unforeseen circumstances. Yesterday (the 2nd) I was and am thankful that the Lord above has seen fit to bless me and my family with love and courage to get through each and every day no matter how hard it seems to be. The path of life will not always be easy nor will it be peaceful but at the end of that road I know that the Lord will be there for me always. Even those days when I sometimes feel I walk alone, I must remember that the Lord is always by my side and He walks with me through everything, comforting and protecting me and my family. 

Life isn't always roses

Sometimes life gets in the way of our best intentions. I had every intention of teaching the girls, cleaning house, working on my blog, cooking supper, and  list of other things.... none of which got done yesterday....

My mother in law is sick and the doctor decided she needed to be in the hospital so instead of getting anything done at home we left and raced to the hospital. So yesterdays thankfulness post went by the wayside, the house didn't get cleaned, the girls did not get their schooling in, and supper did not get cooked. But we cannot always predict what life is going to be like so we just have to take it as it comes and start again the next day.

So today I got up and

I made my bed!!! I honestly cannot remember the last time I actually made my bed. Oh wait yes I can... when I washed the bedding after hubby being sick a couple weeks ago....geesh I am a slacker....

But hey I did it today so that is what counts. Today I have a made bed.
I haven't done anything else today but I did do that. So one step at a time right.

30 days of Thankfulness

30 days of Thankfulness...

November 1, 2012

Today I spent the entire day thinking of all the great things I have in my life that I am thankful for. As the day went by I had one major thought in my head that I was going to use today. As I sat here about to write todays thankful post, my 10 year old came up beside me to see what I was doing and asked what 30 days of thankfulness meant. After explaining to her that being thankful means to be happy with the path that God gave us and thank Him for each thing we have in our lives, she leaned down and hugged my neck and said, "I am thankful I have the greatest mom in the world." At that moment I realized that my earlier idea just would not fit now. So instead todays thankful post is dedicated to my wonderful children and the blessings they have brought to my life every day since they were born. Without my children I would be lost in this world. And so today I thank God for my girls. I love you more and more each day, Destinie, Antionette, and Abigail. My sweet sweet blessings. 

A New Adventure

This week in homeschooling land went pretty good. 

A few weeks ago we changed up our schedule because the girls and I were feeling overwhelmed and we needed a change.
We started in August following a schedule that almost exactly mirrored the public school schedule and slowly but surely we got to where we were not excited and happy to start the school day and instead we were dreading getting started each day. We then took a two week break after the first full six weeks and re-evaluated our situation.
The hubby and I talked about how to make homeschooling work and fit us better. We didn't want to quit homeschooling but we knew something was going to have to change if we were going to keep going. We started talking about how back in high school we had block scheduling where I sometimes only went to school two days out of the week and other weeks it was three days. I so much enjoyed that schedule my senior year. It made it easier on me to finish all of my school work, work a full-time job, learn to take care of our first house, and deal with the morning sickness that I was blessed with three months before I graduated.
Now thankfully I am not dealing with such a heavy load but keeping up with a house and raising three beautiful daughters as well as teach the older two their p's and q's is still a stressful situation at times.
So we worked out a schedule where we have 3 day weekends and a four day work week. The girls are off Mondays to take care of any appointments, big cleaning projects, and just generally relax another day. We also cut down the amount of work that I thought they HAD to have each day to "keep" up with the public school kids, not taking into account that we are NOT public school kids and we do NOT have to keep their schedule but instead take each day as a blessing to be together and learn. So now each girl has a slightly different schedule from each other but each still gets the full education they need. The amount of time we spend studying and learning has drastically gone down using this schedule the last two weeks. They both would normally be working for hours past the expected time and both them and I were feeling like we might never finish each day. By the end of each day we were so exhausted we weren't even wanting to spend time doing anything fun. We just wanted to go straight to bed. Now we are getting done quickly and no one is stressed and wanting to pull our hair out.....

Sometimes it is best to take a step away and re-evaluate the situation and change things to make them work for you instead of against you!

