Aug. 20, 2008 - Time4Learning Time4Learning Time4Learning!
Time4Learning..., Time4Learning..., Time4Learning!
I know you guys hear me rave about this program from time to time, but here I go again! I feel such a new and burning excitement as I prepare to talk about it at our next PPEA Homeschool Support Group Meeting! Time4Learning offers me so many benefits:
1- Teaches to my children's learning Style- VERY VISUAL and INTERACTIVE.
2- Independent! My children can work independently yet because of their record keeping I can check their scores everyday and make sure they are fully and firmly mastering the material.
3- Free Downloadable Worksheets. We can print and work using pencil and paper.
4- Affordable!
To try Time4Learning FREE, just visit their site and take their demo's for a test drive! FREE DEMO
|
Comments (0)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Aug. 17, 2008 - The Old Schoolhouse E-zine!
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine- Digital Edition
I know that I'm starting to sound like a walking- talking infomerical, but I just LOVE my TOS Digital Edition! I love it and I love to talk about homeschooling! So here ya go!
When moms ask what I tell new homeschoolers who are getting started I always give the same two suggestions......,
1- Plug into your local support group and attend monthly support group meetings. (I want you to know that I believed this even when I wasn't a support group leader, LOL)
2- Subscribe to a homeschool magazine.
Well now I have something new I can recommend. It's called, The Old Schoolhouse Digital Edition. Which is the same exact magazine I get in the mail, but instead it comes via e-mail and I can download it right to my computer. Let me tell you what I LOVE about it.
1- No Wait! As soon as it's ready it's delivered right to my e-mail.
2- No clutter! I used to have piles of magazines. I would hang onto them thinking I would go read through the articles again and then feel overwhelmed with the "pile". I ended up tossing them. I love that these store right on my computer.
3- Very Simple! I click a button, it pulls up the magazine and when I get to the table of contents I just click on the article I want to read, and viola, it takes me right there.
4- Inexpensive! Only 16.95 for one full year subscription.
To check out pricing options and to further investigate visit The Old Schoolhouse Store
Note from Husband: He likes #4! ( ) |
Comments (0)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Aug. 15, 2008 - The Old Schoolhouse Planner!
Oh My Goodness! I just downloaded my "The School House Planner" from "The Old Schoolhouse!" It is AWESOME! For my fellow homeschooling moms you are gonna LOVE this! It is more than a daily planner!
For just $40 you download this complete household management system right to your computer. You can print only those things that you want to use. This 247 page book is PACKED with everything you could ever hope or want in a household management system! There are three main components of this system.
Datebook/Calendar
Homeschool Planning
Household Planning
Each Section starts with a "HINTS" sheet to tell you how to use the different pages. It's easy for me to scan through this and pick the ones that appeal to my home and my philosophy of education. With 247 pages I have decided to simply share with you my personal favorite pages. However, if you have been looking for that perfect planner go to The Old Schoolhouse Planner to view sample pages and find out more information!
Datebook/Calendar
A complete Calendar from July 2008- June 2009
You can keep track of important dates, using the large grid. Your "Old Schoolhouse Planner" is 81/2X11 so you can print, hole punch and store in any binder of your choice. At the bottom of each month is a special grid box for notes.
Special Dates At-A-Glance
At the beginning of your "Old Schoolhouse Planner" is special At-A-Glance sheet that has all the important dates for the year! The very first thing I looked at was May. I wanted to find out when Memorial day fell next year because that is our FPEA Homeschool Convention!
Special Articles
Each month there are different articles, recipes, holiday idea's, you name it. Not only is the "Old Schoolhouse Planner" purposeful, it is inspirational as well! I love that the special articles help me prepare my heart for the season or holiday taking place.
Conversion Charts
Pages 37-39 are conversion charts. I absolutely LOVE this because I hate when I am cooking and I have to stop to convert how many tablespoons = 1 cup. There is kitchen conversion, measurement conversions and volume conversions.
Homeschool Planner
Yearly planning forms
Since I go away each summer with a group of friends to pray and plan I love having an organized form to use as a guide and record.
Goals for each month
During the summer I find myself with extra time on my hands and I set wonderful goals, however; reality quickly sets in once the school year starts because not only am I busy schooling my four boys, but I get busy serving in my homeschool support group and those little goals get overlooked. I love having a place to go that will keep me on track.
Curriculum Information and Evaluation Sheets
Oh how I wish I had these sheets when I began homeschooling 11 years ago. I have a vague idea of what I've used, what I liked, what I didn't and what was "ok", but to be truthful it all starts to become a blur. I have a son starting Kindergarten this year and I look forward to having a completely documented curriculum journey.
Highschool Hours Tracking Log
With Brandon starting his junior year these forms will be invaluable to me as I put his transcript together.
Weekly Planning
I plan to keep these forms in my planning notebook and once the week is over I will take them from my planner and put them in each students notebook so they can see all they've accomplished and it leaves my notebook looking clean.
Week~At~A~Glance
I love these sheets because I can jot down in one place all the supplies I need for one week.
Bible memory verse Log
We memorize one bible verse per week and not only does this give us a documented record but it will give the boys a sense of accomplishment as their record of bible verses starts to fill up.
Notebooking Sheets
This is worth the $40 all by itself. The Old Schoolhouse planner has every kind of notebooking sheet I could ever hope for or want. This alone makes the investment worth it!
Nature Journal Sheets
Science Lab Sheets
Unit Study Sheets
Co-op Sheets
(Can I just note that I have NEVER found a co-op record sheet, and it has been on my wish list for years. We do co-op every single semester. With four children and 5 classes they all quickly run together! WOO HOO!)
Household Management
Homekeeping Weekly Schedule
I LOVE this sheet! It has columns that allow me to plan or record four main area's:
Phone Calls
Appointments
Chores
Errands
Grocery/Menu Planning sheets
Meal Planning
Shopping List
My very favorite part of The Old Schoolhouse Planner is that it's simple for me to print off what I need, when I need it. I don't have to go to the office supply store and try to run a multitude of copies of things I think I might need. I have done this in the past and then found the trial and error part of using a new planner to be quite costly. With The Old Schoolhouse Planner I simply click on the page and print as I need it! I love that there are sheets that my children can use for their own personal notebooks and we can all share!
To check out this planner for yourself or to order yours you can go right to the main page: The Old Schoolhouse Planner |
Comments (1)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Aug. 14, 2008 - August Homeschool Support Group Meeting!
August Homeschool Support Group Meeting
 We had a FULL house Tuesday! (My first Support Group Meeting of the year)
August- The "HomeSchool" Welcome Wagon!
