Back to School Schedule & Party

We are in full swing here at our little academy. (need to come up with a name soon)!
We just started our 3rd week, and our routine is working really well, so I wanted to share what our day looks like.

*I wake up at 6:30 (working towards 6:00). I make my bed, read the Bible and get dressed.

*The boys wake at 7:00. They get dressed, make beds, brush teeth, and feed dogs. I assist one child with wiping the boys toilet...they take turns since this has to be done daily!!

*7:15 I make breakfast while they read their Bible; classical music is on in the background. Breakfast usually consists of some combination of waffles, bacon, eggs, toast, oatmeal, breakfast burritos...you get the idea. And, a great big cup of coffee for me.







*We eat, and I read the Bible to them. They "read" the Bible on their own to get used to the idea that they need to every day when they can read well on their own. I read to them so they hear the word and will know it.

*8:05 we take Jaiden to his private theraputic school and we get home around 8:35

*8:35 we do daily chores. Start washing machine, dishes, pick up.

*9:00 we start school
   -we do memory work (scriptures, days of week, months, poetry) and write in gratitude journals
   -I turn on hymns in background
   -I work on My Father's World with Brighton
   -while Tristin does Singapore math or Kahn Academy
   - I let Brighton look at ABC book or do a puzzle while Tristin and I do All About Spelling lesson

*10 or 10:15 we take a 15-30 minute break

*10:30 we read our living History literature or Apologia Swimming Creatures science



*11:00 we do Greek or Grammar

*11:20 we read our Ambleside online reading and poetry or Shakespeare

*12:00 we eat lunch (leftovers, baked potatoes, or chicken salad with fruit)

*12:30 play

*1:00  Trisitn reads aloud to me

*1:30  Everyone goes to their own room to play while I turn on a movie via Netflix and fold laundry

*2:30 boys come put away their own laundry and we go get a snack prepared

*3:00 Jaiden is home, has snack, potty, and they all can watch a movie for 1 hour or play. I clean..or read (grin)

*4:00 movie off. free play (outside) or we can work on a project or take a walk etc.



*5:00 everyone picks up any messes

*5:30 everyone helps with dinner and clean up (chopping salad, stirring, setting table, washing dishes, sweeping)

*7:15 baths, teeth, and devotional

*8:00 bed, where they can read or color...lights out 9:00 ish

That's our school day!

We have really been loving this schedule and enjoying school so much more this year so far.

The night before we started school, I decided to throw and impromptu  back to school dinner.
I love what nienie does with theirs, so I ran with that.

The boys and I made crowns, I made cupcakes and dinner (lime chicken tacos and rice).






It is so sweet how they treasure those crown and display them in their rooms.

Our theme this year is to "Dream Big". I want our boys to learn to do hard things. That's what it takes to reach your dreams. God has such dreams for us, so don't be shy to dream big!



I couldn't believe when I was going through my stash or clearance cupcake liners, that I came across these!!



We had a beautiful night. A perfect way to celebrate this life given to us.










Hope your year blesses your socks off!!

To Be Still and Know Him

I sit here a bit tired and weary from the past few weeks, but still full of joy, even if it's deep down. I long to be still and know Him. That is my desire. I want for nothing else right now then to do just that. I want a deeper prayer life, I want to fully grasp that parenting is serving, I want my children's hearts and I want them to see the love of our Father in me. I want my husband to be blessed and have full confidence in me to care for his home and family while he is providing. I'm praying about how to be lost in His word and that my whole family will be captivated by Him. I'm praying that will be all that matters to us. We start each day with prayer, bible, and a thankful heart.
 

496. having time to plan for the week
497. a great first week of school
498. praying through doing something hard (for me)
499. boys starting their own gratitude journals
500. loud thunderstorms
501. the beginning of cool days
502. Saturday chores...so nice to have a whole entire clean house!
503. reading
504. french toast and coffee on a Saturday morning
505. feeling content
506. going to bed early
507. making my husband's favorite meal after he had a long day
508. a boy who loves tv..is happier without it...yes we still have this struggle :)
509. boys building with legos
510. finding garage sale treasures
511. grace in the chaos

His Perfect Power

Waking up to that of which is life. after slowly having that feeling that everything is caving in around me. Yes, His grace is sufficient for me, for His power is made perfect in weakness.

