Homeschool Series: Morning Gatherings

In the past I've had a hard time getting the "extras" in our week. Those things like art projects, fine arts- composers, artists, poetry, and hymns.

I happened across this blog where she shares her morning time routine. I loved this idea and adapted it to our day. This is basically a time where we all sit together and talk about goals or upcoming events. We'll do prayer requests and our Bible time.We then go over our habit that we're working on.  We'll study our poet, composer, hymn, or artist. Then, I'll read from Shakespeare or any other literature we're on at that time. I also include our short geography lessons.

It's casual and so much fun. Really. It has changed the whole atmosphere. We fit these extras in and have loved every second of it!

They usually last about an hour. We don't do each one of these things every day, so if we have a project to work on then we don't do literature or maybe geography that day.

Here is an example of our day with Morning Gatherings:
(the hours are not exactly this all of the time, but close)

7:00 make beds, get dressed, eat breakfast
8:00 do daily chores
8:15 daily quiet time (we all read our bible on our own)
8:45 math
9:15 morning gatherings. Bible study, memory work, habit, fine arts study, geography, literature or projects
10:15 language arts
10:50 Read Alouds and History or Nature
11:30 or 12:00 Lunch

That's it. I'm not sure how something so simple has helped our day so much, but I'm so glad we started these. We've been doing this all summer (without the regular schedule) and it is one of my favorite things about our day!

How I Homeschool: Lesson Planning

It has been requested by a few beautiful ladies that I share more of how I homeschool. You're in luck! I love to homeschool and I love to talk about it with friends. So feel free to chat with me, ask questions, share ideas!

This will be broken down into a few topics over the next week or so:

Lesson Planning
Curriculum: Kindergarten (Year 0) and Year 3
The Potter's House (letting God sculpt our days and be the center)
Morning Gatherings
Projects we will include this year (art, handicrafts, notebooks)
Nature Studies
Life in a Day: what our daily life looks like
Organizing


Today, we will start with lesson planning!

I usually over think things to the point where it overwhelms me and then I get stuck and do nothing. Please tell me I'm not the only one? ha

This is our 4th year of homeschoolilng and every year I grab a lesson plan book and fill up the first few weeks with what I plan to get done and then I fall behind. After that I realize I'm writing the same thing over and over again....Monday: bible, math, reading, science or history. Tuesday: bible, math, reading, science or history...you get the idea. I'll throw in a few project ideas, or verses or chapters to read, but that's about it.

It's complicated and stressful when I fall behind because something came up and we didn't get all of our Tuesday work, but am now staring at what needs to be done on Wednesday too. So, this year I decided to do my own thing and simplify. What may work for one may not work for another. I'm just sharing what works for me.

So instead of buying a $20 planner, I grabbed this $2 notebook and called it a day.



It's small enough to grab and go if needed. It's filled with book lists I can take to the library, and projects and supplies I can grab while at the store. All in one place. I know planners have places for that, but the thing about this one is that it's laid out the way my mind works haha, so it works for me.

When you open it I have our daily schedule written out.
*this is ideal but doesn't always happen*



I will go into more detail about our schedule on another post.

Then I have the tabs. These are sticky tabs you can pick up in the office supply section of most stores. The first tab is Brighton's Kindergarten tab.



This is where I put the Math games and activities about what I'd like him to know throughout the year. I will just start at the top of my list and play games and find activities for whatever it is we are working on at the moment. On the back of the page I have specific games and activities I have found on Pinterest or in books.
That being said, I do NOT over do it. I write out the projects I think will benefit us most and I know I can get done without a hassle.

I write out lessons I'd like to get done with him in literacy, plus a few extras we can do if we make it to that point. Again, I'll share more on my curriculum post.

And then I have a literature list of books we'll read together that will make library trips and amazon orders much simpler. I leave space to add to it...but not too much space!

Next tab is Tristin's goals for year 2/3.



His subjects are divided by tabs, and what I'd like to get done and use in each one. Brighton does participate in some of these.

 Tabs:
Bible
Morning Gatherings (which include habits, memory work, fine arts, geography)
Literature
History
Language Arts
Nature Study



In the rest of the notebook is room for me to take notes, write out field trip ideas, do record keeping, and whatever else I feel I want to add.

I LOVE this notebook. It's simple and easy to get an overview of the entire year. I simply open it and choose what we'll work on that week, and get it ready before hand. We will work on it until we're ready to move on.