It's that time of year...., the smell of new books, the whizzing of pencil sharpener's, the sound of markers scribbling down new schedules, it's time to "START SCHOOL"! Whether your a brand new homeschooler or an Old Hat......, This meeting is for YOU! We're calling it the "Welcome Wagon" for good reason. You will find out what's New in our county AND with the PPEA. Find out about our new Member Perks as well as all of the Wonderful opportunities available to YOU outside of our organization. This is the meeting where we invite all of our local co-op's, tutors, vendors, etc..., and have them man a table for a Meet-N- Greet!
What a BLAST! I had so much FUN and we had a FIRST....., So many homeschoolers came we had them waiting outside to get in. Finally we brought chairs in and added them to the back of the sanctuary!
I thought I would share pictures of our evening together:
 Filling Up Fast!
 Praise the Lord..., look at all those fellow homeschoolers!
 Standing room only! Way to Go GOD! We just have to seek Him, Pray and be prepared and HE does the rest!
 I had my Brandon come up on stage with me and tell the audience his favorite part of being homeschooled. He was hysterical. He looked like he had to think really hard and then said, "Why mom it's all the quality time I get to spend with you"! He then looked out at the audience with a wink, a grin and gave them a thumbs up! The house roared with laughter and I couldn't help by high-five him! He is such a HAM! (I don't know where he gets it?)
 I recognized my friend Christa. (she just loved that, LOL) She is our newsletter editor!
 Linda is a good friend and also happens to be our orientation facilitator. She is hysterically funny and lifts my spirits. I love this picture of her as it really shows her wild and zany personality.
 My dear friend Brenda happens to be our graduation coordinator! I had her come up and talk about our first graduation info meeting. I cannot believe that I will be doing that next year with Brandon?!
 My Sweet and VERY pregnant friend Brandy came up to talk about participating in our new PPEA on-line forums and using the classifieds section of our new website! She is so cute with her little belly! Brandy is also in charge of our annual used curriculum sale and used to lead our mid-county Support Group meeting.
 Precious Cindy D is our Science Fair Coordinator and so much more! She is what we call an "Event Coordinator". Her gifting lies in administration and she handles our policy and procedure manuel.
 My friends Korey and Dawn are in charge of our field trips. They are doing an amazing job. We already have two completely filled (60 people) and a waiting list of 23?! They are perfect for this!
 Our biggest, newest perk this year is ourwebsite. Jen H has been such a blessing helping train and prepare us! If you have a homeschool support group I highly recommend checking out their company! It's very affordable (5.50 per member) and they do all the work! We have online banking, field trip sign up, information, forums, photo albums and more! Check out ours: http://www.ppea-homeschool.com
 My Girlfriend Monica and I were drawing tickets for door prizes! We had so much fun bantering back and forth!!! She is our Public Relations Director and our Lending Library Facilitator.
 Monica, manning our Lending Library Table!
 Niki and Bren!
MEET N GREET (2nd hour)
|
Comments (0)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Aug. 9, 2008 - Homeschool Fair/Dinner w/ Riddles/Tommy and Seth!
Aug. 1, 2008 - Mary's Fall Classes!
Sharing the classes I'll be teaching this semester! I hope to see some of you there. (We'll your kids!)
Mary's CHoSEN Classes for Fall "2008"
Quiet On The Set!
One of my fondest memories in all the years I've taught at CHOSEN, was the year
we filmed commercials for our yearbook! What a BLAST we had! Taking that
experience, I have turned it into a DRAMA class of sorts! This semester we are
going to have a classroom full of props, A camcorder, and a weekly challenge to
see who can come up with the most creative commercials. We will break into
teams and you will be given the "Product" that you and your team must sell! We
will be mixing the skills of Drama with Marketing and Communication! Join us
this year as we have FUN learning together!
Lights..., Camera..., ACTION! (filmmaking)
This class is for our future film-makers! Each week you will be putting
together your own short movies! We will delve into different genre's...,
Fiction, Fantasy, Biography, Mystery and Humor. We will talk about what each of
these categories mean and then YOU will turn them into stories that you play out
on film! You will be given lots of freedom, (within guidelines) and surprise us
each week with your very own masterpieces. You will need a camcorder to
participate in this class. Hope to see you there!
Celebrate America, A Journey through the U.S. (2-3rd)
Election time really brings out the Patriotism in all of us! Come celebrate
this wonderful country of ours. We are going to learn all about American
Landmarks and Icons. Your student will memorize the Pledge Of Alliegience
while we learn about The United States Flag, The Pledge Of Allegiance, The
Liberty Bell, The Statue Of Liberty, the Declaration of Independence, The
White House and more! This class is HANDS ON! Each Icon has a Project for the
students to take home! Even our little ones can be in the patriotic spirit
with the upcoming election!
Supply Fee- $25
The "Spin" stops HERE! (9th-12)
With the election around the corner what better time to dig into our
candidates lives and find out about the issue's at hand. You are going to learn not to
base your decisions on what the media tells you is true, but how to research and
think through what YOU believe to be true! Your child will learn the
difference between democrat and republican. They will be required to watch
or listen to 30 minutes from a political discussion show as well as asked to
read the newspaper. Each week we will have deep discussions into the issue's
and find out how they line up with the Word of God. Our goal is to ignite a
fire for our children to take an active role in politics!
|
Comments (1)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Aug. 1, 2008 - Dying
We found out Wednesday that one of the ladies in our organization came home from the gym Wednesday to find that her 44 year old husband had a heart attack and had passed away. What a shock this was to our homeschool community. Even those of us who did not know Joni and her family felt floored and silenced with unbelief!
Why Lord? Why would you take a young husband and father from his family?
This morning the Lord woke me very early. It was still dark out and the world was quiet. I sat down and opened my bible to 1 Corinthians 15, where I happen to be reading right now. In a matter of minutes He transformed my thinking. I had been thinking as a mortal woman, but God showed me a glimpse of His perfect and Eternal perspective! By the end of my quiet time I was praying for Joni and her children, but as the tears coarsed down my cheeks there was hope in the sadness.
1 Corinthians 15
19- And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the whole world.
22- Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given a new life.
26- The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
40- The glory of our heavenly body is different from the glory of the earthly body.
42- Our earthly body is planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live in glory. They are buried in weakness, but will be raised in strength.
44- They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies.
46- What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later.
50- What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit what will last forever!
53- For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
58- So my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work for enthusiastically for the Lord. For you know that nothing you do for the Lord is useless! |
Comments (2)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Jul. 31, 2008 - Late, Week In Review!
