School Room Tour

We are in our 6th year of homeschooling (7th if you count preschool). But this is the first year we have had the luxury of having a school room. We do hang out in this room a lot even when it's not school time, but we house all school materials here and this is where we do most schooling. There are a few exceptions like nature walks, but this is pretty much it. I figured I better take pictures while it's clean (not as common as I'd like). I've been meaning to give a tour for some time. Again, sorry for the blurry phone pictures.

On with the tour:

First the view of the whole room

From where I took the above picture, I am going to take you clockwise around the room. So turn left and you will see a desk with a computer. This is a computer that is on it's last leg, but for the moment it is still good for Teaching Textbooks math and a few other things. We haven't used that pocket chart in a while, but I am thinking of ways to use it. Those little stairs in the bottom left corner of the picture go to an office area and bathroom. Very handy things to have near the school room.

Next there is a little cabinet that is for the teacher only! I have supplies in here like sentence strips and resource books for me that I want to stay in one piece. And there are Betsie's workboxes. That USA map is laminated so we can write on it and erase. Near Texas we added Spongebob and Sandy because we figured she wouldn't be TOO far away from Texas...maybe Gulf of Mexico? Very educational stuff going on here folks. That little white desk is not in use most of the time. It needs a little chair and Betsie would love it.

Moving on down that wall and we have a couple of small white boards. These are magnetic as well. One of them has some Bible verses on it right now but we use these for lots of things, especially reading practice with Mary.Below one of the white boards is our book basket. It is usually full to bursting with library books to go along with whatever we are studying at the time. Each girls has to look at books for 15 minutes minimum each school day (in addition to our read aloud time, etc.). They get a lot of extra info just from this simple activity.

The world map. We are studying world geography this year. We refer to this map a LOT!

And on the next wall we have our bookshelf! Homeschoolers love bookshelves. Lots of great storage here.Rachel and Mary's workboxes are next.

The TV and armoire are in the corner at the end of that wall. And this would be one reason this room is nice to hang out in even when we are not schooling. The armoire provides storage as well.
Moving on down the next wall we come to our art and writing shelf. This shelf holds pencils, crayons, markers, glue, scissors, tape, drawing books, etc. Very handy as it is right next to our seat work area and the drawing table.

Next to the art shelf is our seat work table. We do some of our work here but we use the whole room really. Occasionally I am in that middle chair with two of the girls beside me working on an activity together. This table has been great for us.

Remember earlier when I said those few stairs led up to an office area? Well there it is. Jason and I hang out there and "discuss" how much money I can spend on homeschooling. Ha! (kidding)Looking into the school room from the office. We use that bulletin board for schooling as well. Mostly calendar activities and displaying art work. That door on the right is a walk in closet where I keep more supplies for crafts, etc. Some toys are in there as well.

From the other end of the room:

Here you can see that this room is upstairs and also up into the office area. And there is our drawing table and our sofa for reading and devotions and watching TV!

Another view of the whole room:

Thanks for taking the tour!

Makes Me Smile to See This

Re-entry sure is hard

I mentioned that Jason and I went to a marriage conference last weekend. We drove down to Florida and had two nights in a beautiful St. Augustine resort while attending the conference. Saturday night is the scheduled date night. We drove into St. Augustine and walked around in the shops, had dinner at one of those really cool hole-in-the-wall but yummy restaurants, and just enjoyed being together.



The conference itself was wonderful. It was a Family Life Weekend to Remember event. We attended one about 8 years ago. Both times were good but this one was more intense for us. I won't share details here, but I'll just say it was needed and very valuable for us. I highly recommend it for ANY married couple, no matter how long you have been married and no matter the condition of your marriage. I have wanted to blog about it, but I have decided that it was just too personal and I want to keep it between my beloved and myself. Anything I would feel comfortable sharing can be found on the Family Life website...great speakers, names of sessions, etc.



We got home around 9:00PM on Sunday night. We came home to our sweet, sweet girls and were so happy to see them. But the older two had sunburns and Rachel was running a fever. She continued to be sick until Tuesday night. Betsie was clingy and whiney and needed a day or so to re-attach to us. Mary Evelyn was so sweet and gave us a welcome home picture she had made and some applejacks (she said she knew the drive would make us hungry...LOL!), but by Monday morning we were battling a bit. Mary Evelyn was not remembering what it means to honor us as her parents and I confess it was pretty hard to keep my cool a few times. By Tuesday night I decided she and I needed to do something fun together. So I took her to a movie and things have been a lot better since. (not perfect, but better) By the way, I loved Kung Fu Panda...and I am not always a kid movie fan!



Rachel is better but now I am sick. Jason was sweet enough to make sure everyone had breakfast and was settled before he went to work this morning. Plus he made me some hot tea to soothe my raw throat before he left. I do love that man! I think I just have a cold, but colds seem to feel worse the older I get so I am resting a lot...at least until we have to be at swimming lessons this afternoon.



