Back to school back to planning.

"Big Guy" sporting his new mohawk.
"Little guy" hanging on to summer w/ his tye die.

Here's our 1st day of school pics. We started our school year later than usual this year. I was really trying to give us a chance to get settled. We're still working out the scheduling kinks that come with homschooling & me working outside the home. So far our weeks have went really well. The days still don't look like I pictured them. (Not that I thought they would.) But it always helps me to have a picture in my head. One thing is that I have yet to have a week where I feel like I've really developed my lesson plans. We're still using FIAR. One of the things I love about FIAR is it's simplicity. I know that I can just pick up my manual and go. So much of our learning has been conversational this year. Their notebooks look kinda bare. I also like to plan and have lots of hands on activites for them. This stuff provides a visual reassurance of what we're doing each day for me and built in review for them. So I 've been wanting to get more of that in. Next week I'm going branch out a little. I've been in the mood to do something w/ a fall theme.

We've done leaf units before and my pumpkin books haven't come in yet. So I decided to do a unit on trees. We'll be using the book, The Big Tree and this lapbook from HSS. We'll start our thankful tree. I'm looking forward to this project this year because I'm intrested to see how what we've been through this year will effect the guys responses. Plus I want to do some fall crafts. I like this wreath . Crayola has some great printables. Mabe make a nature print shirt. Then Round out the week w/ a hike at on of the state parks.

Football time in TN

It's a week late but here's my guys before big guy's 1st game.

To this....

Here's a little tour of our new home.

Comming in the frnt door.

Our Kitchen.

School room

Play room

Boys room.

The Boys are so proud of their fishing bathroom.

I've still got to get some outside shots of the house. But as you can see God has been so Good!!

We are so thankful & I can't wait to see how God will use the home he has provided.

From this

March 7th started like any other typical Saturday morning. Boys watching cartoons in the den and Big C & I fixing breakfast in the kitchen. We were really excited because this was the 1st breakfast on our new stove. Big C loves fried "taters" & has always fixed them on the stove top. I remember looking at the pan & thinking something doesn't look right. I said something to Big C & he reached across the stove to turn off the eye. He was reaching back to move the pot when a fire ball shot up lighting the cabinets. In a flash we were out of the house & Big C called 911. He was at himself enough to to back & grab a few things before the living room filled w/ smoke. (Because of this I've promised never tease him about his OCD again) My family came to get the boys. From there all I couild do for the next several hours is watch my house burn. Thankfully our fire fighters were really on the ball. They realized they couldn't save our house because it had spread to the attic. So while one group cut holes in the roof another group began to pull things from the house. I'll never forget the sight of a firefighter coming out my front door w/ a laundry basket full of pictures that had been removed from the walls. Another group started passing clothes from the boys colset out the front window. I'm so thankful for all they did. When the holes were done they soaked the house to contain the fire. The structure was gone but we had the most import things (all of us unharmed) & many things that couldn't be replaced(pictures).

Moving

If you''re still looking for me. I've moved to myworldaccordingtomi.blogger.com

Fresh start

So many crazy things have happened over the last few months. I couldn't access my blog for awhile and then when I could I felt compelled to catch up from where I left off. This just totally overwhelmed me. So I decide that it was time for a fresh start. I went back to the original title of my first blog because I think it fits me better. This is just a place for me to ramble about what's going on in my little world. I like to use it to plan hs lessons and share pics with friends & family. Also from time to time I'll share what I'm learning about me along the way.

You're gonna miss this.