If praise through a storm can do anything at all, it shows His perfect power.



481. this breath..and this one..
482. a happy boy
483. a friend's first picture of her healthy baby
484. my husband's arms wrapped around me
485. homeschooling these precious kids of ours...it's a gift everyday.
486. having a hard time finding my place..realizing if you are His, you will never quite find that here.
487. my first photo shoot
488. freshly sharpened robot pencils for a preschooler and a 2nd grader
489. cupcakes to welcome a new school year
490. cooking wonderful meals for my family...new meals
491. thrifty finds
492. making pizza for my pizza loving 10 year old
493. again, a happy boy, because I can never be too thankful for this
494. a boy begging to do science. studying God's creation.
495. a great first day of school!

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Working on the Boys' Rooms

I've been slowly working on the getting the boys' rooms in order. I had fun plans and then pretty much threw them out the window for a few reasons.

1) it's just not necessary
2) we were given some furniture, so I worked with it
3) because they started hanging up their drawings and stickers on the wall..and well, they love it.

I only have a before picture of Brighton's room. This was with the stuff from his old bedroom which they all shared, and curtains left here from...maybe the 80's?



We were blessed to get and old chest of drawers that my grandparents bought when they married. My dad and uncle tore down an old ICE sign from their gas station when they were little to make the shelves on top. My grandma then painted it green.

I love the history of this piece, and am so proud to have it in our home!



Here is the back (the old ice sign)



The shelf happens to match the little green desk I bought years ago at a yard sale.



I happened to stop in (ha) IKEA while we were in Austin a few weeks ago and picked 1 package of curtains (and cut them in half) and the $10 duvet cover for his bed. It all turned out so nice!



I never showed a picture of Tristin's room, only because it had absolutely no storage whatsoever. It was a mess. I moved the old white shelf from Brighton's room to  Tristin's room and added a desk I picked up for $40 at IKEA. His favorite color is orange..if you couldn't guess.



We used an old bunting we had and the old vintage chair I picked up for their old room from another yard sale. I love those things ;)
This boy loves to draw, so the desk is a wonderful feature for his room!




I did add some orange and teal Chinese lanterns over his bed that I picked up for .50 at Michaels. I'll have to share a picture when I take one.

We are working in Jaiden's room next, so hopefully I'll have that post up this week! It's all coming along!


Between Naps on the Porch

Our New School Room

When we were looking for a house, we had thought we wanted a school room. Even though this house does have room for what could be a school room, we found everything easily has a place in our family room.

This room has built ins, a place for all of the extras, and even our computer. Take a look!





To the right of the couch I put an old antique desk I found at a garage sale for $10. I placed a lamp on it so that it can seem like a side table. I love this space and it is great for independent work. If you look down to the right we have our All About Spelling board, I simply store it behind the desk when not in use.



The drawers hold their daily books.



The shelves hold our library. Books collected from garage sales and ordered on amazon. This shelf below is our science and nature study shelf.



Our nature collection.



On this side we have our reading nook.




If you look under the shelves we have our supplies and the teacher manuals and books, along with audio books and educational dvds. On top of the cabinet is a picture that corresponds with the artist we are studying.





And then on the other side we have our computer for days when we do extra videos or research.



We love this room;  it works so well as a family room when needed and a school room otherwise.

Photo Shoot

I have had quite a few friends ask me to shoot family photos for them. Although I've never taken a photography class in my life, I thought I'd give it a shot.

I went down to my cousin's place and took photos of his beautiful family. It was SO much fun. Here are the results.









(My blog cut part of this picture)









































Hope they enjoyed it as much as I did!