So we are back in the trenches but trying to apply the lessons learned and the old reminders we were given this weekend. I am thankful for the time we had together, for a husband who initiated the whole trip because he is committed to our oneness, and for parents who are willing babysitters. And I am thankful that God is with us in real life.

To All My Five in a Row Friends

(Warning: Those of you who have never been involved in an online community may find this post odd.)

Thank you so much for your encouraging words both on the boards and in private emails or notes when I said I was leaving the boards. It's just time. I have been using FIAR and it's boards since 2002 (I think.) and have come to care deeply about the people I have met there. A few close real life friendships have resulted from my time there and I feel so blessed by that. And some of you have become very good email friends as well. I'm glad to know that I can still communicate with you outside of the forums.

A few things led to me deciding to post my "good bye." The first is obviously that we will be using My Father's World as our core curriculum beginning in a month. And I know Steve and Jane did not establish the FIAR boards for people who use other curricula. Those boards are about so much more than homeschool curriculum so it's hard to leave, but I think it would be wrong to stay. True...I might use Before FIAR with Betsie here and there, but that will not be the main focus of our homeschool so I feel I need to step back. However, I will be watching to see which Fold-and-Learns are released for Before and I hope to use a few of them with my tiny little student.

Even though I might use Before FIAR sometimes, I still chose to leave because those forums are such a draw for me and I want to be online less when we start our new school year in a month. David Hazell of My Father's World suggests that your children receive your undivided attention in the mornings. I know if I did that, we would accomplish a whole lot more. So I want to stay off the computer on school days at least until after lunch. Posting a goodbye thread was a way to make myself stay off those forums in order to accomplish more at home.

Jason and I attended a Family Life Weekend to Remember conference last weekend. And I really just feel the need to give more of my time to my husband and our girls. I'll still be online, but I need to be online less.

Thank you again for your sweet words. You are a blessing to me and I have learned so much from you. I will forever be grateful for your kindnesses to me when we were adopting. You prayed and rejoiced and even helped me decide what to name her! I remember logging in to FIAR from our hotel room in Changsha (see how strong that draw is!) and seeing a post titled "Jen has Betsie!" with lots of happy tears and hopping icons and so many rejoicing over our special gift. You have no idea what that meant to me. And then when I got sick with mono just weeks after coming home, I received get well cards in my mailbox and even some muffins and fruit on my doorstep from one of those real life buddies. You gals are amazing. And those are just a few samples of how you have blessed me.

So be sure to check in here and be sure that I will be checking your blogs too. I don't want to lose YOU. I just need to be off the forums.

Praying you all have a great summer full of sweet memories with your families.
Love,
Jen

I'm Still Around

Well, I do still exist, but apparently just don't blog much anymore. I'll have to work on that. Now that tax season is over and Jason isn't working at night, I guess I'm hanging out with him and not spending as much time at the computer desk in the evenings!

Here's a little of what has been going on:

• We've been planning trips! Jason and I have a Family Life Marriage Conference coming up (Weekend to Remember). We are going out of town for that. Also, we received a gift certificate for a night at a local B&B so we will be spending a night there soon for our 15th wedding anniversary. In a few months we are planning a family vacation to the Creation Museum and lots of other attractions in the area. So nailing down details for all of that has been fun.
• Foster: He came to us with kennel cough so we have been dealing with that and just adjusting to a new pup in the house.
• Mother's Day! We only got to see Jason's mom very briefly but we had dinner with my mom and dad Saturday night. My sister and her family were there as well.
• School: About 3 more weeks to go. I am still very excited about our plans for next year.
• Betsie: potty training...good days and not so good days. Also, if you've read my blog for a while you know she was a climber and had a crib tent to keep her in. We took that off and lowered her crib rails so that it's sort of like a toddler bed. She is staying put so that is a good thing.

Not sure what else to tell you...we've been watching way too much TV for people who get no channels. Netflix is a good thing. Then there are the swimming lessons we have twice a week and the very cool lake with walking trails we found just a couple of miles from here. So we are enjoying the spring and being together. I am so thankful to have Jason around a little more at this time of year. I hope you are enjoying your spring time too.

Two Special Children

Thanks for the great comments on my previous post. My girls have always been the messy, creative types. I LOVE that about them(well, the creative part), but the mess you saw in that post is the norm rather than the exception. So it has taken some getting used to. They love to take every toy or box or anything and make BIG towns, houses, vet offices, etc. Clean up time here takes a while every day.

But that's okay. As the end of the week approached and over this past weekend, God has once again helped me to see that these little messes really are nothing to whine about. God has used two very special children to show me what matters and to show me that I am blessed...messes and all.

The first child is Baby Cohen. His parents are friends with my sister and brother-in-law. He was born Wednesday night and was not expected to live. He had been diagnosed with a fatal disorder during pregnancy. Well, he's still here and God is using him to bring glory to Himself! Cohen is breathing on his own, beginning to take bottles and nurse, and his parents are making appointments for him for the months to come...something they never expected to get to do. God has shown me through Cohen that there can never really be anything that is 100% sure in the medical world. He is truly Sovereign and the giver of life!