Please note: If you have e-mailed me and I have not responded, I am having e-mail trouble right now. My MAC Mail crashed several weeks ago and I have not been able to take it in to be repaired because I would be without a computer and cannot do that until after our first homeschool support group meeting of the year. I go directly to the road runner site to read, but they delete out and come up in a weird order. If you have not heard back please re-send. Thank You...., Mary
SCHOOL
We finished Tolivier's Secret this week! WOW! It is a wonderful read a loud. We so enjoyed this book. I even cried as I read the last few sentences. Ellen went from a very scared young girl to a very brave young woman in this daring 24 hour period! We talked about how hard and painful situations always have good purpose, because they mold and shape us into stronger, more humble people.
 Unit 7 Day One of Beyond Little Hearts For His Glory
KEY IDEA: It takes energy to do work. Many Pilgrims worked in the mills to make wool into cloth. What are some things that you do that take energy?
We had learned that the Pilgrims worked in mills taking wool from shearing sheep and through many steps turning it into beautiful cloth. Each index card represents a step they had to go through from shaving the sheep to boxing the new cloth on boats sailing for other parts of the world.
FAMILY HUMOR (Scotty Style)
My Scotty is such a wonderful husband. He knows my strengths and my weaknesses. My close friends know that laundry is my least favorite chore and over the years Scott has taken over this one area. I want to publicly thank him because he doesn't do it with a sour attitude, but always lovingly so he can free me up to do other things. This has worked so well for us. However, once in awhile he needs my help and will ask. I about fell off my computer stool yesterday morning when I went to login. There was this note for me. For those of you who do not get lots of e-mails from me. I always put little relational sayings throughout, such as, (Warm Smile) (Happy Face) (Big Hugs) as I like to personalize what I'm saying. My friends lovingly make fun of me and will write things like: (Puppy happily wagging tail)
So this note (written by Scott) is a play on that....,
Good Morning! (Smooches)
Could someone please do a load of towels today? (Nodding Appreciately) I had to use this one (there was a stinky towel sitting on my stool) and it smells! (Crinkled nose) Thanks! (warm smile)
Oh How I love this man of mine! Needless to say, It was a joy to do the towels!
SCOTT'S SISTER VISITS
 Scotty's baby sister Courtney and her husband Phillip came for a visit last weekend. We went to his dads to visit and had a wonderful time catching up! They are the neatest couple
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET JENNY
 Jenny is a good friend of mine. I could sit and talk with her for hours. Last week she celebrated her birthday. I won't give her age, but she's younger than ME! Anyway, we went to a wonderful little grill by my house where we had appetizers that we shared and the best peanut butter pie in the whole world! (YUM)
MORE GIRL TIME
 Niki is Jen's best friend and sister in law. (They've been friends since they were 5 years old and lived in Kentucky) The day after going to lunch with Jen, Nik and I had our own lunch and a play date! (she needed to do some shopping for Jen's B'day).
Above, she is listening to her 2700th CD trying to find the perfect one for Jen Let me just say after all that, she didn't like any of them and didn't buy one! But we had fun listening to music and catching up!
Here we are back at the same place Jen and I went! Notice the peanut butter pie We split it!
Blood Pressure Update ~ Dr.Monk
 I went to see my holistic doctor this past weekend and received some wonderful news! He believes that blood pressure issue's are because my body is not producing enough cortisol, thus it leaves too much adrenaline in my system. This is what causes accelerated heart rate and increased blood pressure. He had changed my diet so that I must have protein with everything I put in my mouth. And added some supplements as well:
Adrenal Cortex- coaches my body to start producing it as it should.
Parathyroid Complex- Balances my calcium and potassium which not only causes Palpitations, but kidney stones! (Too much Calcium) This will help to balance that.
Potassium
Omega 3
If you are interested in learning more about "Applied Kinesiology" click HERE
Guerra Family
 We had our friends over for dinner last Sunday. This is the first time we've done this in a long time and it was so much FUN! The kids made movies using the camcorder, played video games and hung out, while the adults played UNO, walked along the water and planned a family camping trip for November!
 This picture cracks me up! It's Scott trying to get into the lens by laying across both Alf and Monica's laps! Look at their faces, LOL!
Bible Study
I am reading in 1 Corinthians right now and working on my memory verses! I absolutely adore spending time in God's word. It fills my cup, gives me hope, helps me to stay grounded. The memory verse I worked on this past week is one that I've had for awhile, but it became real to me in a new way as I worked through a heart issue I was having...,
"Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the holy spirit think about things that please the spirit, SO.., letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death, but letting the spirit control your mind leads to LIFE and PEACE!" Romans 8-5-6
The Lord is showing me how important keeping my thought life pure really is. The enemy loves to come in and to try to stir up strife. He'll bring a friend to mind and a comment they made that was said in innocence and work at trying to offend. OR, he will take something I've said, bring it to mind and then make me worry that it came across differently than I attended. This may not seem like a big deal, but it can be. Why? Because my focus starts to become self centered and not God centered.
This week I have been fighting back using the Word. I refuse to knowingly give into my sinful nature! (though it happens when I don't stay alert) Jesus paid the price on the cross that I don't have to be a slave to sin! My friend Heather gave me a beautiful verse at our Salt and Light bible study yesterday...,
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds"! 2 Corinthians 10:3-4
I LOVE this verse! You see there is a spiritual war taking place all the time. I know that the enemy wants to cause division and strife, but the Lord says..., "Letting the SPIRIT control my mind leads to LIFE and PEACE!"
|
Comments (1)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Jul. 18, 2008 - Time4Learning makes homeschooling DOABLE!
 Colton working on his Time4Learning!
Time4Learning
We have now been using Time4learning for over a year! I am so very thankful that saw this on my friends blog last June. It has been life changing for us. Colton is about to go up another grade level in his math. He came to me last night with a big smile on his face telling me how many lessons he has had to do.
I have been using Singapore math for the hands on activities. We pull out objects from around the house to practice learning things such as:
Same/Different
Place Value
Matching
Measurement
Many more..,
I have to laugh though because with Colton he seems bored when we do those things because he already knows the concepts from Time4Learning. He doesn't need me to go back and do those hands on things. Time4Learning is definitely not a supplement. It is a true blue, full and complete math program that prepares your child for success!
I found an article on the homepage of Time4learning that talks about teaching to your Right Brain Visual leaners. You'll see my Brandon in the picture but they've named him Daniel for some reason, LOL? I loved the article this gal wrote!
ARTICLE |
Comments (0)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Jul. 17, 2008 - Heart Of Dakota/Week In Review!
Blood Pressure Saga
First of all, I would like to update you on my blood pressure situation. Last Saturday I ended up back in the E.R.  My heart rate accelerated from normal to around 120 beats per minute while I was sleeping. It was a very scary feeling. The E.R. doctor had me double up on my procardia. (My BP had increased as well)
After talking with my girlfriend Heather she encouraged me to contact Dr.Monk who has been my chiropractor/kinesiologist for the past 6 years and to tell him what's going on. I already had an appointment for the 26th, but she didn't think I should wait. I am SO glad I listened.
