Just dropping in to say a quick "Hello" and to share some exciting things happening with my blogging adventures!

Recently, I published my first EpicPew blog post titled 26 Reasons to Leave the Catholic Church Immediately !  It was a lot of fun to write and don't let the title fool you! ;)

The post begins....

In this world of craziness, you might be a little off your rocker to study Catholicism and even sillier if you choose to become a Catholic (GASP!).  If you did take the plunge (in the waters of baptism as an infant or as an adult) and you are Catholic, maybe you should have read this post first.



I present you with 26 reasons everyone should leave the Catholic Church immediately… Read More

Another exciting happening is that I received a comment on my post, A Defend Life Lesson From Culture of Life Studies Program, not too long ago and "Cascia" commented that my blog was featured in a list of 100 best Homeschooling blogs at Healthy Moms Magazine Blog! It was a lovely surprise and I'm appreciative to have my blog on the list!   My blog is listed in the #70 spot.  Be sure to visit the list of 100 best Homeschooling blogs!

As always, thanks for stopping in to visit my little corner of blog land!

 Hoping you are having a blessed week!

Last year my oldest daughter and youngest daughter and I attended our first homeschool historical ball and it was a fun and memorable night!   In fact, it was so much fun that this year our entire family was able to attend on Saturday evening, Nov. 15. 
 
What is a homeschool historical ball you may ask???

It's a fun event for homeschooled teens and their families.  Young ladies are required to wear formal period costumes (medieval to WWII).  Everyone else could wear formal period costume or formal attire.  All costumes and behavior have to be modest.  The ball we attended was about an hour away from our home and last weekend's ball was the 8th annual event hosted by a homeschool group in a nearby county.  There was a small fee to get into the ball with a family cap price (our family met that cap! :) ) Each family was asked to bring finger foods (we brought grapes and cookies) while the organizers provided some main dishes that could be eaten with no utensils.  (tiny sandwiches, cut-up wraps, fruit/veggie platters/cookies/cupcakes).

Here is our family at the ball.  My girls were all wearing dresses that we borrowed from a few friends and my gentlemen were in their nice slacks and ties.  I just wore a long skirt, blouse and scarf.

About 130 adults, young adults, and children smiled, laughed and danced from 5:00-10:00PM.  The dance was held at a church's hall and the decorations were so beautiful!  Like last year, I just loved seeing all the beautiful dresses (that many of the young ladies made themselves!) and it was just so nice and refreshing to see young men and women dressed modestly dancing with one another, smiling and laughing.    The music was provided by a great group of musicians who instructed the dancers on what to do.

Here are some highlights from a fun-filled family night:
I love the picture above on the left of my daughter in the blue dress being swung by my husband during one of the dances.

The picture above on the left is a picture of the stage with the musicians and the picture on the right is my son and daughter going down the line during the "Virginia Reel" dance. 

Oh I will never forget the excitement of my oldest daughter and the many other dancers when the band announced the last dance of the night, the "Virginia Reel!"  Kids and adults of all ages were giddy, excited, and running to the dance floor!  It is a crowd favorite, especially with this historical ball!

Here is a clip of my oldest daughter and son dancing the Virginia reel that my husband captured on his iPhone:


And here is my other daughter in the blue dress dancing with a partner (who she just met at the dance).  The dance got faster and faster before it was all over!  Lots of fun!  

For today's Thankful Thursdays Link-Up, I'm thankful for fun family times, like the Homeschool Historical Ball!  Creating memories and fun with our family is one of the many reasons I homeschool my children as homeschooling allows us to experience unique and fun-filled opportunities, such as the ball!









Please visit other thankful posts below and if you have a thankful post you want to add to the Link-Up, please add below!

As shown in the top right corner, I have their books separated by subjects using white foam board and then I listed each subject on each board.  So my Cupcakes always know where to find their textbooks and workbooks and they also use the white foam boards to keep their baskets organized.
When I first started homeschooling in 2005, I tried using bookshelves, but things didn't stay organized then I moved into a basket system, but our books were thrown into the baskets.  That's when I decided to organize the baskets with the subject foam boards to make books easier to find and this system was quick to set up and has been used efficiently for several years now.  

In the bottom left corner is a photo of the red basket where I keep all my teacher manuals for my Cupcake's subjects. 

Then in the bottom right corner is the photo of how I organize my "Teacher Manual" red basket.  All my teacher manuals are divided by my Cupcakes' names using the white foam boards and blue post it notes to label each child's manuals.  So this will help me find answer keys I need quickly and my cupcakes can also go quickly to the foam board divider with their name on it to find any manuals if I ask them to get them for me vs. looking all over for a teacher manual that may be hidden in a shelf somewhere.

We use our desks, table, and dry erase board daily in or out of school :) The tall bookshelf on the left side of photo is where I keep alot of my resource books/idea books/catalogs/books and curriculum  I've used in the past.

In this corner of our classroom is our art area with a closet full of craft supplies, games, and math manipulatives.  The art table is used daily in or out of school time and I won this table several years ago!