Saturday Family Traditions

I have really fallen in love with creating our own little family traditions. I love getting ideas from all over the place, but as I wrote a few months ago, I was getting overwhelmed with "keeping up" with all the fun stuff there is out there. So, I pretty much dropped it. I took my own advice and went with what I knew would really make a difference in our boys' lives.

Remember the everyday things like books before bed, family devotionals, pizza on Fridays, chores on Saturday. Those are the things children will find comfort in. Those are the days they will remember.

Without even thinking about it, I started lingering in bed an hour later on Saturday mornings, slowly getting up to the sounds of boys playing in their rooms. I'd head down stairs for a cup of coffee and open my wonderful southern cookbook and find the most beautiful pictures and recipes. I started craving the biscuits and gravy, the brown sugar and buttermilk waffles, the honey pecan coffee cake. Although I cook breakfast most mornings, I wanted this to be different. So, around 9:00 AM on Saturday mornings, I start what we call our Late Saturday  Morning Breakfasts. The boys make orange juice together and set the table while I whip up waffles, eggs, and bacon, biscuits and gravy, omelets, stuffed french toast, or sometimes just fruit salad and toast. Some other times, we make homemade donuts with our little donut maker.

It's all about enjoying each other, in no rush.







We read our Bible together, talk, and listen to old hymns or classical music. It has quickly become my favorite day of the week!

After we are finished, I go online to Lego Quest Kids and pick a challenge for the boys and their Legos. They spend the remainder of the morning coming up with their creations! They LOVE it! I also saw that Phyllis just started LEGO challenges on her blog too, so we'll add that one to our list.







I'm taking pictures for them and have plans to make a little book for him.

These are the traditions I love. It doesn't take a lot of effort and planning. It's not over the top or elaborate, and by no means an original idea. It is special and simple, and that's what makes it so amazingly wonderful!

Goals

It's no secret that I like setting goals. I love lists, and I really like checking things off those lists.

I have pretty simple goals this year. Things I had already started working on, and some new things.
Over the past few years I have been setting goals and checking most of them off. That's a big deal for me because I seem to enjoy the planning and list making a whole lot more than the doing part (grin).

Reading:

Read the whole Bible.
I have read more of the Bible than ever the past few years, but this year I want to read the whole thing.
I want to turn to His word more than I do others' words and opinions on His word.

I also want to read a lot more books in general. From the library. I want to read hard books, and to learn more.
I want our home to be a reading home.


Health:

Drink more water, eat less sweets, do Pilates 3 times a week, go on a walk when it's warm.
That's it. It's very doable.

Cleaning:

I love a clean house.I think better and feel better in one.
I have made a schedule, I have been working on it a few months with great results, but still need to organize and stay consistent.
I will continue decluttering, and not adding more.
No more excuses or laziness in this area from me!

Family:

Just simply loving them and spending more time with them. Playing games, going on walks, serving them.
And NO griping. Really.


Do you set goals? What are they? Let's chat.

Parenting

If you read my post yesterday, you know that I have been in a bit of a rut. You can imagine the parenting that gets done in seasons like this, but I've been actively trying to stay on top of attitudes (mine included) and build relationships.

I have a hard time with this, and some days are even harder. *grin*

Every single day, I have to get up and get going to create an atmosphere that the boys are used to. I think all of the time. Think about ways to love them more, ways to spend more time with them, then ways to teach them that this life isn't all about them.

I was reading one of my favorite blogs this morning and she spoke exactly what I need to tell myself over and over, every day, fifty times a day.

"But, taking time to make pleasant children for their own benefit and the benefit of others means encouraging at a young age that the world doesn't revolve around them.
Which means I must stay calm, cool, and collected in my heart and attitude so that she knows in her spirit I don't think life is just about me either."

I've become intentional about my reactions or lack there of. Not always good at not reacting, but I do realize that if there is a problem, my attitude in that moment is the most important thing. After all, I wouldn't want to teach my boys that the world doesn't revolve around them, but it does in fact revolve around their mother.

I've also had to step back and look at the whole picture. At the world through their little eyes. Most all of the behaviors we are currently dealing with stem from something I could have done better. Did they get enough to eat, enough sleep, have I been consistent with routines so that when I ask them to do something it isn't like the end of the world? Have I paid attention to the way they treat each other, so I can gently correct them before they get too upset at one another?

This parenting thing is such a huge responsibility. One that most of us chose to take on. It takes consistency, time, and prayer.

Our children need us. They need to know we are not only here for them, but we are here with them. That we are are willing to put the effort it takes every single day. Whether it be a check in with them on their attitude according to scripture, or even letting them know how I'm here with them when life gets frustrating.