Sometimes the best laid plans do fail

I had such high hopes for myself and unfortunately I did not fulfill my side of the deal. I had last posted almost two months ago with the great news that I was finally done with the laundry (Mount Washmore as my darling husband named it). I set up a great schedule for washing clothes and keeping up with the laundry and as sometimes happens, the best laid plans fail. I just knew the new schedule was going to work and be great for keeping up with the laundry but like usual with me it seems I can not keep the momentum up. Less than two months later Mount Washmore has returned in full force and like usual I am overwhelmed. Today though is the first day of a new month and so I am going to put into motion a new me (hopefully). For the last two weeks I have been washing dishes, wiping counters/stove/table, sweeping the floor, picking up the living room, and sweeping said living room every night before I allow myself to relax and go to bed. So far it is working and I am keeping at least the front part of the house clean. (you know, the areas the people actually see when they come over).
On Monday, I had the two bigger girls go into their caves and clean them out. Now we can see floor again rather than EVERYTHING that was on the floors. Luckily the baby doesn't make as much mess yet being she IS only 18 months old so it is easier to keep her room clean as long as we keep the big girls out of there.
My big plan to clean the master bedroom still hasn't come to fruition but I know eventually I will have to get in there and get it done. I just don't know when. Sometimes I feel so discouraged and like I won't ever get finished decluttering and cleaning my house.
I just have to keep trying and not give up. Giving up means that I really won't ever get done so I refuse to fully give up... Become discouraged and disappointed in myself but not giving up.

Feeling Accomplished

I feel so good today.. We got our schoolwork done by 2 oclock which is a big accomplishment all on its own but the best part for me is I have accomplished something that for me was a big hurdle... the dreaded laundry. I had let it take over my life and felt like I couldn't do anything to fix it because it was such a big project. My hallway was full to overflowing with clothes and blankets and sheets and everything... and I didn't want to face it. I was washing just what we needed at that moment and not taking the time to do all of it and get it out of the way. Over the last two weeks I have been slowly but surely excavating the hallway and I can finally say that there is very little dirty laundry and what is dirty is stuff that has been worn in the last couple of days... I set up a new schedule for doing laundry... each person has a different day of the week for their laundry and each day I spent ALLLL day washing, drying and folding their laundry.. I taught the two older girls to wash, dry, fold, and put away their clothes and I am proud to say that they did it on their own  with minimal help from me just reminding them to change out loads and helping them put it away last week since there was sooo much... This week they did it on their own... I have only one load to wash tomorrow of two blankets that were hiding under the baby's crib when I cleaned her room today... The only downside to all that laundry doing is that I washed, dried, and folded it all but now it is sitting in nicely folded piles on my couch so my once finally cleaned living room now looks like the hallway did but that's going to be fixed tomorrow when the hubby is home and can help me haul it all to our room and put it away... then of course the last and final room to reorganize and excavate is our room where everything got put as I was decluttering the rest of the house... but I am making a promise to myself that by Monday morning there will not be a room in my house that hasn't been reorganized and cleaned... I will get it done this weekend come rain or shine.

We have been doing so well with our new cleaning schedule and the house looks better than it has in a long time. Today was a let's finish a room day so the kitchen slid by the wayside but the day is not over and I am going to clean it before I go to bed...Tomorrow the girl whose week it is can take back over but it is a big mess tonight and she needs help with it so I am going to help her this time... after all what are mommas for...

busy week

We had such a busy week this past week. The girls had their schoolwork and I had housework and a new schedule to think up and put into action. I made daily checklists for the girls and myself so that we can check each task off as it is completed so they and I can see that we are getting things accomplished in our daily lives. Each girl has their own checklist that they can follow to see how much they have to do and how much they have completed... I also made a room by room checklist so that when that room is assigned as a chore the girls know exactly what they are supposed to do to clean it. Doing it that way will hopefully help stop the constant questions on what they are supposed to do and the constant nagging by me to make sure that each step was completed. The girls like it so far because it tells them step by step what they are to do in cleaning that room. We also changed up the chore schedule. Instead of alternating days on chores they each chose two slips of paper to be their chore for the week. For example, this week one girl has Kitchen and hallway/porch and the other has Living room and Bathroom. Next week they will switch it out. Both girls also have their laundry set up on different days now so that they have one day a week to do their laundry. (My idea is that maybe they will stop throwing clean clothes on the floor for me to wash a hundred loads a week, if they have to do their own laundry). And just in case you were wondering (and I say you as in me cause I am writing this more for me than for anyone else), my hallway is also my laundry room so it does get messed up quickly for some reason, so it is definitely a chore room that has to be kept clean or it quickly looks like a hurricane went through it... 

speaking of hurricanes. Hurricane Isaac came through Louisiana this week. We didn't get very much bad weather over here in Southwest La but the Eastern part of the state definitely got hit pretty hard. My prayers go out to all those families that were impacted by Isaac. 

