Happy Cinco De Mayo

Today we had some friends over and had a Homeschool Fiesta!

We started off by making a few decorations.

You can’t tell in this picture, but our dogs even had a fiesta flower on. Patches, the pup on the left, isn’t too thrilled about it! You don’t believe me???? Well, check out this next picture…..

Told ya…He is NOT happy!

I guess Pandora created a Cinco De Mayo station because it was on my list, so we pushed play on that station and jammed out to Spanish music all afternoon!  It was fun.

Since our kids are older, we decided that THEY would be the one’s making lunch which was: quesadillas, rice, beans, chips & salsa, and guacamole.

Is your mouth watering yet?

Wait till you see the pictures… Oh Man it was delicious!!

They were trying to knead homemade tortillas with a whisk!!

No way, José!

That is  NOT how it’s done! 

You gotta get your hands all up in it!!!

Look at that! Not bad for their first one.
They were Oh So Good, too!

Next on the menu is spanish rice & refried beans. I forgot to get a picture of the beans. Maybe because I was too busy dancing with my imaginary partner!

I’m not kidding… I really was dancing all over by myself until I finally just grabbed Tristan and made him dance with me… He tried… Lol

Then a little later I grabbed my son, and the boy has two left feet… Hilarious! He left me and danced his way to the chips & salsa. Ha!

Check out that rice. Looks good, hu!?!

Now for the most A-MAZ-ING quesadillas EV-UHHHHHH!!!!!!

Mmmm, they were good!

Yes, we fried them! We figured we might as well go ALL OUT!

What’s a Fiesta without Jarritos!?!?!?

My favorite is Toronja, which is grapefruit.

We also had pan dulce, sweet bread, but I didn’t have a chance to get a picture of that. It was gone FAST!

We were all stuffed and ready for a nap when the fiesta was over. 

Definitely a day to remember!!!

Friendly Fire

Yesterday was a pretty rough Homeschool day for us. Nothing seemed to go right…Nothing.

I felt like quitting.

I felt like throwing in the towel.

I’m done.

No more.

I asked myself at least 100 times, “Why am I don’t this? Why in the world am I homeschooling? I must be crazy! Who am I kidding to think I could actually pull this off?”

(You know what I’m talking about, right Homeschool mamas?)

The mind battles continued throughout the day.

My son comes to me so I can “help” him with math corrections.

I tried but He still doesn’t understand.

He watched the CD that comes with his math to teach him each lesson.

Doesn’t understand.

We go over the lesson again and Nothing.

He doesn’t understand.

At this point, we’re both frustrated. He’s angry, I’m angry. He pops an attitude and walks away mumbling.

I sat on my bed and cried angry, frustrated tears.

I prayed and begged God to help me… To help us with our son because there’s always an issue with him & math.

This quote immediately popped in my head….

And let me tell you, that was like a breath of fresh air for me! I felt  the very heavy burden that I was carrying lifted off my shoulders and believed every word of that quote.

I was reminded why we decided to Homeschool. I was reminded that we don’t have “bad days” very often. I was reminded that every Homeschool family has a bad day, not just ours. I was reminded that I can and will continue on this venture. Lastly, I was reminded that I can’t do this on my own, I desperately need God’s wisdom & guidance… Daily.

And after talking with my hubby about this, he agreed to take over teaching him math!!! You know this girl was doing the happy dance!! Lol

I’m happy to say that our day didn’t end the way it started!

This is us on our way to church.

Our pastor preached on friendly fire. How as Christians we need to be careful not to “kill” our brothers and sister’s in Christ. To remember we’re on the same team, fighting the same fight against the enemy and not each other.
He used the story of Joseph, how his brother’s sold him into slavery…His very own brothers!

Friendly fire.

Years later when they crossed paths with him, he could’ve ended their lives in a second, but he didn’t. He had every right to be filled with anger and resentment but instead he was filled with forgiveness and love.

I believe that as parents, if we’re not careful, we can spiritually kill our kids with friendly fire, too. But we have to remember, they’re on our side, fighting the same enemy that we are. 

It’s no coincidence that I heard that sermon after the day I had yesterday. 

Good knows exactly what we need to hear!