IEW Level C Online Course 


Religion:
Couch Catechism,  First Confession and Communion preparation using Faith and Life, Treasure Box Set Books 1-10 and Books 11-20 and making First Communion Scrapbook and Banner 

Memoria Press First Grade Lesson Plans

I've been homeschooling since 2005 and it seems I think about what I like and don't like about homeschooling all the time. 

This post here is a humble attempt to be as transparent as possible (yet still maintain some privacy). 
My hope is that my triumphs and trials will be encouraging for all of us homeschooling moms who may think, "THAT mom must have it all together because her life/blog posts show only perfect pictures, projects, children, and all smiles!" (I must admit, I am guilty of feeling this way when I observe local homeschool moms or visit others' blogs as a homeschool mom and blogger myself.) 

Maybe my list will give my readers a more realistic picture of what my life is really like behind closed doors as a homeschooling mom who, by God's grace, strives everyday to be a better wife, mom, and teacher for my family.


Since I'm in my 9th year of homeschooling here are 9 things I like and don't like about homeschooling...

1.  I like passing on my family's faith and values to my children all day, everyday.  I don't like that satan discourages me often as I try to build a solid faith foundation for the souls God has entrusted me.

2.  I like being with my kids all day (most of the time!).  I don't like being with my kids all day (when I am impatient or the kids/me have bad attitudes toward school work or they argue with one another or at the end of a hard day I'm crying on my husband's shoulder as my heart and soul is filled with doubt, fear, frustrations)

Photo Credit: Google Image

3. I like knowing what my kids are learning and who is teaching them.  I don't like feeling like I'm talking to a brick wall when my kids seem to dislike what they are learning and they give me blank stares. :-/ 

4. I like having so much good, quality curriculum to choose from which makes teaching and learning interesting and fun.  I don't like having so many curriculum choices since I get easily overwhelmed with all that is available.

5.  I like praying all day with my kids in order to be peaceful and stay sane and reading scripture/the lives of the Saints/great literature, history, science books out loud to my kids everyday.  I don't like when I struggle with my prayer life and my kids are distracted while I'm reading out loud to them. {speaking of prayer, I really like the prayer, The Stressed Out Parent's Prayer, written by Tina.}

6. I like spending time as a family, building up relationships, in and out of "school" time.  I don't like spending time on constantly disciplining and correcting behavior in and out of school time.

7.  I like making my own schedule and fitting events around our family's priorities vs. fitting our family into a school system's schedule.  I don't like when my schedule does not go as planned because I felt I did more disciplining than teaching academics with my children.

8. I like being able to do my morning routine at home vs. rushing my kids out the door to beat a tardy bell.  I don't like when my morning routine does not go smoothly because my children and I have lack of discipline and at least one of us wakes up on the wrong side of the bed.

9.  I like hearing my kids say, "This is fun!" as they do school work that involves a variety of teaching methods.  I don't like hearing my kids complain and say, "This is boring/hard/stupid" as they do school work that they don't like as much.

So there you have it.  Some things of what I like and don't like about homeschooling.  It's a roller coaster ride, this calling to homeschool my children, and I know I find great comfort knowing I'm not the only one who struggles daily with this important calling.  Comment below if you can relate to the daily struggles of being a homeschool mom.  I would love to be blessed by you! 

I hope my post here is a little reminder that all of us are fighting some kind of battle, even those that appear to have the most perfect family, homeschool and blog life. 

God bless you as you live out God's calling in your life, one day and prayer at a time!

 





It's quite an honor and quite humbling that my little corner of blog land has been nominated for a 2014 Sheenazing Award hosted by Bonnie at A Knotted Life.  My blog was nominated in the "Best Looking Blog" Category.

Then on Saturday and Sunday, my husband coached my son and 5 other boys in a Sand Blast soccer tournament at a local beach.  Yes, they play in the sand (hard work!) with socks, 4 vs. 4, (3) 10 minute periods were the length of the games, and lots of other rules.  It was a great weekend and the weather on the beach wasn't too bad, although Sunday did get hot!

I recently came across this post HERE from The Homeschool Post that lists companies where discounts are given for homeschool families. 

I would like to add Staples to this list, as well as, Office Max and Office Depot since all of these office supply stores also have a Teacher Reward program. 

I personally love Staples as they give 10% back on ink, paper, and printing purchases and their Easy Rebates are really easy.  They will also recycle your empty ink cartridges and give you $2 for each cartridge you turn in.  The $2 comes in the mail in the form of a Rewards check that you can redeem for other purchases in the store.  I recently received over $60 in Rewards money in the mail from Staples from turning in ink cartridges and other purchases and was able to buy new ink cartridges with this money. 

At the beginning of each school year, I use my Staples Teachers Rewards Card to purchase school supplies that are sold for 1 cent.  Traditional classroom teachers can get up to 25 one cent items and so can homeschool parents.  HERE is a post where I got alot of school supplies for only 37 cents at Staples using my Teacher Rewards Card.