So chores are figured out for the week, I started crocheting a blanket yesterday so I am hoping I will have a nice warm throw for during school since it is sooo cold in my kitchen with the ac blowing right on the table. I plan to make one for each girl as well as myself. I now have to start figuring out next weeks work for the girls. Their schedules are pretty much fixed out but in order for me to teach them I have to read their work and figure out the best way to teach them each subject so I have to spend my extra time(haha what's that) going through each weeks work and making sure I am fully aware of each thing. I am also teaching Bug a new way to study her Science and Social Studies. Rather than just reading the chapter lesson by lesson and answering the questions after each lesson I am going to have her do a simple outline of each lesson. We did it last week and her test Friday was much easier for her and she scored a better grade. I hope this helps her retain the information better. 

Anyway life is normal (as normal as can be with our craziness lol) over here and we are taking each day as it comes. I am still determined to straighten out the house and get it running much smoother than it has been. I just have to keep on going and working at it. I have faith I will be able to do this but sometimes I wonder what I have gotten myself into. I then think well God never gives us more than we can handle and He knows I can do this so I will do this with His help. 

Y'all have a great weekend and God bless each and every one of you.

Daily checklist

Today I slept in and didn't do very much but I did:
get all of one childs laundry done so that's an accomplishment in itself...
working on the second childs laundry and hope to have most of it done tonight...
oldest daughter unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher
I washed the pots
cleaned the counters, table, & stove
swept the kitchen....
doesn't sound like a whole lot but I did get some stuff done so maybe just maybe I can turn this disaster around and get a clean house again

When I look at what little bit I actually did do I feel like I haven't done anything because there is so much more that needs to be done but as Nony puts it on http://www.aslobcomesclean.com looking at things as a whole will always discourage us slobs... she takes one small step each day and slowly but surely she declutters and organizes her home... she changes her habits and makes a concentrated effort to change herself to change her house.... I am so glad I found her site... it's making me feel so much better about myself because I am not alone in my slobishness and if she can change then I have faith that I can change... With God's love all things are possible...He has faith in me and so I will have faith in myself that I can do this...slowly but surely I will get my life under control....

Daily checklist

I am borrowing an idea from http://www.aslobcomesclean.com and posting a daily checklist of things I need to do each day and things that I can check off my list...

Today I:

started supper at 9 in the crockpot
(chicken breasts cut up, sausage cut up, brown gravy,  can of tomato sauce, rotel, seasonings, and onions/bell pepper/celery)
as well as the rice needed for it

supper was going strong all day and was ready for supper at 7 tonight!!

Homeschooled the three big girls which was mostly tests today.. they all three did good jobs though we did have a setback or two but that's to be expected...

wiped down the bathroom this morning

Redo list: (Saturday)
After making this list and seeing that I didn't do very much and that I could have and should have done more... I went and put a load of laundry washing and then put it in the dryer to be folded later and put a second load washing... so I did do a little more...I am working on it.. and I will get better

and that's it for me today...seems like I didn't do anything but to be honest I really could have done more and even thought a couple times to go do something but well I am not the best at doing what I should...hence the following of http://www.aslobcomesclean.com . she is teaching me to not lie to myself about my faults.. I know I could have done more but didn't feel like getting up and doing them... I know I need to break that habit and so I am going to do as she has done and do a post about what I plan to do and actually doing them each day....

Y'all pray for me that I can follow through with this because God knows I have started a hundred times with a "new" cleaning routine and it never lasts more than a few weeks... I AM going to change that... I WILL get into the habit of cleaning as I go instead of waiting for the disaster to overtake my house and life...

About a month ago we started the girls on a new "help out" schedule and they are doing good when I remind them but alas I am bad about remembering that things are supposed to be done... We are all going to change that starting with ME!! As of today I am no longer going to allow mess to rule my life....