When I gave him the full details he told me that my minerals were "off", no matter what the blood work said from the doctor and that I needed to start on Potassium immediately. He took me off my multi-vit as he thought that might be making things worse for right now. I am just beginning my 3rd day with the potassium and my blood pressure has dropped so low I had to call the doctor. I am positive that she is going to cut my dose in half. (Right now my pressure is 102/69) On the 26th he will test me to find out what else is off and will tell me what I need to take and what to do with my diet. Praise the Lord!
SCHOOL
Drawn Into The Heart Of Reading
(Literary Analysis)
We are studying the Genre' "Adventure". This book takes place during the Revolutionary War. Ellen Toliver is asked to go on a secret mission for the Patriots when her Grandfather is hurt and unable to do it himself. Ellen is a little girl who is scared of everything and this story shows you how she has to grow up and overcome her fears! It is an excellent read a loud! There is a secret message entombed and baked into a simple loaf of bread and Ellen must take this load across the river and through the heart of enemy camps.
Speaking of which...,
 Seth grinding our grain as we make our own bread
 We decided to make our own secret message for dad!
 We rolled it up
 Then put it in parchment paper
 We then hid the message in one of my loaves of bread.
 Daddy cutting the bread
 What's this?
 Secret Message!
History
 We are studying about the Pilgrims going from England to Holland right now. The Tulip is the flower of Hollanders and the story we are reading talks about one of the girls (her name is Love) planting a tulip bulb and the patience it required to wait for it to bloom. Here are the boys with their hand crafted tulips. These hands on projects help to really bring the story to life!
 Here is a new secret I've found to make my life easier. One of the things I have disliked about doing crafts is the clean up. Though I make the boys help it seems like there is always little papers that fall on the floor or are left on the table. Sometimes it's frustrating because we have to keep leaving the dining room to throw things around in the kitchen. Sometimes we drag the whole garbage can with us, but even that seems like one extra step I don't want to take. I now have what I call my trash bowl. It's small enough to be portable and it's not a big dirty garbage can. We put all our trash in and then when we are done simply carry it to the big garbage to dump. I use it while I cook. All my eggs, paper, wrappers, etc go in my trash bowl and it gets dumped a few times a day.
Science
 As we studied how light travels the boys were able to do a project to help them understand the concept. We explained that you cannot see wind by itself, but when you blow on water or when the wind blows over the ocean you see the energy of the wind by the way it makes waves. The boys learned that light travels the same way, in waves.
 Our verse this week was from Psalm 139:14 "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it." For science one day we talked about the heart and how the Lord in His majesty created our bodies so wonderfully complex that the heart beats everyday, over and over and over without needing a break. We talked about how the body repairs itself and how amazing yet complex it is. Only God could do that. For our hands on the boys listened to each other's hearts beating with a toilet paper roll.
Math
As I told you last week we are now using Singapore which goes with Heart Of Dakota. Carrie (the author of HOD) gives us concrete, fun, hands on math activities to do that help our children understand concepts before assigning pages for them to do in their workbooks. We have had so much fun with this. Here are some pictures of our Math Fun!
 Seth, used Macaroni to be his snakes out in the desert as he learned how to write his own math subtraction word problems.
 This was an assignment that had Sethy have to color the picture based upon getting the correct answer to his math problems. The one factor the company probably didn't take into consideration is that Seth is my color blind boy and so his turtle is orange instead of brown
 As you know my precious Jacob struggles with processing delays. He was having a difficult time grasping the concepts, "Different/Same". We used the hands on suggestions of using real life objects from our home and made a game out of it. He sailed through the workbook pages with no problem afterwards!
 Same/Different
 Big Brother Brandon helping his younger brother with Math! I LOVE homeschooling and how it allows my boys to be friends as well as siblings!
 Sethy, making his own word problems with cheerio's!
PHONICS
 Jacob working with his Hooked On Phonics!
 Jacob working on his name
 Jake was so proud of his name he put it on his bed. Do you see our Maggie? She has to be a part of anything the boys do because she thinks she's human, LOL!
|
Comments (2)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Jul. 11, 2008 - School, Walking, Turning "40"
School
 We had a great week in school! Jacob has been reviewing unit two of his Heart Of Dakota Unit Study. He loves it so much that even though we are reviewing you would think it was his first time. (smile)
I have now started all the boys using Singpore math to go along with my Heart Of Dakota. (HOD schedules Singapore) They will still do Time4learning as a supplement. I'll know better in a month if I want to use one or the other or both? They are thriving with Time4Learning for their grammar and we are using the StartWrite handwriting program.
Walking
 I have started walking and LOVE it! I literally live 5 mins from the beautiful water! I drive down to a park at the end of my street and walk along with seawall. It is just breathtaking! What a blessing high blood pressure has been. It has helped me embrace and take control of my life personally. I am enjoying this transition!
Christa turns "40" and finds out she's PREGNANT!
 My dear friend Christa turned 40 on July 2nd. Just a few days later she found out she was pregnant with her 5th blessing! We are all so excited for her! We invited a few of her close friends and had a wonderful evening at Red Lobster! Christa had never had Crab legs and I couldn't let that go another day
WEBSITE TRAINING for the PPEA
 Tuesday night we had a training for the new website our homeschool support group (PPEA) will be using! It's getting excited but boy are we working around the clock to get things up and running before August 1st. Dee Trope our website administrator has been UNBELIEVABLE! I can't wait until I can tell you that we are up and working! |
Comments (1)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Jul. 5, 2008 - School, Ants, Phones and Updates!
Blood Pressure Update
I am praising the Lord that I have found a medication that does not cause me to have reactions. It has been a very stressful couple of weeks. The first med induced depression. I mean within hours of taking it I was weeping. My heart was so tender for my friends who struggle with this on an on-going basis because it is a terrible feeling. I was a bit nervous to talk with my doctor thinking she might think it was a "weird" reaction. Instead, she said that this was a very rare but serious side effect and changed my med immediately. The second med caused my heart rate to accelerate to over 100 beats per minute and to become irregular. It also helped me pass a kidney stone because of it's diuretic properties Finally, we tried procardia and it's been going well.
"My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; HE is mine forever"! Psalm 73:26
School
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the normalcy of doing school with my boys this week. They are going strong in math and language arts using Time4Learning and had FUN learning about "Dikes" (dams) as we studied Holland in our Heart Of Dakota program. (Heart Of Dakota has been life changing here at the Arnold's. It is everything I've always wanted and perfect for my boys! Thank YOU Lord! Here are pictures of them doing an activity.