I need to set them up for success by checking my attitude, taking care of all their needs including spending time with them, and keep them plenty busy with necessary tasks so they don't have too much free time alone that they get selfish when asked to do something, but enough time to play and be a child.

I have to remember that being the authority does not make me the boss, it makes me a servant. It's important to understand that myself, so my children understand that as well.

A servant is one who attends to the needs of others. It's a selfless job being a mother. It's hard, it's rewarding, and it's a blessing. It's a gift to be in the company of  The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Mathew 18
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

This is how I chose to live my every day. These children are how God has blessed us so. He trusts us with them.

School Days

My goal this year is to try to do school 5 weeks and use the 6th week for planning. I can look over our 5 weeks in advance, order books, visit the library, print anything I need to print ahead of time.

That works best for me, because if I don't have what I need when I need it, I kind of get stuck..and don't proceed well after that.

I look through my list of Read Alouds, History literature, Ambleside readings, Fine Arts prints and resources, and projects that we will cover over the next 5 weeks and either print them, get them from the library, or order them.

We are already starting our 4th week of the 2012-2013 year! Wow. Here's what we've been up to and will continue this week and next before we break of my week of planning.

Bible: Family Reading Bible (Genesis)

Brighton (pre K): My Father's World days of Creation, letter S and sun study. We will begin letter M and moon study tomorrow, and next week will be letter L and leaf study.

I do not do every activity in the curriculum with him because he is in preK and we only spend 30 min. a day on his lessons.

Tristin (year 2):  Singapore Math 2A (3 pages a day)

Spelling: All About Spelling Level 1, we are on lesson 6, we started slowly to make sure he is mastering his lessons. Ending next week on lesson 10 or 12 ish.

Foreign language: We have started Greek. I didn't mention this in our curriculum for the year because I wasn't sure. Well we have started Code Cracker, and are on Unit 3 of the book. Tristin LOVES this book.

History: We have read more than halfway through King Arthur, and hopefully will finish it next week. We will also read The Kitchen Knight.

Science: Apologia Swimming Creatures. We have read Lesson 1. That covers aquatic animals, currents, tides, fresh water,  and the Abyss. This week and next week we start Lesson 2 Whales.

Grammar: English for the Thoughtful Child. We are on lesson 13. Goal is to be finish lesson 16 next week.

We have also started Shakespeare, Pilgrim's Progress, Our Island Story, and The Burgess Animal Book. We are using these prints of the animals we learn about for our nature journal.

Starting (again) Paddle to the Sea.
I love these ideas to use with the book.
Along with this visual pinterest board.
We will be watching this on youtube as well.

Source: youtube.com via Sara on Pinterest

So, there you have it. A breakdown of what we do each week. I'll update our plan for the next 5 weeks when I plan it.

I don't have an exact schedule we have to follow, just an outline to act as a guide. So far that's working for us.

I've been intrigued by these videos. looking into this grammar to use after we finish our English for the Thoughtful Child.

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!!

Why I Love Charlotte Mason

I have mentioned Charlotte Mason this past year as a method we were trying to include in our schooling. As the year went by, we shifted more and more into her method and we love it.

We do use some classical method curriculum and ideas, but we lean more of being a CM style home school.

One of the aspects I love most about Charlotte Mason is her use in living books. These are mostly books written by a single author writing about their favorite subject. It's their passion and you can tell by their writing. It makes a book come to life and has so much depth. These take the place of text books.

When you read a book to the children they are to narrate back to you what they got out of the passage, paragraph, page, or chapter (depending on age). This takes place of tests or question and answer worksheets. They eventually can write their narrations on their own.

The other thing I love so much about CM is the short lessons. For young children the lessons are no longer than about 20 minutes each subject. This keeps their attention and discourages dawdling. It allows the child to concentrate and get the most out of each lesson.



I also love her standards for each day. There are 3 things she thinks a child needs each day:

1) Someone or something to love: siblings, parents, pets. Something to care for.

2) Something to do. Something meaningful and worthwhile. Examples would include, caring for gardens
    writing a letter, teaching a sibling something, building a castle, or sewing. I like to think of it as a project
    that needs attention daily until finished.

3) Something to think about. Enjoying ideas and thoughts of others, maybe a parent's ideas or a sibling.
    An author's ideas. Something beautiful to look at and think about. Pictures that tell a story or the beauty in
    nature. So much to think about! I mentioned yesterday that we put a Van Gogh picture on our shelves for
    the boys to look at and think about. I like to switch those up as I can.

