On the road again....(or the treadmill)

As you may have guessed, I let the weight loss plan completely drop. In fact, in the last month, I gained back everything that I had lost plus two pounds. Ugh.

BUT! God's grace is new every morning!!!

This week I have had an enormous break through! Every morning (this was the third morning), I have gotten up at 5:30am to leave by 5:45am. I walk from almost 6am to a little past 7am and go 4 miles. Sooooooo....drum roll please......I have walked 12 MILES already this week!!!! This is HUGE for me!!!

The real break through came Monday morning. I was there on the treadmill at the gym just sweating and hating life. I was into the 2nd mile and already really wanted to quit. My foot was hurting. My back was hurting. Sweat was uncomfortably pouring off of me. (I didn't know to pick up a towel. I had never needed one before.) I started my normal pattern of negotiating with myself. I thought, "Why not just slow it down a little just for a lap?" Then it hit me! NO!!!!! I was NOT going to slow it down! I was NOT going to change or alter the goal I came in with! I was NOT going to quit on ANY level!!!!!

It was then that I believed, for the first time ever, that I COULD DO THIS!!! Even through the pain of the moment I was in, God strengthened me! I started chanting to myself, "I am strong! I am disciplined! I am motivated! I can push myself! I can do this! I WILL do this! I WILL REACH MY GOAL!!!!" I must have said that a hundred times over the next thirty minutes. These were all the things I have not believed about myself in the past. It was amazing how much stronger this made me! Instead of telling myself how tired I was, how much I was hurting, and how much I wanted to stop, I changed all of my thinking to the positive. The results were incredible!!!!

My goal this week is to just get up, get there, and walk my 4 miles. Next week will be extremely difficult to get any activity. So, my goal will be to just get some sort of activity each day. Then, I will start again with my walking. I look forward to being able to increase my distance in the time I have been walking. I also look forward to adding in jogging. Eventually, and not too far off, I will run a 5K!!!

Right now, I am 80 pounds over weight. My feet, hips, and back hurt most of the time, and I have no energy. As a home schooling mom of 5, this makes my days very difficult.

I am so excited about my future!!!!! I now know that I CAN do this! I now know that I WILL do this! I now understand that I am the only one getting in my way of success! I have Christ, so I have the power to keep going!

I don't have to quit. In the past, I have chosen to quit, and I will not make that choice anymore. I now believe that I am important enough to do this for. I am created uniquely by God, the creator of the universe. He took the time to form me, to know how many hairs are on my head, to search and know my heart. He loves me!!!! If God Almighty loves me, then I can love me too! I am worth this!!!!

Don't miss out on these give aways!!!

Beyond Words Designs is the site of a very dear friend of mine. She is not a trained artist, but has a God given talent that cannot be denied. In honor of her birthday week, she is giving away $50 a day worth of credit in her store!!!!!!! Don't miss out!!!! Go now and visit! The link below will get you to where she describes her give aways and lets you enter, but don't leave before you look around her site at all her amazing artwork!

Giveaways at Beyond Words Designs!!!

Homeschool curriculum crazies...

Are you new to home schooling? Thinking about where to start can be extremely overwhelming. If you are not careful, you can spend WAY too much money trying to find your way through everything.

I started out buying a whole curriculum. For the first few years, I was spending $300 to $400 or more!

I have now learned this is not necessary.



If you want to read up about schooling so that you can form a philosophy of your own, I suggest these:

The Well Trained Mind

Well Trained Mind getting started blog site - http://www.welltrainedmind.com/getting-started/ This site will answer some of your questions.

The "What Your ____ Needs To Know" series

Educating the Whole Hearted Child



Curriculum:

I personally LOVE My Father's World curriculum for 2nd grade and above. It was okay for K-1st, but I have started some new things which are MUCH cheaper. MFW has GREAT books though, and are a very good curriculum if you want everything planned out for you.

I have now found that it is easier and less expensive to piece my own books together. Most books are a one time purchase that I can then use with each of my children. Also, they require little to no preparation on my part. I just have to open the book up to the next lesson. (I personally love that aspect.)