Activity: Make a dike (dam) using playdough. On one side build houses and on the other fill it up with water. Make small holes in the dike and ring a bell which sounds the alarm that the city gathers to patch it up.
Ant Farm
We also set up an ant farm. The funny thing is how Scotty was appalled that we actually paid to bring insects into our home. But we have all been fascinated watching these little creatures. We add water and food every other day.
New Phones
Our two year contract with Alltell was up this month. One of my "toys" on my wish list was to have a wireless bluetooth. That way I can talk hands free. I am working out the kinks. It has a noise canceling feature and drowns out almost all background noise, but still sounds choppy to the person I'm talking to. Someone told me if I take it to the store they can reprogram it. I plan to do this Monday.
Scott wanted a thin phone that he could wear in his uniform pocket. We almost went with a razor, but heard they had lots of problems with overheating. So we went with a Samsung, which is still thin but has lots of perks. Because it was time to renew we got these phones for $30. Retail would have been almost $500.00. We have been very happy with Alltell.
Fourth Of July
 My favorite Chef in the whole world!
 Scotty w/ the two youngest boys!
 I just wanted to show you my ferns. This is the first time I've not killed plants!
 Tradition! We always watch "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson! My girlfriend Christa was very purposeful in not calling the holiday the 4th of July. She would say, "Independence Day". I thought was a GREAT idea and adopted it as well.
 PRECIOUS! My little Jacob loves his great-grandma. He is helping her to her chair.
Dinner Table
If you remember, one of my goals this year was to make my dining room table smaller to add "intimacy" to family time. We took out our table extender and made it smaller. What a difference. I like it much better this way. Here we are having a wild UNO family night
 Can you believe that I still have yet to cook dinner? (Well, last night Scott grilled for the 4th of July) The Lord blessed us with friends who have faithfully prayed, sent words of encouragement and brought dinner. My dear friend Carol is bringing tortilla soup tonight as our closing dinner. Thank you Christa for setting this up and thank you friends for participating, whether through prayer, dinner or words of encouragement. I love you all....., Mary |
Comments (0)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Jun. 27, 2008 - Heart Attack?!
 This note brought tears to my eyes. Caitlyn, is a precious 16 year old daughter of a friend and so very dear to me. I LOVED the verse she included...,
Yet I still belong to you;
you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
leading me to a glorious destiny.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
I desire you more than anything on earth.
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart;
he is mine forever Psalm 73:23-26
Story To Catch You Up (family I am doing really well now)
If you remember from my "Riverhouse" update, I had come home Saturday evening. My heart had begun to pound out of my chest. I had a blood pressure cuff and took my blood pressure and it was very high. Scott drove 1 1/2 hours to pick me up. (I love that man) Here is the update since then...,
I had gone to the doctor Tuesday and found out that my BP was really high. The Doctor had tried to get me started on meds and I fought it, thinking it was just a fluke since I've never had BP probs before. (Note to self: Knock yourself in the head next time you don't want to follow doctor orders) I wore her (dr) down until she agreed to let me go have a halter monitor test and a catscan of my kidney's before "insisting" on medication. I promised I would take my BP at home and she said if it was 140/90 to call the office and they would call in a beta blocker. (high blood pressure medicine)
Around 8ish that night I started to become nauseated. I tried to justify it away saying it was nerves and then because of something I ate. However, when I started to feel "pressure" in my chest and neck I knew I needed to go to the hospital. Even though I was scared to death I could feel the presence of my Lord. How sweet it was to know that even if the worst thing happened I would just close my eyes "here" and open them "there".
When the triage nurse called me back my blood pressure was in the stroke and seizure range. I couldn't believe what she said to me.., "Ok maam I want you to lay down so we can do an EKG immediately as you might be having a heart attack"? WHAT?! A HEART ATTACK?! If my blood pressure wasn't fully in the stroke range in jumped very quickly. (smiling as I can only imagine my reaction to a person on the outside) I think I actually said, "No, no, don't tell me things like that. My B.P. will never come down"...., (nervous laugh)
They got me back immediately and when Chris my official nurse took my blood pressure he said, "Ok Mrs. Arnold I need to get a vein open and IV started because this BP is so high you could have a stroke." (someone really needs to train these people on what NOT to say while in the midst of extremely high blood pressure) I gave him my "no-no" story.
In a nutshell:
My first EKG showed stress on the heart because of the strength of the hearts contractions. (Since the blood pressure was so high) It did not show permanent damage. (PTL)
They gave me 3 doses of nitroglycerine which is a vaso dialator and opens up all your vessels. It helped with the chest pressure, but gave me a headache like I have never EVER experienced in my life. It took 3 doses of morphine, two doses of tylenol, ice packs to my head and approx 5-6 hours to get rid of it? The Lord reminded me to pray for those who suffer from migraines as I felt such compassion. I literally could do nothing but sit and cry.
The really good news is all of the blood work came back wonderful. It showed no sign of cardiac enzymes which would have indicated heart attack. I truly believe it was the prayers of those going up all over the place. I could feel the presence of the Holy God ministering to me and those scary moments.
If I had to tell you how I saw Jesus that night...., In the bed next to me was a young man who had tried to kill himself with a drug OD. I was able to stop and pray for him. (quietly, I did not intrude) An older nurse who casually mentioned that she started to have high blood pressure at 39 and it was not a big deal. (I'm 39 and her calmness brought me "Life and peace") The Lord gave me a christian nurse when I got to my floor. Her name was Beth and she is the mom to two young children 3 & 5. I felt like she was an immediate friend and she showed me such tender mercy as she made special ice packs for my headache and quietly chatted about church.
I started on my beta blocker today and so if the Lord brings it to mind that is where my prayer request lies. It is going to take some adjustments over the next few weeks. He started me on the lowest dose possible and will gently increase it until we get my BP to a comfortable level. Beta blockers make you very sleepy and lightheaded at first and because I tend to be sensitive to medication it might take my body a bit of time to regulate. My prayer is that there is no learning curve. I hate taking medicine. They think that unless I get myself in shape I will need to take this the rest of my life. (I plan to get myself in shape)
Mary
PS- My "Betty" came out. I became chatty as I was nervous and my husband kept laughing because I found out all kinds of information about all of my health care providers. I asked about their families, their dreams, their jobs, their goals and they would just open up and share. The more we "chatted" the better I felt. At around 2am, my Scotty said, "Mare, I know you're a Betty AND your taking Morphine, but I just want to remind you that I haven't had any morphine, I'm not a Betty and it's 2am". (LOL, in other words..., HUSH!)
