I is for Insect

I took this photo in Asheville, NC. We saw some of the prettiest scenes there. It really is a lovely place. I can't wait to go on our next road trip to DC and PA. We love to take road trips and see the country. It will be even more fun in a shiny, new Chevy (thank-you to GM Texas for the awesome donation of a lease vehicle).

The Homeschool Post has resurrected their A B See Meme (an alphabetical photo meme) and a lot of us are enjoying playing again. Each week they put FIVE of the best alphabet pictures on their blog each week to showcase them and once a month, someone wins a prize. There is a Flickr Group set up just for the meme - so you don't even technically have to be a blogger to join... you just have to have an alphabetical themed photo and a flickr account!



Way cool.

The meme is posted on Fridays each week and you don't necessarily have to start on the letter A or go in any particular order or at any particular speed... and you can skip weeks or not - up to you entirely.

Here are the links to the past few 'A B See' posts I have done here:
A is for antique.
B is for bugging big-sis.
C is for computer.
D is for digger.
E is for eat... and Elmers.
F is for fried rice.
G is for goofy girl.
H is for Heather.

Tip: Use the dictionary to get ideas if you are stumped on a letter. No excuses! Get clicking!

You have until Friday morning (early) to load your picture on the Flickr group and be considered for the top five that will be displayed next week. One top photo will move on to win a prize once a month!

Fourth and Fifth Grade Field Trips

As promised, here is my field trip list for:

OUR 6th YEAR OF HOMESCHOOL: 4th GRADE and 5th GRADE (2007-8)!

Do you have kids that are younger than 4th and 5th Grade? Go visit my previous field trip lists (linked with photos and reviews). They can be found on my Homeschool Series post by year/grade level.



Below is a list of field trips we took when my children were in Fourth and Fifth Grade during the 2007-8 school year. In case you are just "tuning in" (and I apologize up front to the regular visitors for sounding like a broken record), our kiddos were 8 and 10 at the time. As my "Field Trip Foto Friday" Series progresses, I'll try and stop back in here to add links with detailed reviews of these field trips.

If there is a review of the field trip, it will be linked below and marked with asterisks (***) so you can go read the review.


Field trips are our favorite part of the school year. Of course, I did not list the numerous times we went to the park or library - those are frequent 'field trips' for us. Some of these are pretty unconventional (I included my kids in a few voting and political processes to help teach them good citizenship as required by Texas law)... but you would be amazed at what you can learn if you HEAD OUT SOMEWHERE with the intention of LEARNING something new! Even a trip to the grocery store can be an educational experience if you set goals, bring tools (calculator), have an idea of what you aim to teach, and make it FUN!

The ones that I have good photos for will eventually appear in my Field Trip Foto Friday series and I'll link them back on this post.

Enjoy!

2007-2008 Field Trips (Fourth/Fifth Grade)

• Pioneer Farms Homeschool Day
• Visit a small airport, get in a Cyrus plane
• Fossil Hunt with co-op Friends (nature walk)
• Singing carols at a nursing home
• Diversity Training: Field Trip to a Public School ***
• George Washington Carver Museum
• River Nature Walk
• Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
• Voting and Precinct Convention with Mom
• Piano Recital
• Regional Robofest Competition
• National Robofest Competition in Michigan ***
• Cross-Country road-trip (9 states) ***
• Horseriding Competition (cousin's)
• Meramec Caves ***
• Zilker Botanical Gardens
• Nature walk and picnic lunch at the 'Pond' (err... Drainage Ditch) ***
• County Republican Delegate Meeting (and a soap box) ***
• Easter Egg Hunt at the Nursing Home
• Go to a Court Hearing

Up next in the series will be my list of learning enrichment ideas and then a post about our favorite memories from our school year in 2007-8. Check back in here next week for more homeschool records for fourth and fifth grades.

Have a super Thursday!