Below is simply what I use right now. It is not right or wrong, better or worse than something else. It has also changed and will most likely change again before I graduate my last child.

Reading/English/Language Arts:

• Phonics for Kinder/1st (learning to read) - Ordinary Parent's Guide To Teaching Reading
• English - First Language Lessons 1-4 
• After FFL 3 or 4, Easy Grammar
• In 2nd grade, we start spelling with Spelling Power, which is a great book that takes you through EVERY level and EVERY child, so it is a one time purchase as well as a great program!
• For writing, I have been using Writing With Ease, which is very good, but I think for my students, we need something a little different. I am having them journal right now, and I am looking into a new writing program. I will let you know what I end up with!

Math:

• We use Abeka K-3. All of my kids have done really well and loved these workbooks. They have tons of repetition and cover many concepts the whole time. I really recommend them!
• At 4th grade, we are switching to Teaching Textbooks.

History:

• Just this year, we started reading Mystery of History Vol. 1 and LOVE it! I do love all the real, living books, but we just still do those as read alouds. Having a History textbook this year has helped my organization a ton! We read the weekly lessons at home and then get together with another family and do the activities for those lessons. It has been great for us!

 Science:

• I have been using some of the Usborne books and casually been doing science with the kids. We would study different topics here and there and then do an experiment. Some times we would look up an animal to read about. I am really tired of this kind of science. Honestly, it is really easy for me to just push science to the back burner using books like these, and on a stressful day (which day isn't), I tend to just not do science.
• So, we are about to begin Apologia Science!!! I have ordered the Zoology one about the Flying Creatures of the fifth day and am so excited to receive them and get going!
• If you are just beginning, I would say hold off on science for a couple of years.

Right now, our family is going through 24 Family Ways in our Bible time as well as reading the Bible.

I go back and forth on art and music. I have some different curriculums for each and just kind of do my own thing off and on. A lot of the time, our History will give an art project.

I am investigating language programs. Most tend to love Rosetta Stone, but more and more don't. Tell Me More is another that has been suggested to me. I still have some research to do. I don't plan on starting language until 4th or 5th grade, which is where my oldest is now, so I need to get on this.

Typing and Computer Science are also subjects to look into. There are some good online programs, but we aren't doing this yet.


Again, if you are just beginning, and your oldest is just learning to read, keep it simple and inexpensive. Get a phonics book and a math book. You can even add in a handwriting book (grocery store ones work). If you are just eager to spend money, do it on math games, manipulatives, and toys that inspire creativity like blocks, Lego's, tinker toys, etc. Your day is still mostly play time, read alouds, and beginning chore training! Phonics, math, etc. should only take 1 hour or less. Really just 30-45 minutes. Then, color, cut, glue, etc.!!

Have fun planning!!! I always love this time of year when I evaluate what is working and what is not. The anticipation of a fresh start is always exciting! Happy schooling!!!

Homemaker's Challenge begins!

So, do you have the book, 31 Days to Clean????

(I really need a Kindle - hint, hint to those who might need that info - I can't stand to sit at my computer and read books. I had to print out the whole ebook so that I could hold it in my hands. Now, I am happy!)

Each day is such a short, easy read. On Fridays, blog about which day was the most challenging and why. Then, link up!

Are you not signed up yet? Go here!!!

Homemaker's Challenge!!!!!

Don't miss out! Did you download your copy of 31 Days to Clean - Having a Martha House the Mary Way, by Sarah Mae, yet? Hurry!

You don't want to miss getting involved in this challenge!

Follow the button above to get all the details you need to get started!

Proverbs 31 - Have you heard of it?

Several things are on my mind tonight. One is that I have told my husband recently that I need to pray more for our children. Oh, I pray for them every night, but I have lost the discipline of constantly praying for them throughout the day. In all my business, I have misplaced the most important thing I have to do! As I talked with my husband, we discussed how it is not us that changes their hearts, it is God. All my efforts in the world won't actually change their hearts. I need to release them, once again, to God. Praying for them acknowledges this and turns my thoughts back to God instead of myself and my own efforts.