Can I tell you that the Lord has ministered to my family in such a mighty way! As I have been adjusting to the meds my church and homeschooling family has not let me lift one finger to make dinner. I am scheduled all the way until NEXT Friday!?!? It just blows me away. I even tried to cancel because I felt silly having others cook for me, but was told that this was "Pride" and that it's just as important to receive as to give What a blessing because I have all kinds of tests scheduled next week. God is so good!
I have a slide show of some of the scrumptious dinners we've eaten so far. There is one picture missing. It was a chocolate cake my friend Niki made. I can't seem to find it anywhere 
Slide Show/PICTURES
|
Comments (11)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Jun. 23, 2008 - Goals for the "2008/2009" School Year!
"2008/2009" GOALS!
 (Mary's Boys)
I shared the highlights of my Riverhouse trip yesterday, today I want to share the goals the Lord gave me for our home, for this upcoming school year. I have learned that I always over plan and only hit about 50%, but have you ever heard the saying, "It's better to shoot for the moon and miss because you're still among the stars?!" That's my motto!
School Goals
Brandon:
My big goal for Brandon this year is to work on solidifying his weak area's. Brandon has always done well with relational type projects, but struggles with math and critical thinking.
* We will continue with Time4Learning for math and language arts.
* Tutoring with Angie Wicker. (Math)
* Literary Analysis using Drawn Into The Heart Of Reading
* Speech and Debate Club
* Current Events/Political Debate
* Filmmaking
We are really excited about Brandon joining a speech and debate club. This is all about public speaking and representing yourself and the Lord in the best light possible.
Brandon is also going to bank credit hours as he teaches his youngest brother each day. It's a program already put together that he and his other brothers have used and are familiar with. (Hooked On Phonics)
Colton:
The goal for Colton this year is to build upon his reading. He made huge gains last year in both reading and math and is very proud of himself. (so are we) This year we wanted to build on his strengths as well.., Art, building.
* Time4Learning for Math and Language Arts
* American History (Heart of Dakota)
* General Science (Heart of Dakota)
* Language Arts (Heart Of Dakota)
* Spellingtime.com
* Copywork (Heart Of Dakota)
* Bible (Heart Of Dakota)
* Handwriting (Heart Of Dakota)
* Music (Heart Of Dakota)
* Art (How Great Thou Art, Barry Stebbing)
* Home Depot classes
If we are able to afford it we will also add Piano.
Seth:
Seth's strengths are academic in nature so we will continue to build on those, while working on character.
* Time4Learning for Math and Language Arts
* Headsprout.com (reading)
* American History (Heart of Dakota)
* General Science (Heart Of Dakota)
* Spelling (Heart Of Dakota)
* Bible (Heart Of Dakota)
* Copywork (Heart Of Dakota)
* Handwriting (StartWrite)
Jacob:
Jacob is starting Kindergarten. This year we plan to work on basic skills, such as introduction to letter/letter sounds and sounding out 3 syllable words. He is also going to begin learning about numbers and basic arithmetic.
* Bible (Heart Of Dakota)
* Fingerplay (Heart of Dakota)
* Music (Heart Of Dakota)
* Singapore Math
* Hooked On Phonics (Done W/ Brandon each day)
Mary's Goals:
Making dinner special for my family. Adding candlelite, serving dishes, classical music in the background.
Weight Watchers! I know I said I would probably not do the meetings, that it wasn't more "knowledge" I needed but "Self Control". However, last Wednesday I went to a meeting with my friend Dawn as she received her award for losing 75 pounds and LOVED it!
As a "Betty" personality we process through conversation and are relational. I found myself very motivated. It wasn't new information, but it added inspiration and I found myself thinking back on things discussed for days afterwards.
Balance! One of the big lessons I learned my first year serving in the PPEA (homeschool support group) was that it was easy to put too much responsibility on my plate. In my excitement I would volunteer for too many things. However, when I fill my plate up with those things then I don't leave room for the most important things:
* Consistent Quiet Time w/ the Lord
* Quality time with my kids
* Dinner around the table at night
* Date Nights with my best friend. (husband)
Numbers 2
1- Then the Lord gave these instructions to Moses and Aaron: 2- "When the Israelites set up camp, each tribe will be assigned it's own area."
9 (Judah, Issachar, Zebulun) These three tribes are to lead the way.
16- (Reuben, Simeon, Gad) These 3 tribes will be second in line.
24- (Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin) These 3 tribes will be third in line.
17- All the tribes are to travel in the same order that they camp, each in position under the appropriate family banner.
The Lord impressed on my heart how important it is that I be attentive to the roles and positions HE'S appointed me to. He was so very specific with the Israelites. God cares about the details. When I get so busy doing things that He's not called me to, it makes me less effective as a wife, mother, friend and most frightening.., as a daughter of the most high king!
Here are the questions I'm to ask myself before saying "YES" to something new:
1- Look at my plate before endulging new idea's.., Do I have space and time for this?
In closing my motto for this year is, "Have Fun, be purposeful and don't sweat the small stuff!"
 Arnold's "2008 |
Comments (4)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Jun. 22, 2008 - Riverhouse!
Riverhouse "2008"
It was that time again! Every June a small group of friends and I go away to our (another beautiful friend, Renee) friends riverhouse. We use this time to pray, to plan and to fellowship. It's a place of old friends, where you can let your hair down. (or dye it, LOL) There are so many things to share. I'll start by telling you the bad news..., I became very sick Saturday night and my husband had to drive 1 1/2 hours to pick me up. For whatever reason I started having heart palpitations and high blood pressure? (I go to the doctor tomorrow) But it was still a wonderful weekend filled with tears, laughter and prayer!
 For those of you familiar with my "Betty/Olive" talk, take a guess where "I" sat? (the only Betty) Notice how nice and neat my Olive Organized friends are.
 My bedroom! (the one I claim every year)
 Brenda's Room (doggone it, I didn't get any pictures of her this year! )
 Kim's MESSY room! (this one cracks me up. Kim is my friend who does the Betty/Olive talk with me and represents the "Olive Organized" personality! HA, just goes to show we are not one or the other 100% of the time!
 This is my sweet Elizabeth. I LOVE her to pieces. She is so beautiful on the inside and out. I was very inspired by her ability to make her house, such a lovely, lovely home. She adds ambiance to every meal with beautiful tableware, candlelite and conversation.
One of my goals this year is bring some of this into my home. This is an area I struggle with. My husband worked evenings for most of the years I homeschooled. I was busy with babies and toddlers and as the only adult at home in the evening to do bath and bedtime, so ambiance and tradition were never at the top of my priority list. (It was more like a cattle call..., come and get it! )
However, as I sat and talked with Elizabeth and asked lots of questions I felt the Lord begin to build this vision in my heart. I have to personalize it to fit "us", but I'm so excited about this goal. Scott has been on "DAYS" for three years and my "baby" is now 6 so no more excuses!