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Order of Operations: Direction

"If you don't know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?" ~ Anonymous

Direction requires organization. As a rule, people with direction are usually on course. For a homeschool mom (or just any mom), having direction means you have goals, you plan, you work towards them, and you expect to arrive at a 'destination' at some point in the future.

To reach our goals, the details of our lives must be in ORDER:

-we must know where we are going
-have a plan to get there
-know what is on the schedule (calendar)
-and maintain some sort of order in our homes, homeschools, and lives

It's a tall order in this busy world (especially for moms of large families or moms with little tots and babies thrown in to the homeschool agenda). Without order you'll likely miss your target.

"But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." ~ 1 Corinthians 14:40

The answer to keeping on course (besides prayer (which I'm convinced is the #1 component to success in 'juggling it all') is to organize.

'Ain't it the truth?

How often have you felt like you were going in circles? 'Meeting yourself coming and going'? How often TODAY have you felt like that (at least that's the question I would ask myself because I'm often overwhelmed by the amount of 'stuff' I have to get checked off on my list each day).

One of my favorite books about goal setting, organizing, and creating order in your homeschool is Vicki Caruna's - The Organized Homeschooler. I read this book at least once, sometimes twice a school year. It's in my sidebar and amazon store in case you wanted to get a copy. It is one of my top 3 favorite homeschool books.

Note: She has some great advice that is timeless... good for anyone - even if you aren't a homeschool mom.

Advice like:

- organize not just your THINGS, but your thoughts
- God's plan is not haphazard (Romans 8:28)
- Redeem the time (Ephesians 5:16)
- "when you write it down, you make it serious" - write your goals down
- review your goals often to make sure you aren't wasting time
- "if your expectations are unrealistic, your disappointment will be great"
- start small
- evaluate the habits and heart behind your (and your kids') behaviors
- ask yourself if what you are doing is pointing you towards a goal
- planning is underrated
- if we are complacent, our children will be as well (the kids watch how we spend our time)
- if you are too busy, you are not about "God's Business"
- we are accountable for how we spend our time (it is a gift)
- "It's not enough to be busy. You must be productive."
- "Don't be a clock-watcher. Be a God-Watcher."
- form must follow function (the things you own must be useful and helpful)
- do it daily, follow a routine - keep the chaos at bay

These are great little one-liners - and there's more where those came from - that are such an inspiration to me.

This past week I focused on organizing because I felt the sting of what an 'unorganized' year was like last school year. Things will be different this year. Some lessons are hard-learned (read: much weeping and gnashing of teeth). I got a fortune cookie the other day that said: YOU WILL MAKE A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER. I immediately applied it to this area of my life. I'm pretty sure that all the work we have done this month to set goals, plan, prepare, declutter, and organize will pay off in an amazing way this school year. Just in time for our next wrench: baby #4 due in February! Ha!

Later this week, I'm going to share...

-some details about my custom dayplanner/school binder that I call my 'brain'
-some planning forms for this school year
-a picture post of our decluttering/bookshelf 'after' photos
-about our new workboxes

... and then we'll move on to the next Order of Operations ---> A for Academics!

Be sure to tune in!

The Back to Homeschool Woman's Daybook

I looked back on my blog to see when the last Simple Woman's Daybook got posted and was astonished to find that it was in MARCH of this year. Where has this year gone? I feel like I'm on Magic Mountain at Disney World, rocketing through the dark towards an unknown future. So many colors and tunnels ahead - but I know the Lord has me firmly secured on His track.

So today, I'm in that 'random thought' mode and a Simple Woman's Daybook sounded divine. Hope you don't mind me letting the brain dribble a bit...

The view from where I sit ... a very clean desk, portfolio binders lined up against the school room wall waiting to be put away after our two-day project last week where we hole punched and put away over a year's worth of school papers, the last sip of Gold Peak tea at the bottom of my Mason Jar, my open prayer journal with today's list of 'I hope to get done's, my new IKEA vase and red fake Gerber Daisy that I got this weekend for less than 3$, and a package of Italian software that needs to go to the post office today when we run our errands.