I'll be posting more about how we implement CM in our day soon.

I love all of these videos my friend told me about. It really gives you CM ideas to think about and use:

Ambleside Schools

A Day in My Life

I know. Very interesting.

5:45 AM Wake up to dogs barking. I love when they do that..
Check a few emails, say a prayer for our day and wisdom for Obama, and for Israel.
6:15 Fall asleep. I will regret this.
7:30 Get up. notice that the boys have turned on Curious George. Also notice the boy who LOVES tv is not in there...regret starts now. Find him laying in his bed. He wet the bed. If you don't make him get up in the morning...this is what you get.
7:35 Put him in the bath and go get dressed.
7:50 Boys get dressed and I make them breakfast.
8:10 Hop in car to take oldest to school. Get GIANT hug from his friend! Drop them off and stop by sonic for a coke and burrito...I know I know. Turn up NeedToBreathe extremely loud on my way home.
8:45 Come home start laundry, start watering outside, while boys pick up their room and feed dogs.
9:15 Play a math game with Tristin, he reads to me, writes some new words. Brighton listens to a story online and practices writing his numbers.
10:30 Send boys outside to clean dog poop and trash cans while I put brisket in crockpot and clean kitchen.
11:00 Do grammar lesson with Tristin, read History book, and a few Read Alouds.
12:00 Lunch (chicken salad sandwich) and Bible Study.
12:30 Make grocery list, while boys play outside with friend Jack.
12:45 Realize that I left the water on in one spot a little too long...I set the timer, that didn't help. I, apparently ignore sounds.
1:30 I straighten rest of house, do my laundry, and make grocery list.
2:20 Go for a walk with the family.
3:15 Go out for ice cream...
4:00 Boys play with friends while I pin...as in pinterest
5:00 Straighten up...again
6:00 Eat dinner, clean up, start baths.
7:30 Read to boys
8:00 Take a bath myself. My kindle comes along. Les Miserables.
8:30 Settle down for an evening of Downton Abbey!
Probably fall asleep somewhere around 11:00.

Weekly School Overview

This is what we have in store for the week ahead:

Bible Reading and Copy Scripture: Jesus' Crucification in Mark 15:21, Resurrection John 20, Luke 24, John 21, Ascension of Jesus Acts 1

Reading Lesson and Write New Words: Delightful Reading lessons with Bible Reading and Free Reading.
(learning the words we are reading in the Bible and other books) -
EXAMPLE:the word LIGHT can make other words like right, knight, night, lightning...

Read Alouds:

The Aesop for Children
The Blue Fairy Book
Among the Forest People


History:

Pocahontas
Colonial American Craft- 3D Jamestown Map

Math: Review long addition and subtraction. Review and add to multiplication.
Guess and Group activity from Family Math book.

Grammar: Lessons 5 and 6 From English for the Thoughtful Child Vol. 1

Monthly/Term Fine Arts:
poetry: The Moon by Robert Louis Stevenson; Child's Garden of Verses Robert Louis Stevenson
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare, Midsummer Nights Dream

folksong: Carrigfergus

hymn: What A Friend We Have in Jesus

Artists: Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) American; Hudson River School

This term's composer: Mendelssohn, Romantic

Art:

Source: artprojectsforkids.org via Jeana on Pinterest

Nature Study:
Birds
Project Garden (a book filled with garden activities for every month)
*this month we are planting Herbs and making plant markers, using lemon in our baking and treats (lemon snow ice cream anyone?!), and seed catalog card for my grandma's birthday.


***********************************************************************

Preschool will be added soon.

On Being a Mother and a Family

I have been so encouraged lately from a few posts I've read and videos I've watched. We are in the process of learning and listening to God and how He would want us to live our lives. It has brought us through some major (but exciting)changes that I can't wait to share with you over the next few months.

I am right now, so encouraged to stand up and be the mother God created me to be, and I wanted to share what I've been encouraged by with all of you!

Sarah writes a guest post today called The Three Important Lessons About Being a Mom. Number 3 melted my heart into a huge puddle of love.

Sally wrote a beautiful post about giving time to each child.
"I was pondering this event–him sitting still for this long and talking and talking and talking, and suddenly it dawned on me–”He is an extravert and he needs people, activity and wants to talk and be heard.”

I have a boy just like this, I know time being heard would win and keep his heart.