The next is Ellie. Regular visitors are familiar with three year old Ellie by now. Well, keep praying. She is currently in a Charleston hospital in traction preparing for two very important operations this week. Ellie did have some considerable pain after her first surgery last Wednesday but she is doing well so far. Pray that God would continue to give her parents (Greg and Denise) peace as they anticipate these surgeries. For some reason, I am thinking I read that the surgery would be something like ten hours, but I can't find that now on Denise's blog. Here is a picture of Denise and Ellie wearing her halo.

On a completely unrelated note: Happy dating anniversary to Jason (18 years since our first date!) and Happy Sweet 16 to my lovely niece Jordan! I called her on her cell phone earlier and she was driving around...I feel old. I can't believe she is old enough for cars and cell phones! Have a great day JJ, from the original JJ!

Good Week/Bad Week

The bad part is that I have had a cold. The good part is that I am getting better. The other bad part is that Betsie has it too. She still feels terrible and is super clingy and snotty...love that combo. She is kind of pitiful with her cough and runny nose and watery eyes. I hope (and pray) that she feels better soon. She is napping now or there is no way I could get this typed.

The other good and fun part of this week is that it's my birthday tomorrow! Yay! (I still like my birthday.) I have already received many blessings. My friend Hollie brought me some goodies last week. She spoils me. Then I won a little door prize at my homeschool support group meeting, a mug of candy and a Starbucks gift card. Jason was happy about the Starbucks card.

Sunday I checked my email and had an e-gift certificate to Amazon from my mother and father-in-law. It was spent before I finished checking email. Can't wait for that package to arrive. One thing I got was a John MacArthur book I have been wanting but I'm too cheap to buy for myself (library doesn't have it). It's called Twleve Extraordinary Women. It is about 12 women in the Bible. I got a few other goodies too.

Last night my parents took us to a Japanese steak house for my birhday. Betsie didn't feel great and she was pretty scared of the fire and all that showy stuff. My parents gave me some great gifts though. I got a Vera Bradley purse. (I've browsed before but never bought one!) I also got the softest, warmest lay-on-the-couch and watch a movie blanket. My girls have been warned that it is not a fort-building blanket. There were a few other treats too, but those were my favorites. The girls got little Valentine gifts from my parents too. (new webkinz for the olders and a beanie baby for Betsie)

This is Rose wishing she had my cool blanket. Sorry Rose.

And tomorrow I will be getting some kitchen shears and knives from Jason, but I am not supposed to know that, so shhhhhh. I know it doesn't sound like the typical Valentine/birthday gift, but it's what I asked for so I will be happy! (Assuming they shipped on time to get here. But I know nothing about it of course.) Also, Jason is very busy at work, but he has been trying to be home a little earlier in the evenings to spend a bit more time at home this week. That is a real gift for sure.


And God has blessed me with a huge peace about the direction of our homeschool. What a gift! The conference I went to last weekend was spectacular and I am very excited about the co-op we will be involved with and the new curriculum we will use.

So the good definitely outweighs the bad. Happy Valentines Day to all of you!

Forgot one huge thing: Betsie has used the potty THREE times this week! And I'm not even potty training her yet!! (Waiting for warmer weather so she can wear little dresses to make it easier) Did you hear us cheering for her and doing the happy potty dance? Go Betsie go! (And one of those times was when MARY EVELYN took her after "doing school" with Betsie, which consisted of Mary Evelyn writing the alphabet on the whiteboard and making Betsie repeat all the letters after her. Hilarious.) Good stuff!

The Blessing Jar

I made mention of our Blessing Jar in my New Year's Eve post and my sweet friend Leslie asked about it in the comments. Since I have been lacking in blog-worthy ideas lately, I appreciate a chance to respond! So Leslie, thanks for asking!

I am sure this idea must have come from the Five in a Row boards because I am a great copycat. Basically, our jar is just a big pitcher. We try to record as many blessings as we can on little pieces of paper (whatever is handy, not pre-cut fancy slips or anything!) throughout the year and drop it in the jar. We read these to each other as a part of our New Year's Eve celebration. It was a joy to remember the free dishwasher and dryer that friends from our homeschool group gave us last January...or the time Jason almost backed over Mary Evelyn in the driveway -but didn't because for some odd reason his trunk was open - and he stopped to get out and close it just as she was running across the driveway...or the time we went rollerskating as a family for Rachel's birthday...or the day Betsie finally reached 20 pounds...etc. You get the idea.

There are little everyday blessings like a child doing school with a sweet attitude that day or another child being very helpful without being asked or hearing from an old friend. Sometimes at family devotion Jason or I will pass out an index card to everyone and we'll all record at least one or two blessings. We do this when we have been a few weeks and kind of forgotten that we have a blessing jar! It's a nice way to keep Thanksgiving going all year long. Afterall, we are told in scripture to give thanks always, not just in November! 2007 was the first year we did this. It was an easy little project that we could all do and we found it to be a blessing in itself.