Tonight, this thought hit me in a slightly new way. You see, I have been trying so hard to grow and mature and change MY heart. Yet, I haven't been consistently at the foot of the cross. I haven't been pouring over the scripture, the very words of God, written to speak to and change my heart!

Well, tonight, I decided to begin in Proverbs 31. This may or may not have been a good idea with the day I just had. I have to admit that at first, this passage made me feel much worse. At first, all that was there on the page were evidences of how I was not measuring up. Have you ever felt that way?

God sent his son to humble himself by living as human and dieing a horrible death so that He could conquer death and have relationship with us once again. He LOVES each of us so much!!! He knows our hearts. He knows the number of hairs on your head. He promises to never leave you and to continue to grow you in Him. You know what also? He loves your children just as much!

Today, I felt like such a failure. As I went through my day, I thought back on posts written and felt like such a phony. It all felt like theory, and really it all is. I felt as if all of it was so far from my reality. Today was just one of those days. I am so thankful for my God who is ALWAYS there to hear my cries, ALWAYS there through His Word, and ALWAYS, ALWAYS there with me, loving me.

Here is Proverbs 31. I want to commit this to memory, not to beat myself up with, but to keep me focused on the goal of a godly woman. We will never fully measure up, but we can grow closer and closer each day. I just read on another blog about how she recites this passage to her girls over and over as they grow up. This is a great way for them to be raised embracing this idea of the hard working, godly wife and mother in the home.

Proverbs 31: 10-31

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies,

Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.

She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.

She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.

She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.

She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.

She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.

In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple;

Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her;

"Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all."

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

A Friend's Wisdom Over Lunch

Today, I was eating lunch with a friend. As usual, parenting topics came up and she gave some advice that I found very wise. We were discussing daughters and the struggles that come as they enter the preteen/teen years.

Before I begin, I want to first say that, in our family, we do not accept the culture's definition of "teenager." We do not believe that there is an acceptable few years where irresponsibility and disrespectful behavior is expected and even accepted as a norm. Nor do we believe that gradually increasing fighting and disharmony in the home is the natural way for young adults to then desire to split from the family at the age of 18. We believe that as a child approaches adulthood, they are to be trained even more, so that they may know how to live out on their own. We believe that a respectful relationship that becomes closer and closer is necessary to allow the young adult more and more freedoms within the protection of home. This allows the child to experience the world little by little, observe mistakes, make mistakes, and learn all while communicating and learning from these experiences with their parents. That said, there are natural hormonal changes and new found desires that make the child want to form their own beliefs, find their own way, and discover if their way is what their parents say.

This is where my friend's wisdom came in and reminded me of some very real aspects of our growing daughters:
When a girl's body begins to change, she is also changing inside. God has designed her to desire to be a wife and a homemaker. She desires her own space to manage, even if she does not realize this. The problem is, is that she is still in her mother's home. Her mother is still the manager of their home (under the leadership of her husband). Especially in the current culture, girls have to wait a very long time, much longer than in past generations, to be considered an acceptable age to marry and leave the home. This is a large portion of the frustration that builds within girls of this age.

So, how does a wise mother deal with this? Here are some practical ideas.

*Allow her to be in charge of a meal. If she is old enough, she could even have a budget for the meal, plan it, and gather the ingredients while you are at the store. She could check out herself.

*Give her control of a room to decorate and keep tidy. It could be a bathroom, an entry way, and extra living area, anywhere. Allow her to have a bucket that is all her own containing her own supplies needed to clean that particular room.

*Ask her to help you plan the order of the home, like the chore schedule, meal plan, etc.

*Allow her to join you as you budget for the month.

*Help her to start a home business that she can keep running, coming to you for guidance. This is a good one to allow her a creative outlet.

*Allow her to begin a garden in your yard that she must maintain.

*Give her a subject in your school that she can teach. For example, older students are wonderful phonics teachers for your youngest learner.

There are many, many more ideas that would be helpful. Please share them if you want in the comments. The point is to show her that you respect her growth, value her ideas, and to give her a creative outlet. This is all while you are still there as mom to provide the guidance and boundaries needed for her specific maturity.