It's Friday!!!

yay!! it's Friday!! We have made it through two weeks of homeschooling... we are definitely still figuring things out but it is getting easier and much better.... We have had to do some rearranging of furniture and schedules to make it easier on the baby... she isn't liking not being in my arms every second of every minute of every hour.. well you know what I mean... lol... We moved her playpen into the kitchen so that she would have a place to play right next to me while the girls are doing their lessons... it so far has seemed to help a little bit....

Unfortunately, the baby and Vic are both sick today... both started running fever this afternoon for seemingly no reason. Both got a dose of medicine and are resting (well baby is in bed, Vic is watching Mirror, Mirror for the fifteenth time) lol.... hopefully they both feel better tomorrow because it is scheduled to be a busy day... they have a birthday party to go to during the day and then Vic is going to a sleepover at her cousin/best friends house... she has to be better by morning or plans are canceled and she has been looking forward to this all week....

and in other news... I stumbled across a blog that is absolutely amazing... this girl must be my twin.. everything she talks about is me in a nutshell... I am reading her blog backwards from the beginning as she recommends because omgosh to follow her story is inspiring... I have always been ashamed to admit my faults to others (outside of the family) and this lady has made me rethink myself and want to follow her path.... I am hoping to incorporate some of her ideas into my life and see if it helps me.... for those who want to follow her blog she can be found at  http://www.aslobcomesclean.com I love this lady and am so glad I found her blog...

Well that's all I can think of from our neck of the woods so I will sign off for tonight...

Better late than never...

I am so behind this week on doing this blog... but better late than never.... this week has been interesting to say the least... I got the paper work for the renewal application for Libs done so now it's a waiting game to see if they will approve us for another year of homeschooling... if not I don't know what the next step is...such a newbie at this.... We did have a good week homeschooling.. the girls all did really good on their work but we have had a few bumps along the road with them not doing their work to their full potential... because of that they have had a few bad grades which has upset them... unfortunately I cannot just give them good grades.. they earn the good with the bad.. which I had to explain to them several times. If you do not do your work correctly then you earn the bad grade.... but I am sure it will sink in eventually.
As for the major issues (spelling) all three girls have done GREAT this week... one passed the first pretest on Monday so doesn't have to take the test on Friday, the other two passed the second pretest today so do not have to take the test tomorrow.... I am so proud of them... (when I say passed I mean they got a 100%!!!)

As for our bible study we started at the beginning of school, we are up to Genesis 9 (today's reading) and the girls are enjoying hearing the bible... I am thinking this was a good idea to start doing first thing in the morning... we start our homeschooling day with them doing a to-do list ...

Here's how it looks

Name

Date

To-Do List

Memory verse:

Bible study

Subjects

Their subjects are in order of how they are supposed to do them each day... Each child has a different schedule... it makes it easier on me to follow... no child is on the same subject at the same time so that I can teach Math to just one child at a time which means they have my one on one undivided attention... makes for better grades and better understanding of the material... (I hope).... 

Anyway this week hasn't been real exciting...other than we have run out of dish soap finally so I am making my own today.... have the recipe working now so hoping it turns out right and works.... yall pray for me.... I made laundry soap a few weeks ago and it's working beautifully so I am really excited about that... cheap and easy and I love saving time and money.... 

Well I am off here again... the girls are playing family game night on the xbox while I do some afternoon free time (YAY!) 

So Excited

After finally receiving our homeschool paperwork from the state, I was able to go get the textbooks from the school board. So of course I had to then organized what to teach and when so that we could complete the necessary subjects within the time frame allotted.... After figuring out calendars for each girl, I then plugged in what chapter, what lesson, and testing days into each calendar... yes the calendars are different for each child... One needs a school based calendar because she has to have public school breaks off to go to her moms, and the other two are in different grades so need different curriculum put in.... It took me Friday afternoon/Evening/night, Saturday all day and half the night but as of right now I am completely done putting everything in so now all I have to do is actually teach them the material on the day given.... They can open their folder for that subject, read the calendar for that day, see what they are supposed to do, turn to the correct section, and complete that work. Then they just check off that they completed that assignment and voila they are done.... I think that having their assignments already organized will give them a little more independence in their work... Instead of waiting on me to finish with another child they can pull out their work and get started and I can help along the way... no more sitting there waiting on me.... I hope this works out well.... We shall see... This first year is sort of a trial and error run... We are going to see what works and what doesn't and change it as we go along... All I can do is pray and ask God for guidance and He shall led me down the path He wants me to follow.... I just have to remember to relinquish that control to Him....

