November Gratitude Challenge

The point of this challenge is to blog about something your grateful for. So, here are my top 6:

Grace ~ Thankful and grateful to God for everything
My family ~ A great husband and three wonderful and rambunctious boys
My friends ~ A great group (many are homeschoolers as well)
Homeschooling ~ I have an opportunity to learn with my children & spend lots of time outdoors
Household ~ I'm very grateful to have everything I need and the ability to be content
Chocolate ~ Everything goes better with chocolate!


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Another lovely day, another clean slate!
Another day to work on an already full plate.
What will we do first? Reading, Writing, Math?
What if something unexpected shows up in our path?

Another lovely day, another quandary arises,
How do we teach these children of different shapes and sizes?
Shall we follow Book A, or Idea B, or the voice of the "pro?"
Can we follow our hearts on which way we should go?

Little Suzy wants to make a pattern for a doll,
but she's "behind" in algebra, and can't spell much at all,
And little Johnny is working on a project made of wood,
but what about his "social studies?" And other things he "should...."

Grandma needs some help, but our workbooks are a-waiting!
There are other shut-ins with a visit anticipating.
And what about that neighbor with the baby on the way?
Can our "studies" suffer if she needs our help today?

There are many things that pull us daily
this-a-way and that,
And we can get so sidetracked, that our accomplishments fall flat.
The path is bright and our feet will go, if only we will pray,
And listen to the voice of God, who leads us the right way.

Relationships are more important, inside our homes, and out,
and how we treat each other is what homeschooling is about,
It's not wrong to be good spellers, but if we lie and cheat and steal,
And if we hate our brother, good grades are no big deal.

So dear homeschool Mom, don't worry and don't fret.
If little Johnny can not read as well as you think, yet,
and little Suzy will learn her math, while baking for the neighbor,
and friendships formed inside your home will strengthen, so don't waver!

If you will pray and seek His face for each question on your heart,
And read His word, and know His voice, you will know right where to start,
Don't be tossed to and fro by this world's ideas and plans,
Listen to your Lord, your lives are in His Hands.

Written by, Nancy Baetz

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NaBloPoMo

NaBloPoMo ~ National Blog Posting Month:

I signed up for this in the hopes that I will start blogging daily. lol. I'm not sure if it will work or not, but maybe it will serve as the motivation I need to stay on track. I always have good intentions of blogging every day and usually even start an entry, but then I have to stop and clean something, do laundry, cook, teach, or go somewhere. Oh well, we will just have to see how it goes...

Get Ready... Set... Write!

It's November, so it must be time to write. Ryan has registered to participate in NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program. He is working on a novel with a goal of writing between 3,000 and 5,000 words. He hopes to finish by the end of the challenge, which is at the end of the month. Nathan does not want to participate in the writing program, but will be writing a short story this month.


Young Writers Program Manifesto...

Personal challenge - groceries

How is it that I can spend so much time researching and planning curriculum, but not have the same enthusiasm when it comes to purchasing household items like groceries? I take my time to research and find the absolute best curriculum for my kids. I try to save by purchasing what I can used or second hand. When purchasing new items I check for free or discounted shipping codes. But, somehow I don't take the time to use grocery coupons. Ugh...

I've got to become a better shopper. I'm already on a fairly tight budget, but there is always room for improvement. Especially if I start using coupons on a regular basis, shop using local sale papers, and take advantage of the Walgreen's "game". In other words, I know what I could or should be doing, but just haven't taken time for.

So this is my personal challenge for myself, to see how much I can save if I put a little effort into it. Learning the ins and outs of the savings game reminds me of how confusing and overwhelming it was when I first started looking at homeschool curriculum. But, somehow I worked my way through all of the information and came up with a plan that, for the most part, works well for our family. I need to do the same with my household purchases.

I plan on keeping an expense log to track my savings and post my results. I'm excited to see how it adds up and how much I can save by the end of the year.

Young Writers Program

Apparently, November is National Novel Writing Month. Who knew??

NaNoWriMo is a writing challenge where you write a novel in 30 days. The word count goal for adults is 50,000 words (yikes!). But, the Young Writers Program allows participants 17 and under to set their own word-count goals.

The website also offers free workbooks (elementary, middle school and high school levels) to help walk kids through the writing process.

Ryan (my ambitious child), has decided that he would like to participate in this challenge and has set a goal of 10,000 words. Oh. My. Goodness. He might not get anything else done in November! I'm glad that he has shown interest in this, but I also hope he has the perseverance to see it through to the end.