This week I'm killing 2 birds w/1 stone by jumping back into You're Gonna Miss This. One I'm getting back to why I blog. I blog to remember the moments. Two I promised weeks ago to get holiday pictures up. These are moments I treasure.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Fitness Friday

I had this great post (at least it was in my head) & some how lost where I was going with it. I was doing great on keeping my gaols until Friday evening when BigC brought home a half gallon of ice cream, a 3liter root beer, & Oreo cookies. :) Then add to the chaos of the week that the boys only went to school one day this week. My whole routine was shot. Yet I'm proud to report that some how my weight held steady.
Moving on to the assignment: Brenda must have heard all those voices in my head this week that just kept telling me "get a plan, find some focus, just do something!!!". This week we were to reexamine our fitness goals. Also most of are learning that this is about so much more than than food & exercise. This week I was reminded that I'm striving for total fitness (mind, body, & spirit). I wanted my goals to reflect this. So here are my new & not so new fitness gaols

• Spirit - Spend time in the word this week.
  

I need to recenter my life. I've been very passive in my relationship w/ Christ lately. I just feel the need for a fresh start. You can't live your life in light of scripture when you don't read it.

• Mind-Read at least a chapter this week. Work on FireMan's quilt. Memorize scripture

When I homeschooled I believed it was a good day if we read something good, wrote something well, did something to make us think, & it was always a bonus to create something of beauty. So if that is good for my children then shouldn't the same be true of me? For my reading I'm starting Mere Christianity by: C.S. Lewis.

• Body- Food/exercise/appearance
  

Food- Be aware of what I eat. WW points just works best for me in this area. It is just to easy for me to mindlessly eat or make really dumb food choices. (come on ice cream floats Oreos, & pizza on the same night, I know better)
Exercise- Do something (anything)
Appearence- Continue the basic beauty routine(hair, light makeup, dressed to my shoes) everyday. Wear clothes that I like. (look nice on Friday evening when I spend time w/ my family)

Well that my somewhat late Fitness Friday post. I'm off to see how the other ladies completed the assignment.

Fitness Friday

Man is it Friday already? Time to check in with Brenda & all the ladies at Fitness Friday.
Here's my progress. I walked for 30min. during FM's practice. (I would have walked longer but W's got some breathing issues lately & he was starting to wheeze) I also used the gazelle for 30 min this week. The cool thing is I did 2 miles in that 3omin. I'm going to start pulling it out more often. I drank at least 1 bottle of water everyday. All this resulted in:

the loss of 1lbs (Which puts me at 8lbs from my first goal)

Not exactly where I want to be but going in the right direction again.
Goals for next week are the same. Now I want to increase volume.
Now for the assignment for the week. Most of us noted that we feel good when we dress better. So this week were were supposed to tweak our wardrobe in some way. I have to say that I wasn't thrilled about this assignment. After all I'm not where I want to be to really tweak my wardrobe. You see I don't want to buy clothes that look good at this size because I 'm afraid that I would start in w/ the excuses. (You know I have clothes that look good so this isn't really that bad & I really don't have to change.)But I decided to dothe best I could with what I had. I decided to retire a few shirts that were about this size on me.

Then start wearing more shirts like this.

(Please ignore that I'm swatting the dog out of the picture & that I'm dressed for a day around the house. FM took these just before they announced that school was closed for the day)
Again I think it's a step in the right direction. The more weight I lose the more I'm going to like this style of shirt. Another thing that I tweaked was getting myself more together. I fixed my hair & did light make up everyday this week. So what about you what can you tweak that will make you look better & feel better about you?

Family game night.

Big C & I have been pondering how to spend our Friday nights. Right now it is one of two nights that he gets to be home w/ us. For a long time we did the standard pizza & a movie. But lately that's felt like a contradiction. I mean we are always encouraging the boys to do things other that watch TV. Yet that's how how we would spend such precious time. Tonight we tried something new & we had a blast! BigC & I love board games & we have quite a collection. Not to mention Aunt A has passed on the love of board Games to FireMan by giving them to him at Christmas. This year's addition was called Syl-la-bles. The best part of this game was that every member of our family could play on some level. "W & I had to play as a team but I really only helped w/ the challenge squares. FireMan won tonight's round but I have a feeling that there will be many more rounds to come.

