Busy, Busy, Busy....

"We're busy, busy dreadfully busy.  You've no idea what we have to do."- Veggie Tales "Are You My Neighbor?"

I really do have a good excuse for not posting in almost ten days.  My family is moving at the speed of light.  Four children and almost twelve years ago, Jason and I vowed that we would never be this busy when we had children.  I'm now eating those words.  Unfortunately that's about all I have time to eat.

I suppose I really have no excuse.  I've been reading a series of historical fiction books about the 18th century.  It is unbelievable to think about what women in that time period accomplished without any of the modern "necessities" that I have today.  I think I'm doing something when I wash four loads of clothes in one day.  I'm not even washing them!  I have a machine that does that for me.  And a machine that dries them.  But, of course, I have to devote large quantities of time to playing Gardens of Time on Facebook.  And to checking my email.  And to blogging and reading blogs.  And to driving kids all over town.

Hmmm, on a more happy note, we have been extremely productive in our school work lately.  We did not take off last week when our local schools were on Spring Break.  And, despite our crazy afternoon/evening schedules, our day times are pretty clear.  We're dropping subjects as we finish them, and I hope we'll be finishing up on May 13.  Then my plan is to take a few weeks off and then start back mid-June with our summer schedule.  So, if we can make it through the next few weeks of craziness, it will all slow down, and we'll have a break soon.

Menu Plan Monday

This week is a much easier week for which to plan meals because all of our evening activities are canceled due to our local school's spring break week.  Hooray!

Monday- Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak; rice; corn

Tuesday-Slow Cooker chicken and dumplings; green peas

Wednesday- Spaghetti Casserole; fruit or salad

Thursday- Dinner at Earth Fare for family night

Friday- Cheesburger pie; mac and cheese; fruit

Weekend- leftovers, sandwiches, frozen pizza, top your own pasta

Weekly Wrap Up- In Which I Slowly Begin to Lose My Mind

Okay, I realize that having had children for going on twelve years now, I've already lost most of whatever brain cells I started with.  But, for some reason, I had the (very wrong) notion that as my children grew older, they (and parenting) would somehow become easier and therefore less stressful.  What I failed to read in any of those wonderful parenting manuals was that the lives of those children (and therefore my life) become exponentially more busy as they age.

So, here is where we are:  We are a little more than a month away from finishing up our regular school year and taking a short break before beginning a summer schedule.  Charles is playing baseball and practices one night a week and plays on Saturday.  Ashlyne takes gymnastics and practices (on a different night) for one and one half hours each week.  She has a spring show coming up.  Charles and Ashlyne are in our church's choir program at the end of April and they practice on Wednesday night.  Rachel is also in preschool choir on Wednesday nights.  We also have two more Sunday nights of church activity left - AWANA and small groups.

So, at the end of last week, we found out that Kathryne has gotten a part in our local community theater play.  This is great news for Kathryne- who didn't get a part the first time she auditioned and didn't get one at first this time (apparently they had a member drop out).  But, not so great for her parents who get to take her to five practices a week.  Add more craziness into the current madness.

The descent into insanity began this week.  Next week, we'll all actually have a breather because our local schools are on spring break and all practices of all sort are called off.

Saturday was our first baseball game.  Charles has played every other sport, but this year he wanted to try baseball.  I told him he should stick with it, he looked so cute in the uniform.  He wasn't amused.  Jason is that handsome coach in the black shirt, btw.

Monday, Charles entered the youth rock wall competition.  He placed second in his division (out of about 12).  Kathryne, meanwhile, had play practice, so this was one of those crazy nights where we were shuttling people every which way.

Wednesday, Rachel's preschool choir sang during dinner.  Don't you love the look she's giving me in this first picture?

And, lest we forget about school, we went on a field trip today! (Yes, we did school every other day also, but it was mostly routine stuff like math, literature, and history.  Who wants to see those pictures?!)  Today, we went to a natural history museum and a great park with a castle play structure.  We went with some other homeschooling friends, so we had friends, fun, and learning all rolled into one.

Next week, I'll practice my deep breathing techniques in preparation for the week after public school's spring break when it all gets even more crazy.

For more weekly wrap ups, visit Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Playing Catch Up

I am breathing deeply.  In, out, in, out, in, out.  This has been one those weeks where I felt all week as if I could not catch up.  I am finally feeling slightly more caught up tonight.  I know the feeling is short-lived.  Kathryne just this week found out that she has a part in a community theater musical for the spring.  This will involve practice five times a week for two hours at each practice.  Add that to baseball practice and gymnastics and church programs that are finishing up, and we have some serious craziness.

I didn't get to a Charlotte Mason post this week or a weekly wrap up.  So, here's the skinny on what we've been up to:

*I finished my reading through the Bible in 90 days!  Woohoo!  I love doing this and look forward to doing it again.  For now, I have begun a Bible study through Exodus and I am learning to pray the daily offices through the Book of Common Prayer.

*School is looking more and more finished.  For that I am truly thankful.  I am really hoping to get through the bulk of our work by mid May, so we are looking good.  After we finish up, I am going to be reevaluating our schedule and our record keeping over the summer.

*Weather around her is awfully spring/summer like- something else I am truly thankful for.  We had a very interesting cookout/hail storm at the campground last night, and I almost got to learn first hand what to do in a camper in the event of a tornado.  Thankfully the entire family was able to get home safely, and the storms passed around midnight last night.

*The Ultimate Blog Party is over and I have notified my study Bible winner- Jessica from Jessica's Lil Corner.  Congratulations!

*I am still madly reading The Outlander series for my pleasure reading.  I actually published a 52 Books in 52 Weeks post today at my Good Reads blog, but I didn't finish a book this week.