 Now after that beautiful post about "sweet" Elizabeth and how she sets the tone in her home with "ambiance", this is the one tradition we pick on her about. She has a pile right behind where she sits where she throws all of her paper trash. We all have joined in and it has become a big joke. But we always call it, "Elizabeth's Pile". When Scott picked me up Saturday night he said it looked like a hamster lived there, LOL! (you know how they nest) One day when we are all done homeschooling I will miss this!
 As the weekend progressed we got messier and messier!
Jacob's Curriculum
 Jacob is using a program called, "Little Hands To Heaven" for Kindergarten this year. (I love those re-stickable tabs to help me get around.)
We are also using Hooked On Phonics and Singapore Kindergarten Math
Seth and Colton - Beyond Little Hands For His Glory! LINK
Both use Time4Learning for their math and language arts.
Colton uses Spellingtime.com for spelling
 Elizabeth trying to scare Kim w/ a dead lizard! (I felt right at home as the mother of all boys)
 Kim working on her Sonlight!
 Dinner Thursday Night! (Sushi, Ted Peters smoked fish spread)
Mary's "2008" School Schedule!
I am very excited about the new schedule. It allows most of school to be done by lunch time. They will have to work on independent things in the afternoon, but the bulk is done by lunch and we can do chores, errands, reading aloud, you name it!
Just for Fun here are links to visit our previous years!
"2007"
"2006"
Note: GOALS for this year are coming in another post!
|
Comments (2)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Jun. 10, 2008 - I am FREE!
John 8:36, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed"
When I was 8 years old my life forever changed. The man who was my father walked out of my life. He chose to start another family with a woman who wanted him to have nothing at all to do with his former life. I dealt with his abandonment by pretending I was fine and acted as though it didn't bother me at all. When I was in my early 30's the Lord allowed a situation in my life that made me face that pain. I found that I had been putting a band aid on an emotional gaping wound and that I could not have the fullness of JOY in my relationship with the Lord until that wound healed. It was causing an infection of the soul. (though I didn't know it at the time)
The Lord loved me so much that He would not allow me to get away with pretending wellness. He ripped off the bandage and exposed the festering wound to HIS perfect healing. It was the absolute worst and best year of my whole life. The Lord put me in a bible study at my church called, "The Freedom Workshop". I learned how to accept, forgive, restore and move forward withOUT pretending. I realized that playing christian had caused a hollowness deep within my heart. I have walked in the freedom of forgiveness over this situation for several years now. I learned how to love not only the father who abandoned his first born daughter, but to even love and pray for his wife who has hated me for no reason.
This week that was put to the test as this man (David) came exploding back into my life. I remember the dark curly hair of a young and vibrant father, but 31 years have gone by and so it was a much older man who sat before me. His face was lined with wrinkles and his dark curly hair was now white/grey. He had decided to leave his wife and was living with my Grandmother. (his mom)
This past week has been filled with many mountains and valley's. I didn't know how to act or what to say and it began very shaky. However as this past week progressed I found myself sitting and having deep conversations with him. We talked about the Lord, (he is now a christian) we talked about movies. He played with his grandchildren. Sunday he went to church with me. As we sat in the 5th row, listening to our pastor teach from Luke, I realized how surreal it all seemed? I was sitting in church with my biological father? I actually was able to tell him that I loved him. I was able to put my arms around him and show him my forgiveness and my love. It was very precious. Very healing. Little did I know that there was a TEST coming!
Monday, I called my Grandmother and spoke with my father two times. He seemed different, detached? Finally, when talking with my grandmother later in the day I asked to speak with him. I told him that we had rented a couple of movies and wanted to know if he'd like to watch them. It was as though a stranger were on the phone. He very calmly informed me that he wouldn't be able to watch the movies because his wife was there to get him and he was going home. I stuttered....??? "What? Oh David, I don't know what to say. I will miss you. I love you." His response, "Ok, then" and he hung up on me.
I found the old Mary resurface. The one that pretending as though it didn't bother me in the least. I hated that tears were coursing down my face as I drove home. I refused to give into them. I wiped them away and very mechanically shared with my husband, my children and my friend Christa that David decided not to stay. That was THAT!
However, I am not the same Mary and Romans 8:12-14 came flying into my brain..., Mary, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature is urging you to do..., (pretend your fine/play a role/put a band aid on) However, if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it, you will LIVE! I picked up the phone and called my friend who got me to God!
Isaiah 43:
2 Mary, when you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I gave Egypt as a ransom for your freedom;
I gave Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
4 Others were given in exchange for you.
I traded their lives for yours
because you are precious to me.
You are honored, and I love you.
5 “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
It hasn't even been a full 24 hours since my last conversation with David, but I don't feel stuck, I don't feel fake, I feel loved and secure in my position with the Lord. While my friend and I prayed and read relationally from the Word He lead us to 1 Peter: 2:9 "You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. I am not an abandoned daughter, I am God's very own. He is a Father that never disappoints. His Love is from Everlasting to Everlasting! I still feel such forgiveness for David. I can honestly tell you that I am so very thankful for this past week. It was closure that allowed me to see that I truly am FREE!
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed! |
Comments (3)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
Jun. 7, 2008 - Time4Learning Testimony!
Time4Learning has been such a MIRACLE for my sons who struggle with "CAPD", (Central Auditory Processing Delay) and "VPD". (Visual Processing Delay) Let me back up and share our story with you.....,
I am the proud Mama to four amazing sons. Three of which struggle with CAPD/VPD. I have homeschooled since 1998 and can still remember those early days of feeling like I was doing something wrong because my boys were not grasping material like their friends?
My pediatrician suggested that we go to our local "Children's" hospital for testing. It was there that we found out they struggle with both CAPD and VAPD. It was a relief to finally know what was going on, and yet scary at the same time, because I knew that I wouldn't be able to follow the original curriculum plans I had intended. I spent years using and trying different programs. (Many were supposedly made just for CAPD/VPD kids) We did a year of Speech Therapy, then switched to Neurodevelopmental therapy and though the boys made some progress, it was a slow, uphill battle.
In 2007, I came upon a friends blog who happened to be posting about this company called Time4Learning. I remember at first thinking this was just a fluffy side dish put together to "supplement" what I was already using, but something had me stop and go to the link she had shared.
OH MY GOODNESS! It forever changed our lives! As I type this out to you, I have my boys year end test results sitting next to me. They went up 1 1/2 to 2 years in math alone. In all the previous years we would struggle to make several months progress and THAT was a good year! Just for the record, we have used the same tester who uses the same testing system, so you can count on these results being accurate and not a fluke. The first words out of her mouth, as she led my 8 year old to me on his test day were, "Mary, after I grade these tests we need to talk about this Time4Learning"!
