Plugging Along and a New Schedule

We are about 6 weeks into school and we have been plugging along.  Some days at a better speed than others. 

Last week I was having some migraines, as I tend to have at least one week out of the month, so we just didn't do school as much as I would have liked.  I am not worrying about it though since we have a few weeks under our belts already.

This week all of our extra curriculum activities start.  Today both girls started Beginning Public Speaking (BPS) and The Lil' Chef also started Young Speakers Guild (YSG).  My girls are funny, they were both pretty sure that they did N O T want to do speech.  One meeting later, they are so excited and glad they went. : )  We will be doing speech every other week.

Tomorrow I am starting a Women's Bible Study.  While I am in the Bible study, the boys will be in their own age appropriate classes and the girls will get to help out with the little kids.  I am really looking forward to the Bible study and I think it is great that the girls have an opportunity to help out with other kids. 

Right after the Bible Study, the girls are going to start flute lessons.  Did I tell you I was praying for a piano teacher and the Lord blessed us with a flute teacher?  Not long after I started praying for a piano teacher, a friend of mine offered to teach the girls flute.  What a blessing that was!  Pawn shops are a great, inexpensive place to find flutes, FYI.

This week the kids also start back to choir.  This year all the kids will get to participate.  The girls will be in the junior choir together and the boys in the cherub choir. 

I have never been one to run here and there all week long.  Last year it was enough just to get to choir once a week, but this year I am making a few changes.  I have always only schooled 4 days a week and took Friday off.  This year I am swapping my Friday for Tuesday.  I am thinking that once we get home the girls can do their core work (Math, Grammar and Spelling) but if they do not get it done then we will make it up on Friday.  They really love having their Friday off so I imagine that they will want to get their stuff done on Tuesday afternoon, but we will see. 

I will be honest, I was am wondering if I have over extended us but the Lord gave me comfort the other day in knowing that all these things that I want to do (speech, flute, Bible study and choir) work towards the bigger picture of what we want for our kids.  So, for now I am resting in that and hoping that the new schedule doesn't stress us out.  If it does then I guess I will be posting the new, new schedule.

Blessed Assurance

by Franny Crosby

Blessèd assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Refrain

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Refrain

Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Refrain

 
 
This is an awesome song.  Franny Crosby really did write some beautiful hymns!  You can listen to it here.

I L-O-V-E Yardsales!!

I have been a yard sale girl for many years.  I love getting things for a bargain.  Why pay full price when I can find something for so much cheaper. 

Most Saturday mornings I am up and out the door, usually by 7 or 7:30 am.  I like to be early, but not too early.  The early bird does get the worm when it comes to yard sales.  Most of the time I go solo, sometimes Computer Girl goes with me and occasionally we all go

The Lord has majorly blessed us through yard sales.  I can not even begin to to tell you about the very nice clothes that we have got for the kids at.  I mean really NICE stuff.  I am especially thinking about all the long sleeve button up dress shirts and corduroy pants that I have found for Alpha Boy.  Yard sales are a great place to find church dresses for my girls.  Games for the kids... yard sales.  Books, books and books....you guessed it, yard sales. 

I have a general route that I drive through the neighborhoods and I normally stop even if the yard sale looks like a dud.  I have found some great things at yard sales that don't look like much.  For instance, a few months ago I was out with Computer Girl and we found a yard sale.  This guy had a small table and that was pretty much it.  BUT we stopped and I got a cast iron griddle that I have been wanting for a while.  These things are $50 new, I paid $5 for mine.  I am still excited about this one! 

In addition to my normal route I will usually check Craigslist.  Several weeks ago, I came across a yard sale that had lots of HOMESCHOOL books!  Can I tell you I loaded up on science and history readers, as well as a microscope and some math manipulative's, for like $25 total!

Yard sales that have kids books are a dime a dozen.  Yard sales that have homeschool books seem to be a rarity, but I found another one today!  I got a few grammar books, science readers and some great history books.  Most of the history read alouds that I got are about  $10-20 each, if purchased new.  I got the following books for a TOTAL of $16:

• George Washington's World by Genevieve Foster
• The World of Columbus and Sons by Genevieve Foster
• Poor Richard by James Daughtery
• Of Courage Undaunted by James Daughtery
• From Sea to Shining Sea for Children: Discovering God's Plan for America in Her First Half-Century of Independence, 1787-1837 by Peter Marshall & David Manuel
• The Light and the Glory for Children : Discovering God's Plan for America from Christopher Columbus to George Washington by by Peter Marshall & David Manuel

We are pretty set for American History next year!  Isn't that a blessing!!

So when people have asked me questions like, "Is it really worth getting up early and going to yard sales?" or "Do you find anything good?" My answer is Y-E-S!!!  Some people think that yard sales are full of junk but really there aren't.  Yard sales are full of great treasures, you just have to be willing to go find them.  I have found some amazing things at yard sales and am so thankful for them!! 

Do you have any yard sale tips?  What great things have you found lately from yard sales?

TOS Crew: Nature Nuts Game

We love all things nature!  Whether it be birds, animals, plants, bugs or anything else that the Lord created, we are all about it!  So when we were asked if we wanted to review the Wise Alec: Nature Nuts, Travel Game and Expansion Set by Griddly Games we were all very excited. 

Griddly Games also has a Wise Alec board game, that Nature Nuts can be an expansion set to.  We, however, are just viewing Nature Nuts as a travel game. 