Bible in 90 Days Finishing Post

I have finished the Bible in 90 days!  Woohoo!  (I actually finished last Wednesday which was slightly short of 90 days but forgot to put up a post Saturday on the official 90th day.)  Once again, I was very blessed to read through the Bible in this way.  If you've never tried it, Amy at Mom's Toolbox is hosting another read through beginning in July.  And right now, she's hosting a Blogging through the Gospels. 

I'm not signed up for that because I've been alternating the reading through in 90 days with an in depth study, and right now I am starting Exodus.  I did Genesis at my last break.  At this rate, I may finish the whole Old Testament in 30 years.  Really, I just want to study in depth the books of law.  I've also picked up a copy of the Book of Common Prayer.  Not widely used in my denomination, I became interested in having this book and in praying the daily offices when I read In Constant Prayer (which I reviewed on my Good Reads blog).

So, that's where I am in my devotional life right now.  Let me know if you decide to join Amy in the next reading through the Bible in 90 days.

I am an Amazon affiliate and may receive a small compensation if you make a purchase from one of my links.  I will then probably use that money to buy more books from Amazon.  I think they have me hooked!

Ultimate Blog Party Post

Once again, it is time for the (insert drum roll please) Ultimate Blog Party with 5 Minutes for Mom's!

To introduce myself for those who might be stopping by for the very first time:

My name is Leah, and I am a homeschooling mom of four children.  Despite that, I am, most days, a sane and relatively personable human being.  Unless it has rained for multiple days and my children have been shut up in the house.  Or unless four children have all chosen the same time to ask me some deep yet random question, such as "what is the meaning of life?"  Or unless I have been listening at length to a long and detailed explanation of some trivial and meaningless topic.  Okay, so strike the most days.

Blogging is a creative outlet, lets me meet many other mom bloggers, and, basically, helps me to hold on to what little sanity I have left.  I blog about daily life with four children; talk about homeschooling; do some product reviews- especially book reviews; and dabble in couponing and digital photography on my blog.  Besides this main family sort of blog, I have two other blogs that I'd love to have you visit;
Leah's Good Reads is my book review blog.  I post my thoughts and opinions- lofty and otherwise here.
The Courtney Homeschool Blog is a daily journal of sorts for our homeschooling.  It's probably rather boring for your average reader but may be riveting for my fellow homeschoolers.

I didn't make it in time to enter a prize into the Ultimate Blog Party, but I do have a giveaway to offer for someone who stops by to visit me from the party.  If you'd like to win a gift certificate for a hardback copy of the NLT study Bible from Tyndale, leave a comment at this post.  If you'd like an additional chance to win, follow my blog and leave me a separate comment letting me know.  I'll close my contest on April 8 when the Ultimate Blog Party closes and notify a winner next weekend.

Weekly Wrap Up- The I Can See the End in Sight Edition

I love the finishing up of things.  Even when I am reading a really, really good book, I feel a sense of accomplishment at the completion.  So, I enjoy this part of our school year when I can see the end of several subjects approaching.

The way I figure it, we have about seven more weeks of "real school."  We school all through the summer, but we do a much shorter and abbreviated schedule.  The last full week of May, the kids and I are going to Great Wolf Lodge with my mom and the week after, three of the kids will be in drama camp.  So, I am trying to finish up the bulk of our work before that.

Rachel and Kathryne both finished their math books this week.  Rachel was only doing a little kindergarten workbook from Spectrum, so I'll probably just give her some printables of kindergarten math pages here and there until the end of May.  Kathryne finished Saxon 6/7, and I am going to have her go on and do the topics and supplementary practice at the back of the book- but only once a week.

We are about 5 chapters from being through with Story of the World volume 3.  I am changing our history curriculum next year, so this will be our last few weeks with Story of the World.

Kathryne and Charles are both almost finished with their copywork books, and I am going to not have them start another.  Ashlyne and Rachel may not finish their Handwriting Without Tears books, but that is something we can definitely continue on with through the summer.

There are a few other things we may not finish.  As of right now, Kathryne, Charles, and I are still only reading through The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  We have two more Narnia books to complete and a few assignments along with those.  We'll probably finish up The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair and read The Last Battle this summer.  Unless we all get a burst of energy and start reading several chapters a day.

Having a week like this one where we were home every day really helps my sense of accomplishment and will certainly help us finish up some of those things.  As the weather gets really nice; however, I know we'll be out of the house more, and we won't have as much opportunity to get as much done.  I think I'm willing to sacrifice my sense of accomplishment for good weather.

For more weekly wrap-ups, check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Charlotte Mason Thursdays - Reading Charlotte Mason

Before I begin, I do realize that this post is being written on a Friday, not a Thursday.  But, yesterday was rainy and gloomy and dark and nasty.  So, if you can forgive me for not being able to form a coherent thought, much less write it down, perhaps you can enjoy this week's Charlotte Mason post on Friday.

When I first began exploring Charlotte Mason and her principles as an educational philosophy, I mostly read books about her.  I began with A Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levinson and continued on with More Charlotte Mason Education.





I then moved on to A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola.







All of these were very helpful and indeed helped to whet my interest in Charlotte's Mason's educational philosophies.


 But, I did definitely benefit from reading Charlotte Mason's original works.  I read them for free at Ambleside Online.  Ambleside features all six of Charlotte Mason's works in her own words.  Reading this really helped me to see her vision and understand her philosophy even better.


 For anyone just starting out using Charlotte Mason's methods, I would greatly recommend the first three books.  But, as you learn more about Charlotte Mason and seek to incorporate her philosophies and methods into your schooling, I think you will benefit even more from reading her original works.

I am an Amazon affiliate.  Clicking on the links to buy from Amazon will give me a little (but only a little) pocket change. Which I will probably use to buy more books, probably from Amazon. See how they've got me hooked!