Just last night, before I ever read this article, I revamped our evening routine.
We ate dinner, helped clean up, the boys picked up toys, and one of the two little ones got in the bath. (Jaiden always takes his in the morning)

While one was enjoying his bath, playing with the tub toys all to himself, the other boys went on a night walk looking at lights with their daddy. We all met with brushed teeth and pajamas in their bedroom and read a book and a Proverb. 2 fell asleep and one was so happy. He had time, time spent with dad and all was well.

It's so important. Our role in mothering. We help mold these children. We help create a family. We have this one chance with each child, not that there isn't room for mistakes, but the overall objective is to know them, to love them, and to train them. It takes a LOT of time and a huge amount of dedication. It takes self denial. The end result will prove worth it. The time you spent with them will never have been wasted time.

This video was precious to me! I'd love to watch the whole thing. I hope this encourages you today as it has me. Be blessed!

It Is Your Life: The Moss Family from Moore Family Films on Vimeo.

Creating an Atmosphere of Learning

We have revamped our homeschooling. It was going well, but seemed a bit rushed and forced to just finish. I spoke about character study and Charlotte Mason style a while back. I have always loved her method but never fully put it into practice.

So, I took a few weeks just getting in Bible, math, reading, and writing to really explore CM and this time apply what I was learning.

We started about 2 weeks ago, and are days have been SO much nicer. The work is gentle and fun for all of us. It's a perfect fit.

We still get up and do chores first thing in the morning along with breakfast and Bible reading.

Reading and Copywork
(We dropped Explode the code, because after 2 years, my son was starting to hate it. We had already finished our first ETC book of the year, I didn't buy the next one).
*While we do this, I play our hymn and composer of the month in the background, simply saying the name of the song or composer and just listening while writing). This has added to a pleasant atmosphere to learn.
Our composer study found here
Our Hymn Study Found Here
We enjoyed Dear Lord Father of Mankind the last few weeks.


We also loved the folksong: The Ash Grove


I have him read small books or poems and write them from memory sentence by sentence. He also copies scripture.

We are working through Delighful Reading. He is doing so much better with this approach!



Math
We have started MEP (Mathematics Enhancement Programme) free online math. I printed the year 1 lessons and we've been doing a few lessons a day. It's pretty easy for Tristin, but we do come across some things I find is good for him to work on. We still supplement with Singapore Math.

History
We have still been reading the books I had lined up for History this year.



The boys absolutely LOVE reading these books. I have him narrate back to me.

Science
We have pretty much dropped any Science curriculum. We are sticking with Nature Study and Ambleside's schedule and are stuying mammals as we go.

We do have science afternoons or evenings to do experiments and such.

Grammar
I picked up English for the Thoughtful Child for a few bucks. I had a hard time deciding between that and First Language Lessons. I decided to stick as close to the CM style for now and see how we like it. A few lessons in and Tristin is doing great! We are doing it orally for now. It's gentle and simple enough for him to comprehend, but teaches a lot more than I would have imagined.



Art and Fine Arts Study and Geography

I have to admit I haven't done much at all with these. We are slowly working it back into our schedule.

Reading List

The Aesop for Children

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare

Parables From Nature

Little House in the Big Woods

We have read or are currently reading:
Charlotte's Web
Pocahontas
Peter Pan
A Child's Garden of Verses



We are also saving to buy a Kindle

I know! We love books and building a library, but I read a post by Quinn about all the free books you can get for the Kindle that are on my list. Plus when we bring Jaiden home for school, this will be nice to have him sit and listen while I work with the other boys.

Just for fun Reading List
Heidi over at Mt. Hope Chronicles has a great book list. Definitely books our boys will love!

Habit Training
We are continuing right along in our habit training. Here is a great article on habit training.

Preschool
We are still working on ABC's, 123's, and shapes etc. Mostly through reading and some crafts. He is mostly learning through just living through our daily lives. We do chores, color, read, cook, and play. He is learning a lot and is happy.

This is one of my favorite videos of why I love Charlotte Mason's method so much. I do love homeschooling, but this school looks dreamy, and Fredericksburg (here in Texas) is one of my favorite places on earth! It sets a pleasant tone that inspires me in my own home.



If you are interested in reading more on the Charlotte Mason method, please stick around! I'll be posting more about what we're doing. For now, you may want to read these wonderful articles about it:

Charlotte Mason @ Practical Pages

Jimmie's Squidoo articles are always a huge help

Reformation Acres' CM series is always a delight.

And of course Ambelisde Online

What's Going On and What's Coming Up

How's that for a title? We have been picking out carpet, painting walls, furniture, and doors, picking out fabric, AND planning for the new school year!! Curriculum is here, school room will be done soon, and I have some posts coming up.