Memory Making

On Wednesday we had our first homeschool field trip of the year.  My sister-in-law, her 3 crazy girls and her sweet mommy-in-law joined me and my 2 crazy kids and  went to Sea World! It was a homeschool special, and for $4…..and FREE parking, we got to go see a couple of shows and some animal exhibits. Not bad. 

                
          Cousins having fun being silly.

They had such a great time learning about dolphins, beluga whales, and sea lions.  We even got a cameo from a Macaw family.

         Why, hello there Mr. Dolphin!

            Love this picture of my boy!

        Hey, Madi….can u keep a secret?

What I enjoyed most about this trip was watching the kids having fun together and making memories. 

       
                        Best cousins

          
                    Enjoying the view!

            Alligators basking in the sun.

                    Strike a pose!

                         Relaxing.

One last pose before we head home….
…………….I spy Jeremiah!
              (Can you find him?)

School Days

Hey there! We’ve had a pretty busy and productive first 3 wks of school. I must say,  I’m pretty proud of myself…and the kids too, of course! They have been working so hard with staying on task and not getting behind.

Here’s  somewhat of a schedule for our days:

7:30-8:30  Wake up, get ready for the day, eat breakfast, wash whatever dishes they used, tidy up room.
8:30-8:45  Bible/Devo’s
8:45-9:30  Math
9:30-10:00  Science
10-10:15  Break/Snack
10:15-11:00  Geography
11:00-12:00  English/Literature
12:00-12:30  Lunch
12:30-1:00 History

If they finish a subject early, then they can either go on to  the next subject or they can have quiet time.  This is  just a guide that we follow to help us stay on track. I’m perfectly fine if and when we’re not completely on schedule. Besides, that’s the beauty of homeschooling… being flexible!

On the 2nd Tuesday of every month, our local library offers a free art class for homeschoolers! You KNOW we take advantage of that free service! Ohhhhhh yeah! 🙂

Every Wednesday morning we join other homeschooled  families at a nearby park for Park Day. This gives our kids  a chance to meet other homeschoolers, get some exercise in, and perhaps build some longtime friendships. And it’s a time for us mamas to also build friendships and glean from one another. It’s a very much needed time, indeed!

Jeremiah is part of a group who meet on Thursdays from 9:30-3:30 and are taught 4 subjects. He has learned so much already and looks forward to going every week. He Loves it!

Jordyn meets every Thursday from 10:45-12:15 for an English 2 class she takes at One Day Academy. Her teacher is A.MAZ.ING! She loves english, loves her students, and LOVES her Lord & Savior!

One thing I’ve learned about homeschooling is to relax, relax, relax!!! One bad day, bad week, or even one bad year isn’t gonna hurt ur precious little ones. I know that from experience.  Last year, homeschooling for us was a DISASTER!! I was so discouraged. Felt so defeated. Nothing went right for us. Health, finances, job security…lets just say it was a year of trials…AND trusting. 

God is so faithful, He sends the right person our way right when we need some reassurance.

It was a Saturday morning, I was having a yard sale and this lady stops by. She must have seen I was selling some curriculum bc she asked if I homeschooled.  She too, homeschools her 5 kids, 1 who already graduated. I shared a little about our horrible year and she is the one who told me that one bad year isn’t gonna mess our kids up. She also said not to let one bad year be the deal breaker for the following year.

Talk about feeling SET FREE!!!

Up until that point, I knew I wanted to homeschool this year, but was not confident about it at all. If that even makes sense?!?

I received her words of encouragement and hold them close to my heart. It was as if God was once again, giving His stamp of approval, confirming that this is what I needed to do.

Raising Arrows

We officially will be starting our homeschool year next week and we are all so excited!  We tried it last year, and between all of my health issues that lasted 3 long horrible months, the holidays, and moving back to Austin, homeschooling was not a very pleasant experience for any of us.  We had an extremely inconsistent year, to say the least.  We decided on a few different curriculums to try this year.

Our oldest son, who is in 8th grade, will be meeting every Thursday with a homeschool group for teenage boys. His teacher will be teaching them: Bible/Theology/Discipleship, Language Arts, Reading, and Social Studies.
His first class was last Thursday and he had a blast! We’ll continue to use Saxon Math this year. And for Science, we’ll be trying out Apologia Science.