Fitness Friday: The I Feel Good Edition

It's time to jump back on the wagon. I took a pretty bad attitude about fitness over the holidays. So I gained quite a bit back. (but not all so that makes me feel good) I'm still plugging away at my first goal of 20 lbs. I still have 9 lbs to go,I was at the 5lbs mark. (so close & yet so hard to get there ) So for right now that's my fitness focus. Gaols for the week : 1) drink more water 2)walk the track while FireMan practices B-Ball.

Now our assignment:

Things That Make You Feel Good

1. Making better food choices
2. Exercise
   
3. Getting a good night's sleep(OK I know those should be givens but sometimes I still have to remind myself of this fact.)
4. Dressing up (I don't mean anything fancy just putting my favorite clothes & looking nice)
5. BigC telling me that I look pretty
   
6. Playing w/ my children.
7. Music (I've always got a grove going on in my head)
8. Laughing.
9. Sunshine
10. Sewing

Wow that was harder than I thought it would be. I guess in my upside down thinking I'm too busy taking care of others to take care of me. But in reality I take better care of them when I take care of me. What a light bulb moment. Wonder what the other ladies thought about this assignment. I'm going here to find out.

Love better 2009

What do I mean when I say I want to LOVE more in 2009.
I thought the best place for me to start is over at Webster's.
¹love -Pronunciation:\ˈləv\
Function: noun
a (1): strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties love for a child> (2): attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3): affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests <love for his old schoolmates> b: an assurance of love love>2: warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion <love of the sea>3 a: the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration love> b (1): a beloved person : darling —often used as a term of endearment (2)British —used as an informal term of address4 a: unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another: as (1): the fatherly concern of God for humankind (2): brotherly concern for others b: a person's adoration of God
I also found this to be an interesting way to look at a word.
I also went to BibleGateway to give me some biblical reference. But w/ 697 references I'm going to have to narrow that down a bit.
When I say I want love better it means:

• I want to know my loves. (Where your treasure is there your heart is also. Matthew 6:21)
• I to take better care of my loves.
• I want to love previously unloveables in my life.

Clear as mud right? Well I hope to randomly post these thoughts as they become clearer in my own head & heart.
BTW I stopped By the FIAR Boards today & the Ladies are doing this again this year. So if I'm not making any sense at all, you can check here to get a better idea of the concept.

Word for the Year = LOVE

As I said in the last post I had lots of rattles in December that I just had no words for. The words I did have were not really complete thoughts. I had a Birthday. I'm another year older. The Christmas season came, which is usually a really big deal for me (hello I've been known to put the C-mas tree up on Halloween) But this year I think I felt more like Charlie Brown. (skip to the 5:00 mark where he visits Lucy)

Or this one could work too.

My pastor did several sermons about how we use Christmas as a marker. It's good if your memories & thoughts of C-mas is good, but not so good when you have a tough year or a loved one dies, or when the joy of C-mas hits an unhappy world. The point that hit me most is we can't understand the joy of Christmas without knowing what/who love is. It hit me that I do have a problem w/ loving, but more importantly being loved. Now we're in a new year & lots of people are making resolutions. Last year I read several blogs where they picked out one word that they wanted to focus on.For some it was a spiritual truth for others it was a personal habit. But all of them wanted to understand this word better & live this word better. My word this year is LOVE. I want to LOVE more. I want to be more LOVABLE. I want to SEE more love & GIVE more love. I want to understand in my heart what it means to say "God is love". Big task,I know. I know I won't complete it in a year I just want to take small steps in that direction. Steps that I know will lead me to the feet of my savior.
What about you do you have a word for the year. I would love to hear form others, to share in your journeys, & to see how one word could change us.

I'm back (did you miss me?)

Happy New Year! It's been awhile. Life has been filled w/ rattles that I just didn't have words for. I also spent about 2 weeks sewing every spare second (no I don't have many pic because my camera died at Fantasy of Trees which is the day after Thanksgiving) I will try to post a few Christmas pics over the coming weeks. I also hope to jump back into Fitness Fridays & You're gonna Miss This this week. I hope that everyone had a great Christmas season