I have referred at LEAST 20 or 30 friends to this program who are LOVING it. Many of their kids don't even have learning issue's. (I personally have one without LD's and it works beautifully with him as well) We have found the interactive media Time4Learning uses reaches a part of the brain that verbal communication cannot.
Link for using Time4learning w/ special needs
I used to work so much harder and I've spent so much money on things that did NOT give me the results Time4learning has. It is the single best investment I've made for my boys, for our family.
Link for using time4learning w/ the average homeschool student!
I always am asked, "How do I see if it's a good fit for my family". Well, here you go: Time4Learning FREE DEMO
I use Time4Learning for Math/Language arts and Heart of Dakota for all my other subjects because of the biblical worldview.
|
Comments (0)
:: Post A
Comment! :: Permanent Link
|
May. 25, 2008 - Convention "2008"
Florida Parents Education Association Annual Convention "2008"
FPEA is the largest homeschool convention in the U.S. (there are three categories that claim this, a) most square footage, b) most vendors, (c) most in attendance. We are "C". We had over 14,000 attend last year. I tell you this because even "I" was reading for calm and quiet by the end of the weekend. It is quite a bit to take in.
 Hubby saying goodbye!
HOTEL
 Arrival Time! (Oh My!!! The Excitement Level)
Wednesday Night Girls
 Wednesday Night Roomies! (Kim, Mary, Alice, Elizabeth)
Our Beautiful Hotel Suite
 Our Beautiful Suite
 View From Balcony (10th floor)
 Everything Stopped To Watch The American Idol Finale
Leaders Forum
 Kim And I Had The 9:00am Slot! "Accepting Who I Am As A Homeschooler"
 Mary Pretending Like She Wasn't A Bit Nervous....,
 Leaders From My District...., (AMAZING women and PRECIOUS friends)
 Lunch Time!
Convention Kick-Off!
 My Thursday & Friday Night Roomies (Niki, Jen, Ashley, Caitlyn.., missing Maggie who came later)
 Vendor Hall Getting Ready To Open..., Ching$$$- Ching$$$
PRANK Time
 Dawn Geers, Monica Guerra, Korey Provard & Anna Grace bought this sign and taped it to our hotel room door. As I was getting ready to go downstairs Saturday morning this was looking me in the face. I screamed very loud and to the laughter of those standing outside our door. I have to say, they took the cake (THIS year! )
Mary's Personal Purchases
Let me start by telling you that I am a card carrying member of the "Heart Of Dakota" Fan Club. This is our core program which covers...,
History/Science/Copywork/Handwriting/Poetry/Bible/Music/Art/Activities/Spelling/English/Math! (I personally use Time4Learning for our math) I tell you this because you will not see any of the above items in my purchases.
Drivers Ed
 Brandon
Organization
 Dave Weber was my FAVORITE Workshop Speaker!
The workshops I attended were:
Sticks & Stones Exposed
Overcoming Life's Goliath's
HELP! I'm Spread So Thin! (His organizational System Intro)
Life Time Organizer
There are "3" basic components of his system:
1- Main Calendar- "Be-There" Events Only
2- "1-31's" To-Do List
 Can you see the numbers 1-31 on the right side?
 To-Do List (this is my FAVORITE part and no other system has this)
1-31 represents a day of the month. These are your "To-Do" lists. For instance, If a business tells me to call them on 27th, I would NOT write this on my master calendar but on my "To-Do" Pages. I would turn to day 27 and write it on this page. That way I can forget it.
3- A-Z Files
 Dave explains that the most UNDER used portion of a date book are the address pages. In this day and age of cell phones many of us store our phone numbers via our cells. Though we send cards for birthday's and Christmas, e-mail has massively cut back our need for snail mail. So though I WILL use these pages for addresses the real power of this "A-Z" section is that it is my personal filing section. Let me explain:
This is a picture of a documentation Record (AKA: D.R.)
 At the top of the page you will write what you are documenting. As a board member w/ my local homeschool support group there are many events we plan months in advance. We will begin to work on our conference scheduled in February months ahead in June or July. I might write..., "Conference" on a D.R. form and schedule it under "C", in my "A-Z" files. Whenever I need to "retrieve" or "add" info regarding our conference I just flip to "C" in my A-Z section and there it is.
There is a 4th part of the program:
 Floating "To-Do" List.
This list is something that doesn't need to be assigned a specific time. These are the things that clutter up my brain, but it needs no immediate action. One example I have is that I always like to take notes after an event, of things I want to do differently the next time. For instance, when we did our "Homeschool Mom Tea" last November I wrote down that we needed 30mins of just plain ol' socialization at the beginning instead of jumping right into the program. Now I don't need that info until I begin my planning for the tea next September, but because I kept notes I can always retrieve it from under "T" in my "A-Z" section.
The whole purpose of a Master System is that you write it down, close the book and forget about it, until it's time to remember. It allows you to be "present" when your home by giving you permission to forget tiny details, since they are already recorded somewhere permanently.
The one habit the system requires is that you work in your "master" system each day. You check your calendar, your To-Do List for things you need to "DO" and you also add things you need to record. As you bring home those business cards with appointment dates or as I come home from a homeschool board meetings with notes, I need to make it a priority to record it in my MASTER planner and not to allow those cards or notepads to just float around.
Life Time Organizer Website
Managers Of Their Homes
 This is a program to schedule your day for routine type things. I actually bought this several years ago and it didn't work. At the time I had two babies and it was impossible for me to keep them on task and to still accomplish what "I" needed to do. But we are in a new stage with older children and as their life and mine get busier we need to have a routine to accomplish everything that needs to get done.
Managers Of Their Chores- A C | | |
Each year, a former homeschool family puts on a HUGE homeschooling fair for our county. It has all kinds of vendors and goodies! Here are pictures from our booth. We are the Pinellas Parent Educators Association! 
Small portion of vendor hall
Me having FUN talking w/ new homeschool mom
My good friend Kim (FPEA) taking with two members. (Terry and Nikki)
My friend B (board member too) and her little one!
It's a hard job but somebodies got to do it! (hugging cute babies)
Last Sunday we had dinner at a friends. It was a lot of FUN and the kids had a great time playing together. Brandon was such a big help in watching the little ones.
Seth took it upon himself to care for baby Sarah. (ahh)
My friend Lani's little munchkin! I love her head of hair. I cannot believe she is already over 3mos?!
Auntie Mary's Cutie Pie!
Seth and Tommy are best buds!
Silly boys!
Happy Birthday Olivia!