Day four

Today was both good and bad.... the good news was our paperwork finally came in from the state so we were able to unenroll the girls from public school officially so yay... no more public school worries for us.... the other good thing about the paperwork coming in is that I was finally able to rent their textbooks so now we can do science and social studies which we couldn't do this week... so yay again... the bad parts were behavior... omgosh sometimes I question what I was thinking taking on 3 girls into homeschooling ... but then I remember how bad it was with them in public school and I don't regret it at all.... they had such a hard time in public school and I hated seeing how bad they felt, how low their self-esteem was getting, and how little they were really learning... it seemed like every time I turned around they were taking another standardized test... dibbles, scantron, leap, ileap... the list goes on... lately the teachers are stuck teaching to the test rather than teaching them all they need to know... plus the biggest drawback to public school is the lack of God... they won't let the children learn about God and actually punish those children who talk about God or read the bible during free reading... My oldest brought her brand new bible to school with her that she had gotten from Sunday school she was sooo proud of it so of course wanted to show it off to her friends... Her teacher took it from her and wouldn't give it back to her until the end of the day and told her NOT to bring it back to school... I am sorry but that is unacceptable in my view... She was so discouraged that day and could not understand why such an important part of her life wasn't allowed in her daily school life... I refuse to let my children ever feel that way again... The Bible and God are first and foremost in their lives and is the first thing we study in the morning which is as it should be.... Well today was an awful long day so I am going to cut this one short and head on to bed... May God bless those who need blessings and heal those who need healing whether physically, mentally, or spiritually....

Introduction

I started thinking last night when I went to bed... as I was laying there I realized that although I have started this blog and shared how the first two days of homeschooling went, I completely neglected to share about our family.... so here goes.... We live in Louisiana... Me and papa bear have been married for 13 years this past January. One short month later we got pregnant with Bug (12) (Girl) who was born two months premature (27 weeks) at a very tiny 3 lbs 5 oz. Then almost three years later we had Vic (10) (Girl) and we thought our family was complete.... we thought about having more but health problems prevented me from conceiving again so we just thanked God for our two beautiful girls and went on with life. Fast forward 8 years and I came down with the "stomach flu" and it just hung around and hung around and I could not shake it.... Mother in law insisted that I was pregnant and it wasn't the stomach flu so finally I tested and sure enough I was Pregnant after 8 years.... come to find out I was already 4 months along and didn't know it... surprise here comes Chichi (16 months) (Girl).... so there ya go... we have three beautiful girls now....

Well last year a friend of the family's little girl was having a hard time in public school... she was being bullied and was contemplating suicide because she was so depressed... when we realized how severe her problems were, her family started talking about homeschooling but they didn't feel they could do it on their own so I volunteered to help them out by taking on the bulk of her schooling... so from January until May I was homeschooling Libs (10) (Girl).... Well once I saw how much she improved in her mental state, grades, and behavior I decided that maybe that would be a good thing for our girls too... I had always wanted to homeschool but family and friends talked me out of it because they didn't think I could do it and it would be bad for the kids....
Well for once I decided to stop listening to them and start listening to my heart... After much talking and praying me and papa bear decided it was time to take the girls out of school and start teaching them at home....
Several factors led up to that decision but the biggest one was the amount of bullying going on at the school... The girls would come home in tears begging to be homeschooled because they were miserable being picked on and made fun of.... Another factor was that I had been substituting before becoming pregnant with Chichi and saw 6 yes 6 6th graders pregnant, a few in their third trimester at the beginning of the school year which signaled to me that they had gotten pregnant in 5th grade.... talk about shock the daylights out of me... I was stunned... and these girls were happy and proud about being pregnant and showing off their bellies and saying oh look it kicked come feel look how cool.... oh wow is all I could think.... And the final reason was the drugs that were being talked about and distributed in school under the teachers noses... ummm hold up ... what is the teachers job? isn't it to teach and protect our students... umm allowing these children to get away with that is showing me that you are not paying close enough attention to what is going on around you....
Now I am not saying that all public schools are bad or that even that public school is bad but I don't want MY children around that atmosphere.... they deserve a more godly life where drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, and violence are not the cornerstones of their lives.... I feel that by bringing them home I can give them a more solid secure life.... now a lot of people do disagree with me but my thoughts on that are that if God had wanted me to keep my girls in public school then He would not have put homeschooling so heavily into my heart and mind... He obviously wanted me to take this step and so who am I to argue.... (not smart to argue with the Lord) He knows best...and so on that note I will leave you with todays memory verse