For my 6th grade daughter, we’ll be using My Father’s World curriculum which include: Bible, Geography, Science, Reading, and Art.
For English, she’ll be meeting every Thursday for an hour and a half with One Day Academy. She took an english class during the summer with them and loved, loved, loved it!! She’ll have the same awesome teacher this yr. We couldn’t be more happy!:-) And for math, she’ll use Saxon math like her brother.

They both will be reading lots of books that relate to whatever we’re learning about in most subjects. So if we’re learning about China, we’ll check out books from the library about it, play Chinese checkers, and maybe make a Chinese dish…something like that.  We’re definitely gonna dig deep, especially on subjects they show more interest in.  I’m sure Pinterest is gonna be my lifesaver for this!

I really want to add a foreign language to their curriculum but might wait until we get a routine down then invest in one.  I know a free website called Live Mocha that teaches foreign languages but not sure how kid friendly they are?!

As for my youngest son, we decided after much prayer, to keep him in public school for now…long story.
His first day was yesterday and so far he’s happy with our decision!

Okay, so as I’m getting my homeschool schedule all planned out, I remember hearing another mom say that she gave her homeschool a name, made ID badges with the school name on it, the school year, and a picture. One for her, the teacher, and one for her child, the student. That way she can get discounts at teacher stores and print shops etc, also to make her schooling a little more formal.  Sooooooooo, I got to thinking, “What in the world am I gonna name our homeschool????” I sent out a text to a few of my homeschool mommy friends asking if they have a name, if so, then what. A few did & a few didn’t.   After a few hours of going back and forth with a crazy friend of mine, who had me rolling on the floor laughing hysterically and my son, who wanted to name it, “The Wack Attack Christian Academy!” Lol……please, no need to worry, we didn’t go with it! Uhhhhhhh, Thanks but no thanks, son!!

We decided on calling our homeschool, Raising Arrows Christian Academy. Based off of the following scripture:

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127:3

My hubby says our mascot should be a lion/lioness and our school scripture should be:

“The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” Proverbs 28:1

Waddya think about the scripture? A bit much?

I was thinking our mascot should be me wearing armor reaching for an arrow with my kids faces on the tip of the arrow ready to shoot!!! Lol just kidding!

Our emblem will be an arrow and a target…..we’re still not 100% sure on the emblem but something along those lines.  What do you think?

As you can see, we are really super excited about this school year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh! Please let me know if you know of any foreign language websites that are kid friendly. B-)

     

Learning to do hard things

I can’t believe we’re already in week 3 with Classical Conversations! It has been A-MAZ-ING!! Our first week was VERY challenging for both me and Jeremiah but we pushed it through with prayer and lots of breaks! We have gotten so close in the 3 weeks that we’ve been schooling.  Along with, of course, some frustrations! 🙂  The Classical way of learning almost seemed too difficult to him.  Public school didn’t give him a challenge the way CC’s does which is forcing him to use his brain in ways he isn’t used to.  We’ve had lots of pretty deep talks about raising his bar high and putting his all into EVERYTHING he does, especially school.  I read an awesome book called, Do Hard Things by Josh & Brett Harris.  Their teenage, twin brothers challenging other teenagers to raise their standards high &  even though you’re young you can still challenge yourself to do hard things.  In Science Jeremiah had to  write a paper on Protista. He had to find 2 resources from the library, put that info on a fused outline, type or write his research and draw a picture of it. Then he had to put all of that info on a note card BUT he could only have 3 words per sentence and unlimited pictures! But the challenge for him was having to stand in front of his class and do an oral presentation on his research using that note card! That was hard for him to do but he did it!    He did awesome by the way! He has to do a paper every week.  Last week was on Fungi and this week is on Wild Flowers.  He’s also had 2 weeks to learn how to draw the US (w/o tracing), draw in all the states, label each state with capitals and label all the rivers and features. Now he’s doing the same thing but with Canada. By the end of the year he’ll be able to draw the whole world! These are just 2 of the subjects he’s learning. I asked him the other day how he’s liking CC’s and he said he loves it! I’m so glad he loves it because so do I!  Not only is he learning Latin, geography, science etc, but he’s also learning to do hard things!

Jordyn & Josh start home school Sept 5th. Jordyn is so excited….I’m not too sure about Josh….He’s something else!

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”  Colossians 3:23