What a day!

OK, so I'm not normally the fasting type. However a week ago my dear friend found out that her adopted 5yr. old little boy had a brain tumor. Well they did the biopsy today. So I decided to fast and pray for the doctor and for her boy. The biopsy was scheduled for 7:30am and didn't occur until 12:30 and ended around 2:30 or 3:00. It's all kind of a blur right now. They were able to get the biopsy, which they were concerned they may not be able to get, praise God!!! The little guy is really sick right now. He's having a lot of trouble with nausea!! I on the other hand had no nausea here and was very glad to eat again and Praise God that he made it through the surgery! The funny thing about the fasting though, was that I stopped eating yesterday afternoon and thought I'd be starved that night. Get this...I wasn't hungry until 12:30 (when the surgery actually started). But boy was I hungry! I did a lot of praying! I guess that's why I wasn't able to be there with her either, I would not have prayed as much as I did if I had been there, too many distractions! God sure is amazing!!

Random thoughts!

OK, so I'm trying to get this blogging thing going again. I'm not sure I'm cut out for it, but it is a place for me to write down my random thoughts and a place for me to journal some of our school activities.
If anyone happens by here before Monday, please pray for one of my best friends, her adopted son will be having a biopsy done on a brain tumor that is in the middle of his brain. He's 5 years old. The doctor is not even sure he'll be able to get to it, to get the biopsy. She has three other children all 7 and under.
Also we are planning a trip to raise support for our ministry. We have been called into a revival ministry and are currently raising our support which has been a challenge with the weather and the economy. This just goes to show you how our God loves for us to trust Him. We have been unemployed now for eight months and God has provided for us in so many ways, that it's hard for me to even wrap my brain around it at times. Anyway, I need some sleep. maybe I'll share more about that later.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Alice.com

Has anyone ever heard of this or used it? I'm thinking of making my first purchase and was hoping someone has some type of experience with them. Thanks!

It's been a long time!!

I haven't been blogging lately, as you can tell! However, life has changed a lot around here! My dh is unemployed and has been for 7 months. We are excited to spend the time together, however it does have it's challenges in the homeschool world and the home organization world!! I've recently realized that I need to keep on doing what I need to do to keep the house and school up and running. So...now things are great!! We have a clean home!!!! Which I've never been good at keeping up with. But now I have a routine that works for me!! More on that later!

God has been doing amazing things in our lives!! We are now a missionary family! (That still seems unreal to me, and I'm not sure I've ever written it down!) We are currently raising our support and are excited to see what God will be doing in our lives! We need to be fully funded before we can move and join in on the work that God has called us to. And might I say we are sooo ready to be there! We will miss our current home and friends, but know that God has that all figured out for us!!

Back to the clean home thing!! I have visited sooo many sites trying to figure out how to keep up with my house and finally I turned to God and asked Him what I could do....and the result is amazing!! Here's the way I'm doing things.

There are the potential of having five weeks in a month, so I based it on that and then decided on things I'd like to have done around the house, but NEVER do! (OK, sometimes I'd do some of them.) For example, clean baseboards, clean blinds, dust, clean fans, clean tub/shower, clean windows, and sad to say, change the sheets! ( I thought you only needed to do this if you spilled something on them, or a child threw up on them, or your little one accidentally peepeed on them in the night.) LOL! Anyway, I then decided to break that down by week for the month.
So week 1 is baseboards & dust,
week 2 is shower/tub & sheets,
week 3 blinds, fans, & dust,
week 4 is windows & sheets,
and week 5 is a break...nothing extra! That'll make since in a minute I hope!
Now for the days of the week. These are things that I want to have done weekly. So I commit 15 minutes each to a room or two a day.
Monday Master bedroom,
Tuesday Kids rooms,
Wednesday Kitchen,
Thursday Living room & Laundry room,
Friday Bathrooms.
So, if it is Tuesday of the 4th week, I'm cleaning in the kids rooms. I'm changing their sheets and washing their windows. Not sure this makes sense to anyone but me, but this has changed my life!! Taking this in bite size pieces, I can and am doing it!! I use to get so overwhelmed and try to do too much at a time. That is the basic idea, but here is what tomorrow has in store:

• Quiet Time
• Laundry
• Exercise
• School
• Kitchen 15min cleaning (microwave, stovetop, etc.)
  
• Kitchen Baseboards
  
• Shine sink daily (Yes that is from Flylady, if you've never heard of her, please check her out. She is amazing!)
• Straighten up before bed 15mins. (the kids do this too!)

I also add in mopping and vacuuming. I alternate weeks. one week is mopping, the next is vacuuming. These are goals!! If I don't get them all done each day, it is ok because these rooms will see me the next week!! I do not list times with these, so that I don't feel like I've failed or missed my opportunity to do the task if that time has passed! This whole thing is much easier to understand if you make a blank calendar and insert the tasks. I hope that someone else reads this and can enjoy what God has helped me learn! He soooo good!!!!

I have so much more I'd like to say, but sleep is overdue at this point. So goodnight!!

School has been sooo good!!!

So far this year I haven't missed a beat!!! I've even been able to do the fun hands on things that I thought I could never do!!! Thank you MFW!!! Our lives are pretty chaotic right now, so it's nice that this one thing is going so well!!

My husband was laid off at the end of June and we are still searching for God's will and a job. So, to anyone who happens to stop by and read this please take a moment and pray that for us too. Thanks and may God return the blessings to you!!

Wordless Wednesday! So much FUN!!

Homeschool Started 2 weeks ago!!!

We officially became a homeschool Aug. 3rd!!!! So I felt obligated to start some school. So we did and it was a great and gradual start! We are using MFW Adventures this year along with Saxon Math, Apologia Astronomy, Natural Speller, and I'm sure I'm forgetting lots here! So far we love it!!!! K asked me today(while she is laying in the bed with a bowl in front of her face in case she throws up) if we could do school today in her bed. It's Sunday!! She was disappointed that we were not doing any school today!! That's a GREAT start to a year!!!

Having a great school week!

Thanks to a friend of mine who spurred me on, we've had a great week so far. I'm learning to accept that if I don't get it done first thing in the day, it's ok! The funny thing is I use to do school in the afternoon ALL the time, now I am learning to relax a little and if it fits better in the morning, then we do it in the morning, if it fits better in the afternoon, then we do it in the afternoon!!! Yeah for letting that go and relaxing some with school! K has not been complaining about doing any school either, but I think that has had to do more with the weather we've been having. Anyway, today we did Saxon Math, Easy Grammar, and A Reason for Handwriting (which K is loving, and it is K's weakest area!!). K also read several books and practiced piano! I need to try to get some History in tomorrow, but not going to stress over it!! Hope you have had a blessed day too!

Brainstorming

Just jotting down some of the resources I'd like to look into more for next year.
First Language Lessons
Living Memory by Andrew A. Campbell
Noeo Science
The Greek Alphabet Code Cracker
The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease Workbook 1
Writing Tales Level One
Handbook of Nature Study
Ambleside Online

Story of the World
Apologia Botany
Easy Grammar
Daily Grams
Beautiful Feet
Saxon Math

I'll gladly take tips from anyone who has used any of these!!

I'm soo behind!!

I can't believe how far behind I am! I am hoping that better planning for next year will help me. I did great with Kindergarten, but 1st grade has been a challenge. I used a complete curriculum for K and for 1st grade I've been eclectic. I'm not sure if that's the problem or if it's because K is so far ahead with reading that I've kicked back. Anyway, whatever the reason, I need to fix it for next year!