Upcoming posts starting hopefully by next week:
*Boys' room remodel...includes painted furniture, curtains, and more!
*School room update
*Curriculum for the year
*How our days work (our schedule)
*Also coming soon: how I budget clothes for 3 little boys. Goal...getting their clothes for the YEAR for around $100?! 3 boys. One year. $100.
* update: doors on a budget

Can't wait to post pictures!

Healthy Living

Having a child with autism and after much research we believe that toxins play a HUGE part in the way these children function and react to things, we have taken a big step over the past few years to live a healthy life.

We started with detoxing our home. We only use natural cleaners. We make our own using vinegar, castile soap, lemons etc or use Mrs. Meyers or Seventh Generation I've heard is good.  We even make our own laundry detergent (except when I just miss the other stuff, but there are still clean options)

The next thing we did, was switching our soap, hair care, toothpaste etc over to natural products.  Our favorite kids personal care is Truekid (below). They smell good and are gluten free (yes even shampoo etc. has gluten) some other favorites are listed below.



The next thing is food. This one is one of the most important to me. Being a mother and wife, I feel it is my responsibility to provide healthy nourishing food for my family.

I do my best to buy local and organic, but that is not always the case. We do a lot of our shopping twice a month at Sam's. They have some organic produce (carrots, tomatoes, salad, spinach) and milk and whole wheat bread and cheese, and we buy thick skinned produce there as well. Our children eat a ton of apples and grapes and strawberries, so those are for sure organic and purchased at a Natural Grocery Store as much as we can. We also purchase honey, yogurt, and eggs at that store.

I know you may be thinking that is too expensive, but that is why we took baby steps to get here, and after our shelter we spend the most on food. It's what is most important to us. I can't describe the feeling I have when I purchase food and prepare meals for my family with the healthiest and most fresh ingredients I can find. I enjoy that so much.

I will give you some examples of how we eat, and some of my favorite reads on healthy living.

Breakfast:
granola
fruit


smoothie
grainy cereal with fruit
toast with honey and slivered almonds
toast with basil pesto and an egg topped with parmesan cheese
blueberry pecan waffles
 



Snacks:
popcorn
homemade smoothie pops
tortilla chips with homemade salsa or guacamole
fruits or veggies
chocolate chips with walnuts or pecans (for your sweet tooth)

Lunch:
leftovers
rice with tomatoes, beans,cheese
strawberry spinach salad 
avocado chicken salad sandwich (shred cooked chicken with a mashed up avocado, salt and pepper, and garlic salt. I like it on a crescent roll...yum! 
veggie or chicken nachos (i like to bake up a whole chicken or whatever I have and use throughout the week.



 




Dinner: 
Burritos (with whatever you have on hand) chicken, beans, rice, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, salsa, corn) there are so many ways to make these we have this often. My favorite rice recipe.

Enchiladas are also wonderful. I boil the chicken and shred it. Then make a sauce. For a white sauce I use butter, milk, flour. Use veggies if wanted (spinach and mushroom) with cheese on top. 

Spaghetti can be made several ways too. You can bake it with red sauce topped with cheese. You can make it with just a red sauce, using tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, peppers, italian spices pureed. Or you can make a white sauce made with cream, butter, garlic, and lemon topped with parmesan cheese. 

Soup. There are so many ways to make soup, but a fast simple one a friend shared with me a few years ago is Tomato Basil Soup:
 Start with tomato soup, add about a cup of milk, a cup of cream, 1/4 c of  basil, 1/2 cu parmesan cheese..
 Let simmer on low as long as you need (an hour is good, but longer if wanted)
 Before serving add fresh basil and parmesan cheese. 


Open face Chicken Parmesan Sandwich

 

 

Homemade Pizza




Roasted/baked chicken with roasted tomatoes topped with basil and mozzarella


Southwest Pasta Salad

Love this pork carnita recipe!  EASY and SO good!

Okay, so I hope I got you started on some good ideas for healthy living and some good simple food. I just basically use the same ingredients all the time, adding only a few extras here and there.

So our main grocery list looks something like this:

granola
fruit
bread
eggs
milk
tortillas
flour (whole wheat)
veggies (including tomatoes, onion, and garlic for salsa, soups, and pasta sauces)
chicken
pasta
beans
herbs (unless you have them growing in your kitchen, which I just started)
cream
rice
cheese
honey
yogurt
nuts
olive oil

We are still on steps. Some day I'd like to bake more bread or make my granola or yogurt. But for now this is what we are doing.