I want to first say I was impressed with the packaging of this game.  That might sound a little lame, but if I am supposed to be able to travel with this game and four kids it needs be durable, which it most certainly is.  It comes in a sturdy, narrow box that stays closed by a magnet, very smart idea I might add.  There are no directions to lose because they are printed right on the inside of the box.  There are 200 playing cards and a dice which stay nicely tucked away when not in use by a clear plastic cover.  Now that I have all my Type A reader's attention : ) let's move on to the fun stuff! 

Nature Nuts comes with 200 Cards:

• 50 Animals Trivia Cards
• 50 Plant Trivia Cards
• 50 Earth Trivia Cards
• 50 Wise Alec Cards

Each of the trivia cards has 2 levels of questions on it so that younger children can play along with the older kids and adults.  For instance one of the Animal Trivia Cards has these two questions:

• Reptiles have these covering their skin.  What are they?   Answer: scales/scutes
• Some animals disguise themselves to look like more dangerous ones. What is this called?  Answer: mimicry

As you can see there is a big difference in the levels.  Which I think is great for a family style game, it makes it challenging to the older players as well as the younger. 

The way that you play Nature Nuts starts off this like:

• Get a pen and paper to keep score. 
• Then decide on a point goal to place towards depending on how long you would like to play.
• Roll the dice.  Depending on what color you roll, this tells who will draw a card for you and what kind of card is going to be drawn.  You will then be asked your trivia question. 
• If you roll the color purple then you get to pick up a Wise Alec card, and look out if you do.  Those Wise Alec cards can have you doing exercises, brainteasers or tongue twisters and winning or losing points in the process!
• The winner is the first person to meet the point goal!

We think the Wise Alec cards are neat, they really add a lot of fun to the game!  They have you do things like:

• Do your best bird call.
• Name 3 Mammals.
• Repeat this 5 Times - Six Sleek swans swan swiftly southwards.
• Do your best impression of a monkey.
• Do your best shadow hand animal complete with sound effects.

This game is simple, yet lots of fun.  It would be great to take on at trip.  Nature Nuts would be great for family game night or to play for science.  It would also make a great family gift for the holidays!

You can purchase you own Wise Alec: Nature Nuts Travel Game from Amazon for $14.99 plus shipping. You can also check Griddly Games' website for a local store near you.

If Nature is not your thing, but you like the sound of the game, have no fear!  They have a Sport's Buff and a Civilize This! version available as well as the full Wise Alec Game.

Hope you all enjoy this game as much as we have!

We received Wise Alec: Nature Nuts free of charge for review purposes.  We were not in any way compensated for this review and the opinions expressed here are my own.

TOS CREW: How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. for Your Kids by Rachael Carman

I am going to be honest, when I saw the review form for How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. for Your Kids by Rachael Carman, I did not sign up for it.  I really didn't think I needed to read this book.  BUT God, in all His wisdom must have felt that I needed it because I ended up being one of the reviewers.

The very day that I received the book I sat down to check it out, and 49 pages later I finally put it down.  It was around that time that I said "Thank you Lord for sending this book my way."  Even though I didn't think this was a book for me, it very much was!!  If time would have permitted I would have read the whole book right then and there. 

I had never heard of Rachael Carman before, but once I started reading her book I knew that I liked her.  She writes in such a way that really draws you in, like I said I didn't want to put the book down.  Besides this was some good stuff I was reading!  I was very impressed with her complete openness, how she shared her struggles and her true feelings.

It was a few weeks after I started Rachael's book that I learned who she was.  Rachael and her husband, Davis, are the family that purchased Apologia (you know, the science company that is now much more than a science company).  I learned this one afternoon while having lunch with Rachael and a few other wonderful ladies from Apologia.  I also learned about how Rachael had a tremendous heart for moms, especially those of the homeschooling variety. 

Ok, now back to the book.  H.E.A.R.T. is actually an acronym that stands for:

H - Have a Heart for the things of God
E - Enrich your marriage
A - Accept your kids
R - Release them to God
T - Teach them truth

I loved hearing Rachael's story and how she had NO plans of homeschooling her kids.  Several years, 7 kids and a homeschool resource company later, we see that it obviously was God's plan!  It really is an inspirational story.

Rachael is very honest about how she was excited to send her kids off on the yellow school bus, so she could have me time.  When that didn't work out she and her husband decided they would try homeschooling, but Rachael was adamant that it was only for one year.  Don't you just love how God's ways are not our ways.  : )
 
I just really felt that this book was a breath of fresh air for me.  It was something that I didn't even know I needed until I read it.  The Holy Spirit convicted me on several things and really just opened my eyes to some major areas that are lacking here at the LSG House.  
 
I especially loved the Accept your Kids and Release them to God chapters.  They were both very good and encouraging to me.  It was a joy to hear the wisdom that the Lord has given Rachael and that she is now passing on to other moms.
 
How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. would be a wonderful read for new moms as well as veterans, homeschoolers or not.  I think that no matter what season of motherhood you are in, you would appreciate the wisdom and encouragement that Rachael has to share. 
 
You can actually read a sample chapter of the book online before you buy it.
 
You can purchase a copy of the How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. book by Rachael Carman directly through Apologia for $13.00.

I received How to Have a H.E.A.R.T. free of charge for review purposes.  The opinions expressed here are mine and I was not compensated in any way from the TOS Crew or Apologia Press.