Outside My Window... Rooftops of suburbia. The window by my desk doesn't have the nicest view. It looks like a partly cloudy day out there - plenty of sunshine and probably very, very hot. It is Texas, after all. I CAN'T WAIT FOR WINTER.

I am thinking... of where we need to go today, what we need to do today, when I can find time to study more in my photography textbooks, and about friends who have lost loved ones or are going through hard times... my mind is always moving - even when I'm still.

I am thankful for... big kids who have the potential to shine today (praying the tween attitudes don't interfere with my hopes and plans for them), my washing machine and dryer, hopes that we can raise the money to attend Relevant on time - we are all so excited to have a family 'field trip' in the near future, God's amazing provision and the opportunities he has placed before me lately

We are learning... on Monday....
Mama is learning more about photography.

The kids are learning...
BIBLE/DEVO: starting Screwtape Letters (a little late, sorry, Alli!) and picking up reading through the Bible
MATH, GRAMMAR, SCIENCE, HEALTH: picking up where we left off a few weeks back
READING/HISTORY: Egyptian books... Mara, Daughter of the Nile is what we are currently in the middle of, next up is - The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Tales of Ancient Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green, and then Shadow Hawk by Andre Norton.
LIFESKILLS: making our weekly menu and grocery list today, taking care of baby as always, pulling weeds in the garden once the sun sets (too hot outside now)
Some of our curriculum is in the mail still... so excited to start using Institute for Excellence in Writing's Student Writing Intensive. We're going to focus on writing more this year than ever before.

From the kitchen... We're probably going to eat lunch out today. I sense some fast food grease coming on. We have no groceries to speak of, unfortunately - and payday is still a week away. Here's hoping that the mail brings us a happy financial surprise today (forget the hope, let's make that a prayer - Amen).

I am wearing... my pajamas! However, I'm about to get up and go shower and get dressed before we go.

I am creating... order. I'm so happy that our piles of paperwork are finally gone, the kids' rooms are nearly cleaned out, and my desk is clean. I'm thrilled to use our new clear workboxes this year for school.

I am going... I found a wonderful place on Sunday to take my client for portraits this weekend. I'm planning to go there this week in the evening so I can get some test shots taken in the evening light and check my camera settings for the different spots I'll be working in.

I am reading... the Bible, Life Management for Busy Women - Elizabeth George, White Picket Fences - Susan Meissner (fiction!), and of course - all the books the kids are reading (listed above)

I am hoping... for another $1620 in sponsorship donations to come in by October 15th. Of course, we're putting our own money in to this pot, too. This past week I added my website ad money to the pot and raised it a bit. Every dollar counts. The kids are talking about selling lolly pops and drinks to raise extra funds.

I am hearing... Blues Clues

Around the house... things are slowly getting organized, but progress is certainly visible (that's a good thing)

One of my favorite things... my new prayer journal from Target (has an owl on it and uses recycled speckled paper with a date heading at the top where I can simply circle the month and day)... it makes me want to 'write pretty'

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
Here's my list:
update my 'brain' binder and calendar, print new monthly inserts, clean out old stuff, update appointments
pick up the house, finish the kids closets and rooms final touches, get laundry done
put the portfolio binders away, finish filing the last school paper pile (my "to-do someday papers")
pair up the last 2 swappers for the Homeschool Post
send out PR kits to Hannah's vendor list she sent me for the Homeschool Blog Awards (to gather prizes)
make weekly menu, create grocery list, cook at home, dishes, clean out refrigerator drawers with wet rag
check the mail, take things to the post office
school supply closet organized
school planning and workbox schedule printed
blogging, facebook, twitter and insane amounts of email as able
read, study, plan and learn for weekend's photo shoot, take test shots on location, get print samples
consolidate sticky notes and to-do lists, retype school to-do list and print for binder
order trip brochures, make reservations for field trip tours, touch base with GM
doctor appointment for the pea in my pod - tomorrow

Here's a picture thought that I am sharing:



They are growing up.