Enjoy the process. Might as well. It feels wonderful to know that you are giving your family the best you can. Start slow and with what's most important to you. It can be such a blessing!

So crank up some music, put on your apron, and get to work ;) OR if you're like me...do a bunch of planning and list making first....

 Oh and my favorite food inspiration right here. 


Wonderful Uses for Coconut Oil

 Washing you face naturally

Great post on avoiding sugar 

 I liked to make our boys' playdough when we were trying gluten free (because regular contains flour) and we use regular ol' art supplies, but I just LOVE to look at these and maybe one day, Ill buy some for their birthdays or something.

 Green Smoothies

 Eat Well and Spend Less. A new series starting next week!





 

 

Choosing Life, Day 1

I tend to go through these "cycles" that really bring me down. It seems to always happen the same way. Two weeks I'm very motivated to get stuff done and I'm feeling great. The next two weeks I'm not so motivated and down right lazy.  And the following two weeks J seems to have the hardest weeks and autism butts in our lives like a raging bull. Then perhaps I become the raging bull.

At the end of the cycle I feel completely defeated and lost. Then, we start all over again. Its been happening for years, and every time I tell myself to focus and pray hard to steer clear of the "cycle" next time it attacks. But, it sneaks up on me like a snake ready to strike when I least expect it. (Even though I know it comes around obviously, it still shocks me that it's still a part of my life....I guess I was thinking I defeated it without actually fighting in the battle)

I do notice however, that in my highs I am extremely dedicated and faithful to my relationship with God. This week as I'm feeling at my weakest, God has whispered to me to stay faithful to Him always. Maybe I have such great weeks with God that after a few weeks I think that I can now handle it now by myself.  Maybe when I  take the reins in my own hands, I become the unmotivated lazy woman which means our routine changes and our poor son who can't adjust well to routine changes is overwhelmed, confused, and doesn't know what to do.

To say the least, this week, God has gotten my attention. As I tried to come up with every reason in the book as to why this tends to happen until I heard His voice clear as glass. "Stay faithful to me." So here we are. I am asking for His strength to get through and break free from this cycle.

Today is day 1. I am blogging about it so that I am accountable and maybe someone else can benefit from this journey.

My first three goals:
* To stay and be dedicated to God daily, hourly, every single second. Praying for a faithful heart.
*To bless my family with a mommy who stays on a good (flexible) routine. Praying for a sevant's heart.
*To make each day intentional in every way, especially with J. To work on keeping him engaged. To include others in this so I don't get run down.  Add to our day time for Tibby to play, include, and encourage J. A time for them to bond.  Praying for consistancy and compassion.

This is not only for me, this will change our little boys' lives! So here we go, day 1 of ending a cycle and choosing LIFE!

A Day in Our Shoes

Oh wow, I'm so thrilled that spring has made its arrival! It seems like a new season brings on and new breath of air around here. I start feeling inspired and motivated all over again! We have been doing some really neat things in preperation for Easter (I am planning a whole post on that this week) I've never felt so amzingly grateful for Easter and its true meaning in my life, and its all thanks to a few things we've overlooked in the past, but are now including in our preperation for Easter.  Can't wait to share!

On a little bit different note, we have been busy and productive today. I am still winging the homeschool lessons a bit until we get a set curriculum and idea of exactly we want to do with each child. I have researched and looked at reviews of so much and think I've narrowed it down to some great material!

For right now, I am sorta making my own lesson plans and we're going with the flow (which is nice too)

Our day:

*I got up and did Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. Wow. Great workout!

*Took a shower (so nice since i got up way before the kiddos did and had time to shower!)

*Made bed, cleaned bathroom, started laundry

*Made oatmeal with cinnamon in it for the boys *while they made beds and unloaded the dishwasher

*Cleaned up and helped get eveyone dressed (J put on his own shirt with little assistance)

*We did our Bible lesson and memeory verses (Tibby wrote one of the verses for practice in writing)

*Worked with J on gripping his pencil to write his name (we did hand strengthening exercises and an ABA therapy type exercise to help him write)

*Tibby wrote in his gratitude journal

*Tibby and I did a reading lesson and he read on his own for 15 min

* We all reviewed J's sight words together (he got all of them right!! There are about 15 words he knows Tibby got them too!)

* We worked on the letter A (he knows them ok, but I want to make sure he recognizes them...Tibby likes all the stuff with this so he joins in)

*Had lunch and cleaned up

*We went outside for an hour and made a graph of sounds we heard, how many bugs, flowers, and birds we saw. We also collected fun stuff to look at and learn about.

