New Curriculum!!

For our home school curriculum we have been blessed tremendously by my good friend Susan Duty. She introduced us to the A Beka curriculum and it has worked wonderfully!! Thank you so much Susan you are such a blessing to us!!!

This past Thursday and Friday another home school friend of mine and I went to a HUGE Home school convention in Memphis, TN. Every home school vendor you can think of was there. It was a little over whelming, but wonderful in the same!!! Oh and the speakers...

I didn't sit through one session that I wasn't uplifted in someway! All of the speakers were very diligent to give God the glory in everything that they do, and they made sure that they got their point across to us, that it was through our All Mighty God that their home school theories and ideas worked!!!

I liked one particular family's outlook on home school. The Malley Family, and when they started homeschooling they wrote down in what order their home school would be ran.

1. Godliness

2. Wisdom

3. Knowledge

4. Skill

5. Ministry

Academics didn't even come into the picture until they understood that Godliness and Wisdom would come first!

I found a really neat math curriculum that we can't wait to start. As a matter of fact we aren't going to wait until next fall to start it!! We are going to dive right in when it comes in next week.

It is called Right Start Math

www.rightstartmath.com

When we walked into the exhibit hall I wasn't overwhelmed at first because I knew exactly what I was going to buy, A Beka, and that was it. Well my friend Kaycee wanted to go to the RSMath booth and I wasn't very interested. So I stood there and listened a little bit, but kept finding myself venturing off.... I returned 3 different times just to find myself venturing off each time again...

Then I realized I'm going to lose Kaycee in this huge room if I don't stay put because my phone was dead, so I really started listening to what the lady had to say. The more I really listened, the more I noticed that is how Sky is trying to learn anyway. Math was difficult for me to teach her this past year because she was trying to learn a more natural way then I was trying to teach her. This was exactly the natural way for her!!!

And as for the other curriculum I purchased... I am over the moon about it!!!!! We sat through 3 of Amanda Bennet's sessions and loved every minute of each one. She is an Author of 90 different unit studies. She is a very godly woman and she inspired me in so many ways.

www.unitstudy.com

Even if you do not home school you must check this website out! It might be something you can do with your children in your spare time. Also, it is very affordable!!

We are going to start a Handsome Horses unit study Monday and we cannot wait!!!!!!

I will try to keep you updated on how it goes as we do it!

One last thing that I got out of this weekend, and I need to put it on every wall in my home...

Homeschooling is a marathon, NOT a sprint!!

Doss Brody Clayton

Since my last post was all about my baby girl I thought I would do a post for baby boy;)

Doss Brody is a lot of things....

Mysterious...
Momma Loving...

Shy at first...

All Boy...

Sister Loving...

Curious...

Just Plain Beautiful...

I LOVE YOU DOSS BRODY!!

Unit Study on Laundry???

One of the major advantages of homeschooling is the ability to have extra time...

...Extra time to do what ever we please ;)

Such as Learning Life Skills - Laundry :)

Skylee has been folding laundry for some time now and she really enjoys it! I remember when I was younger when I looked forward to being able to use the iron. I would iron everything I could find, including towels and washcloths :) CrAzY huh!! I grew out of that FAST!! LOL

Since Skylee has shown an interest in Laundry why not go in depth on how to do it properly? We are done with Sky's Kindergarten Curriculum so we are going to try to focus on unit studies this semester. Maybe in the direction of Love Services for Others... I also think it is important to teach her what she is interested in at that specific time. And Lucky me Laundry is what it is right now!! I love that I have a helping buddy with me in the Laundry room now instead of an extra one tromping on what I just folded :) She is growing up so fast. I just want to push pause...

I LOVE YOU SKYLEE BROOKE!! You are the best laundry helper EVER!!!!

crazy love

I have a friend that introduced me to this book, and Brandon and I are really enjoying reading it!

There is a video that I think that everyone should see. It shows pictures of our galaxy and it really makes you sit back and think how amazingly HUGE our wonderful God is! The author Francis Chan quotes an R.C Sproul when he writes, "Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God."

If you get a chance you should check this YouTube video out...
www.crazylovebook.com
"Awe Factor" video

Gym Days Of Winter ;)

We have been utilizing our Community Center this year and we are loving it! (Just wish it was closer to our house;) Of course we are out there most nights of the week for swim team, but we have also been going a lot through the day to let the kids run and play!!! My 4 can only be cooped up in a house for so long! When we got there the gym was empty and it was so peaceful for all of the ones walking on the upper level.... but little did they know things were about to change...

This rack was full of balls when we arrived...
(Picture taken about 25 seconds after we got there)

You may not can notice in the picture,

but every ball they own was on the court!

And there were only 5 of us!!

We were meeting some of our home school friends up there to play. We were the first there and Skylee was really showing an interest in learning how to dribble a basketball. So I taught her everything I know about dribbling, (and if you know me I played post position and post do not dribble all that much), but she picked up on it fast! I think that she is going to be a little athlete, but who knows I may be a little partial ;0) he he!

And it never fails when my 4 kiddos get together we are going to play puppy at some point in the day! We had races to see who could push the ball all the way across the courts with only their puppy head, and Doss was the winner!!

Snow Day 2011

Snow Day!!!

Yes they are as COLD as they look, but I could not miss out on these pictures!

