Good Deals

I love good deals (remember my 20+boxes of cereal) but they are even better when they are unexpected! Today a Girl Scout troop was having a book sale where we have our homeschool classes on Fridays. You should know I do not need any books in this house. Our bookshelves are overflowing and when I tell my kids we should give away some of our books they act like I have lost my mind. That being said I could not pass these things up.

1st grade Singapore Math Workbook 50 cents
Perfect for Adrienne to use this year and I can get by fine with just the workbook no need for the textbook or teacher book.
American Girl Book (still in plastic) 50 cents
Adrienne is all about American Girl now. She got a doll for her birthday and says that is all she wants for Christmas is American Girl doll stuff. We went to the library this week and she got American Girl books on CD and has listened to all of them. I should have saved this for Christmas but I couldn't wait.
Harry Potter Puzzle 25 cents
Both kids are all about the Harry Potter books and movies right now. I know Harry Potter is a touchy subject with some people but that is a discussion for another day. Plus that 250 piece puzzle is why I am able to do this blog post right now.

I am excited about my good deals today. Do you have any good deals to share?

Choir & AWANA

Our first night of Choir and AWANA has come and gone and it was a wonderful night.

Adrienne moved to the "big choir" with Mrs. Connie and she was so excited. She is still in Sparks with me but her best bud Ryan moved up to Sparks so she is beside herself with excitement. Hopefully having Ryan will make her not want to be up under me so much.

For Cole choir is his passion. He loves everything about it and I am so thankful for such wonderful choir leaders that are feeding that passion each week. He moved up to T&T in AWANA and seemed to enjoy it tonight. He wrote on his book tonight that when we grows up he wants to be a Pastor. I had never heard that one before from him so I am curious to hear what he is thinking.

I am so excited about another year in Sparks!! We have an amazing group of kids and I am looking forward to a great year with them.

I think sweet little Ella said it best "I like it here" was what she said to me before she left tonight. It makes it all worth it for just one child to say that!

Take me out to the ballgame........

I Promise.......

This time every year I am full of wonderful lesson plans, fun field trip ideas, new schedules......but then life gets in the way of a lot of those wonderful plans. By life I mean one child takes longer to get their work done than planned, someone gets sick, I over schedule my children. I am having a little trouble admitting that I sometimes have my kids a little over scheduled. So this year I am going to make a promise list. Hopefully I will use this list as a constant reminder and at the end of the school year I will have no regrets.

I Promise........

*Before school starts each day all three of us will have our quiet time
*Read to my kids every day
*Praise my kids often
*Stop talking so much and listen to what they have to say (Really Listen)
*Enjoy our days together
*Limit my computer time
*Stop putting so much pressure on them and myself (enjoy the journey)
*More family time

This list seems so simple and all of these things we should be doing anyway. But I have a habit of getting caught up in the "get in done" mode and forget to enjoy the journey we are on.

Art

A few years ago I was talking about homeschooling and I had someone tell me the one thing they feared the most was art.

Art? Really?

I am scared I am not going to be able to teach them to read and you are talking about art. We won't talk about the bright and shiny art curriculum I have bought......I guess maybe deep down I was a little worried about art too. So far I have not used that wonderful art curriculum. We have just done art as part of our life. Draw a picture of what I just read, what do you see outside......you get the point.

Recently we took the kids to the NC Museum of Art. We said going in that when they got bored we were out of there. They never got bored and insisted on seeing every room. They even had me take a picture of a painting so they could try to draw it when they got home. They have asked numerous times to go back so I am sure there will be a field trip soon.

At the homeschool conference this year one of the workshops I went to was about art. The speaker said art is just like learning to play basketball we don't tell our kids the first time they don't make a shot oh well you are not good at basketball so quit. We encourage them to keep trying and we should do the same thing with art. Just because the first drawing they do is terrible does not mean they can't draw. It is just like sports we get them the right equipment and encourage them to keep trying.

I am not afraid of art I have given them the tools and I encourage them each day to make Mommy a new masterpiece.

School

Our school year is up and running! I have to admit I have not done my big plans for the year but that will come soon. I sat down with the kids about a month ago and asked the questions "what do you want to learn this year?" I was amazed at how specific they were. Cole as always wants to learn a lot of history and Adrienne of course wants to learn about animals, plants, really anything life science related. It makes school so much more fun when they are learning what they are interested in.

I am going to work this weekend on a lesson plan about hurricanes because that is their new fascination. We have talked a lot about hurricanes in the last couple of days and if you know me well you know I can't wait to teach my kids about hurricanes. I am totally a weather nerd. I love tracking hurricanes, snow storms, whatever...I love it.

Rock Climbing

Tonight Jeremy took a class at Vertical Edge on the basics of rock climbing. He had to "pass" the class in order for the kids to be able to rock climb. I guess it is important for the person holding the ropes to know what he is doing.

Everyone had a great time but I am still not sure why I allowed my kids to be his "test dummies" while testing at the end of class.