*We came in and watched an episode of PBS' From the Top at Carnegie Hall

* We are getting dinner ready and baths before we read a chapter out of Charlotte's Web for the night.

This has really been a fantastic day! I am lovong this so much more than I ever thought I would! God knows what He is doing!!

A few tips to keep things running smoothly

We all need/want to be more organized, but having 3 boys has definately made it more of a MUST. They are always fighting over what color cup or whatever they want. Surely thats a big deal in your home?!  Last year we decided to assign a color to each kiddo. J- gets blue, T- orange, and B- green. That way, when we get a drink they know which cup is always theirs (they use one cup a day and just wash it out and set it on the counter). The same goes for toothbrushes and towels. If a towel is left on the floor, we know who needs to pick it up.  We have used this system for so many little things, pencils, pencil boxes for school, beach towels, and the colors for each person we use on calenders. It makes things so much easier when we all know everyone's color. (Sometimes we can't find something in orange, then we use yellow, but most of the time it works out really well)

Another thing we have been trying to do is fill a fruit bowl everyday with what they can snack on. Some days its all fruit, some days its has some almonds, tortilla chips, or muffins in it too. We also keep one in the fridge for things that we want cold, like carrots, cucumber, strawberries, broccoli, salsa,  & hummus. This is it. When they want a snack they know to look in the two bowls available and pick a nice healthy snack.  I also let them have a cup of chocolate milk or a smoothie with breakfast and then I fill up their own water bottles (or sippy for B) with water and they drink from it throughout the day to make sure they get their water in. They ususally drink it up because they want tea with lunch and dinner. I could only find the same Buzzlightyear water bottles at TJMaxx, so I bought two and put a silly monkey sticker (in their color) on top. Simple as that!

Websites we love for kids learning and crafts

Starfall Great for reading, my boys love this site

Nick Jr

Berenstain Bears really cute! they tcan dress them up, do trivia, color pages and more

Boohbah really interesting. The kids can use the mouse to glide over different patterns to make music. Great for kiddos who don't have all the mouse "skills" down.

Peter Rabbit SO sweet! I lOVE it!!

Thomas and Friends

Scholastic great info and fun stuff for the kiddos

These are just a few we use to have fun and keep up with some basic computer and learning skills to the boys. They really like to play the games.

what a BLESSING

So, in one of my recent posts I wrote about homeschooling and autism. I will be the first to admit, I am a little bit scared of the whole situation, but keeping our kids together and not leaving anyone out is a must in our family. As I mentioned in that post that as SOON as i obeyed, God lead me to where to start and said He will take care of the rest. WELL! Guess what?! The place he goes to therapy for speech and OT just opened a Therapeutic learning Center. Its small, christian/home school based, and has a waiting list. We're on it. They called and set up a meeting with us, and told us they have ONE opening and were praying about it and picked Jaiden. We told them about us wanting to home school and they said they would shorten his day, so that we could get our homeschooling in, and they asked if Tristin could join him a few days a week! They do that so these kids have language support! SO, wow God sure handled that one for us! We will begin homeschooling in January, Jaiden will get extra support from going to therapy and the learning center a few hours a day, and our boys will get to be involved in each other's lives even more when Tristin gets to go with him a few days a week! Oh and something I love about this is that by joining a homechool support group I was worried Jaiden would be the only one with special needs and Tibby (tristin) and B (brighton) would be the only ones with a sibling with special needs. In this situation Jaiden will not be the only special needs kid, and the days Tibby joins him, so do the other kids home schooled siblings, so he'll make friends in the same situation at the Learning Center! Praise God!!

ready or not

That is the question....

Its time to load up the little one and drive across town, get Tibby, and back over here to get Jaiden.

I've enjoyed a simple laundry day, playing with the baby, and gathering my thoughts.

It doesn't happen often.

Jaiden is being quite the handful before and after school.

Of course he is excellent AT school all day!

I am going to do something I've always wanted to do:

make a fun and yummy snack when he gets home and just sit and visit with him.

We always do snack (like grab an apple or something) but i want to put more thought and love into his after school time (Tibby's too)

I'm thinking along the lines of homemade cookies, apples and fresh yogurt dip, veggie plate and ranch etc.

I want it there just waiting for their return.

We'll talk about their day, laugh, and just unwind.....at least it sounds pleasent!

I noticed yesterday, that he really needs time to unwind.

He comes home and gets very overwhelmed with what he "needs" and it all turns into a jumble and ends in a tantrum. Poor little guy. LORD, please show me how to make this transition easier on him AND me =]

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