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:11

Oh and yes our day went good today... we had a few incidents of misbehavior that were quickly resolved and we even got done early today.. yay! Oh and our homeschool approval letter FINALLY came in from the state so now I can go get their textbooks so we can actually do all the work... YAY!!

Day two

Well day two of homeschooling has come and gone.... we started out a few minutes late today but eventually got everything done and done well I might add.... We started our new bible lesson series... it leads you through the bible in 4 years (created for children so they don't get so overwhelmed)... We read the whole first chapter of Genesis (was supposed to be the first 19 verses but they wanted to go on and how could I tell them no) and the girls wrote the days of creation in order to be memorized.... surprisingly they knew more than I thought they did... I often wonder how much of what I say to them and how much they hear from others actually sticks with them... I am proud to say our girls have good minds and do retain quite a lot more than I thought (shame on me for underestimating my girls, tisk tisk tisk).... and yes I made the sound out loud lol.... We also created privacy blinders (their offices as they called them) so that they cannot look over and see what the others are writing (no cheating allowed) plus I felt that it would help with the "she's looking at me.. mommmmmmmm" syndrome that was going around.... we shall see... we also had to deal with a touch of disrespect and bullying by one of the girls who needs an adjustment on appropriate behavior when she's with me but again it's a work in progress.... but then we all need adjustments on behavior occasionally even the momma... Overall day two was another rousing success and I am thankful once again that I followed my heart and God's will to begin homeschooling. My girls seem much happier and of course that makes the momma much happier as well....

Today's memory verse

"Thou God whom thou servest continually, He will deliver thee"

Daniel 6:16

Day one

Day one in the adventures of homeschooling in the Domingue house.... Today was for sure an adventure.. Our first official day of homeschooling was a complete success (in my humble opinion). We completed all of our work and even had some fun. There weren't any tempers flaring, no arguing amongst the munchkins, and somehow we even had time for visiting the grandparents... And of course the best part of our day was yay!! Daddy found a job finally... God has provided for us for a year (well for way longer than a year but a year with no employment) through no jobs, unemployment payment delays, and beginning our homeschooling journey.... At my lowest, I was terrified of how we were going to pay bills, buy household items (food, diapers, formula) but not once were we without a need (yes we sacrificed a lot of wants) but our needs were always met and met wonderfully. Never did  we go without... and that my dear friends is the beauty of the Lord. We never lost faith that God had a plan for our lives and we took each day as a gift and kept on keeping on (gotta love Joe Dirt)... We successfully paid our bills and even got out of debt, successfully worked on a curriculum for the girls, and learned that even a year home together we still can get along.... Everyone always says they don't think they could handle having their spouse home for months at a time but honestly I wouldn't have traded this past year for anything. We are all closer for him having been home with us. Tonight was the first night in a year that he wasn't home to kiss the girls goodnight and that was hard on them but I am sure not even as hard as it was for him. Thankfully we have a schedule that means he will be home during the day so plenty of daddy time for us.... Granted if we weren't homeschooling and the girls were going to public school, then we would have some major daddy withdrawals going on with him leaving within half an hour of them getting home... but once again... The Lord always provides a way for everything to work out smoothly.... our Lord is a good Lord and we are blessed to know Him.... For all those doubters and naysayers who think we can't successfully homeschool, I say this... The Lord WILL provide the strength, knowledge, and know how for me to do this. It is God's will that I homeschool our daughters and so He will provide for me to do just that. Our memory verse for today even proved that to me.... we are following a new 21 day challenge that will get us into a stronger habit of worshiping the Lord and the verse given for today is 

"He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold."

Job 23:10

I know that my life is not mine to command but rather to follow the Lord as He sets my life down the path He has for me. At the end of that road, I know I too shall come forth as gold.