As a friend pointed out to me this morning... (Britney)... Our kids are having their first REAL Snow Day from school. Our Spring semester of Co-op was going to start back up today, but because of the snow we had to cancel.

Sky was super excited to start back today,

but she is also having fun getting to take the time to cook lunch with me today!

Grandma lets the kids cook with her every time they go to her house, so today she is teaching me everything that she has learned :)

Tomorrow is Doss' day!

Lazy - Saturday; Yummy - Lunch ;0)

Since we were all home today I decided to try this recipe that I found a couple weeks ago...

...And it was delicious!!

Even the kiddos loved it! I substituted the mild/pickled banana pepper rings for sauteed bell peppers and onions because I didn't figure the kids (or me for that matter) would enjoy them. But the substitution was spot on! This will be put into our "Same Ole, Same Ole" Supper menu from now on. Oh you know what I'm talking about... like when you get tired of cooking the same thing week in and week out, and you go searching for something new...

Well we found a keeper!

My Little Man is 3

All Doss has been able to talk about lately is how he wanted a black cake for his birthday. Well his black cake started turning into, "No Momma I want a BIG black cake!" I had no idea where to go with the idea of a big black cake? Over the weekend I had bought a cake decorating book for a cupcake decorating class I will be teaching at our home school co-op this semester and there it was.... He completely changed his mind when he seen the "Big Cupcake" cake in this book! He also feel in love with the little green monster cupcakes in there. Much to my surprise he changed his mind about the black cake he had been talking about for over a month and was set on these!

Knowing that the big cupcake would be plenty for the small party he was going to have, I still felt like I needed to make a few monster ones since they had some black in them :)

I have been fretting all week about not throwing a big birthday party for Doss because I have always went all out for both of my kids birthday parties and I didn't want to be unfair or cheat him in anyway :( But I keep remembering back to last years party....)

He was not a happy camper.

My kids are the typical, polar opposites, in many ways. Doss does not enjoy attention in anyway and Skylee would bathe in it!! She is all about a huge blow out party and Doss was the happiest I have ever seen him last night at Ta Mollys with us, his grandparents, Aunt Charity and her Girls. After leaving there, I looked at Brandon and said this was way to easy.... Sky may be in trouble come August!! :) Lol!!! No I will try to do what each of them enjoy the most if at all possible. Even though it is very tempting ;).....

Another big deal we have been having around here started back last June when Sky saved up all of her money and bought her very own iPod Touch. We were fixing to leave for Florida and all of the other kids had DS's so she decided she wanted to spend her money and get something she could play. Well that posed a huge problem with Doss!! He wanted it all of the time and has still wanted it to this day! And at times he got it and for about 3 months it was lost and we gave up because it was no where to be found :( I felt bad because I had made Sky share with him and he was the last one to have it. Then one morning we were getting ready for church and I heard Skylee SCREAM!!! I knew exactly what it was when she screamed... She had found her iPod in the new couch! We never sit in the new living room (partly because we don't want to mess up the new furniture) so we hadn't thought to look there. She was so happy and so were we! So to justify not throwing Doss a Big party, we decided to use the money we would have spent on it and get him his own. He loves it!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Doss Brody! We love you so very much!

And We're Back!!!

We have finally decided to get high speed Internet!!! So I can finally start blogging again. Yay!!!! I have missed the blog world. I guess it is my outlet to the world since I stay home with the kiddos everyday. A lot has happened with our family since the last time I posted...

Starting with our previous post about our newest addition "Luther".... Well about 2 and a 1/2 months after we got him he was stolen :( So that was hard on the kiddos and us too. Sky still misses him and asks, "Will they ever bring him back if he gets too big for them?" So we are learning right now that life isn't fair all the time. :o( So if anyone out there sees a big beautiful Bloodhound anywhere with a small white patch on his chest let us know. Hey we gotta try don't we?

Another big life change we have had is that we have fully committed to homeschooling our children. We did the research and decided that this is the best route for our family at this time. With Brandon being gone so often, the kids really miss out on reaping the benefits of their wonderful father. This way we finish school in the mornings and we can all go spend the day with him if that is what we choose! We have also joined the Christian Home-school Educators (CHE) Co-op in Jonesboro, which will provide us with all of the opportunities that we might have missed out on by not participating in a school system such as; field trips, class parties, sports, socialization time with friends, programs and graduations. They also have a Co-op on Mondays for the kids to take different types of classes that are offered. Since their group is maxed out in the facility that they get to use, a friend of mine and I started a co-op in Paragould. It is going very well right now and this is all do to God's wonderful work.

Skylee joined the Greene County Gators swim team back in the fall of 2010 and she absolutely L~O~V~E~S it!! She has done amazing and we are so very proud of her!

This was Sky's very 1st "real " Swim meet and she had a wonderful time!!!

Doss was potty trained last Summer and we are grateful for this! So GRATEFUL! We just have a few accidents at night because he has decided that he thinks pull-up/diapers are for babies and they are not "comfitable" as he puts it!

We also had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Although we have had some sickness in our family over the past few months, God allowed us to have a wonderful holiday season with our family. We just try to soak in all the time and memories we can with these loved ones.

I know I am forgetting a lot of happenings in our life over the past 9 months but I will try to post often and keep you up to speed! (As if anyone really cares) LOL! I just like blogging for my own personal viewing sometimes! ;)