How Many Homeschool Excuses Can I Come Up With

 

Homeschooling has been a real struggle with me almost from the beginning. At first it was making the adjustment from being a full-time working mom who went to school part-time, to becoming a full-time stay-at-home mom. Then I got pregnant with our second child and during this time my husband spent every week away from us because he was working in a different state, while I stayed home and tried to sell our house. Then the problem was having a newborn. I had forgotten how much work a newborn can be. Then as the newborn turned into a toddler, homeschooling just got even more difficult for me. My toddler was very strong willed and more demanding than most kids I know. I thought that sending him to preschool would really be my ticket to a better homeschool year with my oldest son: WRONG! Once I got that extra 4 hours a day, I found many other ways I would like to spend it! When I try to buckle down and stick to a schedule, I just find myself bored. I realized today that my son is also very bored with our curriculum, so we are going to try something new. I stumbled upon an AWESOME website called www.timberdoodle.com. Hello! Why hasn't anyone told me about this before? It's a website that takes the top rated curriculum in each subject and puts them together according to the grade level. The curriculum choices they have seem WAY more fun than what we've been doing, so I bought the entire set! The website also has things you can buy a la cart, so I bought a science lab kit that I plan on using with both of my children. I'm SO excited and can't wait for this to arrive. Hopefully this will put an end to all of my excuses!!!   :0)

Right now I'm really struggling with treating my body like the temple that is really is. I pile garbage down my throat and I don't get any exercise at all. I feel so convicted, yet I'm like a dog returning to it's vomit. Even though I know my habits are bad, I am out of control. I'm not quite sure what will motivate me to start eating and drinking better, but I know I need to make a change soon. Any suggestions?

Kodak Moments

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118-24

Kodak moments. Aren't they great? I love to look through photographs from past vacations, honor days, field trips, sporting events, family gatherings, holidays, and more! And when I have time, I enjoy scrapbooking - to really showcase our precious pictures. As I was putting together a recent scrapbook, I noticed that almost every picture I'd taken featured smiling, happy folks. Some were posed "cheesy" pictures, but even the candid shots showed intense happiness.

Like the commercial says, those are the moments you cherish. Sometimes you have to hold on to those happy memories to make it through until the next Kodak moment. Life is difficult, and traumatic events can uproot your entire life in an instant. So we need to live each day mindful that these are precious times - treasured times that are gone like the mist in the morning. Enjoy each moment with your children - even the not-so-pleasant ones - and thank God for the Kodak moments. 

*taken from the book "God's Word for Mothers"*

So, this blog is for Christian parents. I am a christian parent and I have to admit that I am struggling right now with our 11 1/2 year old son. He has a pretty low self esteem and has said some things recently that have concerned me. Part of me thinks that maybe this is normal behavior for this age group for boys. Then the other part of me says that I should seek out professional help. My husband and I really try to acknowledge the positive things that he does and we've even started a new reward system, but it's honestly been very difficult to find positive things. I'm just not sure how to handle negative behavior for a child who already has a low self esteem. Every time I point out something bad he did, I feel like I'm just making him hate himself even more. :0( 

 Be faithful with your tithes and offerings and the Lord will work things out on your behalf. I have always been a faithful tither and faithful with my offerings. My husband and I always try to stretch our faith in this area and give more than we think we can. My faith was tested like never before this past Sunday. We realized that we didn't have enough money to pay the mortgage. I turned to my husband when they started talking about tithes and I said, "What do we do?". He said, "We have to.". Tears instantly started pouring down my face. I knew that giving our tithes and offerings would put us farther away from being able to pay our mortgage, but I wrote out the information for our bank card anyway. I gave it to my husband to put in the amount. The Lord has provided a way for us to pay our mortgage this month. It wasn't a way I prefer, but it worked out. He has also dropped small blessings (that mean SO much to us) in our hands at this time. A friend who I have been helping out gave us some money and has taken us out to eat a couple of times. She keeps telling me what a blessing I am to her, but honestly, she has touched my life just the same. We also won a $100 gift card to Kroger and today I found out that we have some unclaimed money that we knew nothing about. I'm not sure how long it will take to figure out just how much is there, or when we'll be able to get it, but I know, just like with everything else God does, it will be right on time! Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness!

TRYING AGAIN TO GET MY TIME ALONE WITH GOD

Yesterday I posted about my time with the Lord. Well, today I thought I'd try something different. Instead of shutting myself in the bedroom and trying to read and possibly dozing off again, I decided to watch Joyce Meyer on the computer. I thought it was a great idea because it's a beautiful day and the kids were playing outside and my husband was in the shower so no interruptions. Wrong again! 2 minutes and 24 seconds into the broadcast, the front door opens and I hear whining. I go take care of the matter and tell them that I'm trying to watch something important. I come back to the computer. What a great word Joyce had for me today. It was all about suffering. I have definitely had my share of trials and suffering lately. I get cozy and hit the play button again. I'm really getting into what she says and can't believe how much it relates to my life right now. Then suddenly I hear crying. I run back out there and complain that I'm not even able to watch a 20 minute video. Then I feel bad for complaining. Isn't that a huge reason the Israelites took so long to reach the promise land? So the next 4 or 5 times I was interrupted I tried to be a nicer mommy, just being grateful that I have children. Maybe tomorrow I'll just get my some ear phones to drown out all the noise around me so I can focus on Him for 20 minutes or so! ;0) 

If you would like to learn more about Joyce Meyer, you can visit her website by clicking HERE. Have a blessed day everyone!

MY DAILY TIME WITH THE LORD

I try to read my Bible most mornings. My oldest son watches the youngest. I usually put on a cartoon so he'll be content. I go to my room and turn on my fan to try and drown out background noise. I lean up against my pillow on the bed with all my materials around me; my prayer journals, pens, highlighter, notebook, Bible and of course my glass of chocolate milk. I get really comfortable and ask the Holy Spirit to minister to me and ask Jesus to please keep my children quiet and content so that I can spend this quality time with Him. I begin my reading and of course I'm interrupted by a loud AAAAAHHHHHH and some other noises. This is the way it goes most days. Sometimes I just continue to pray for God to calm them down and sometimes I run out to the room they are in and whine about not being able to get my time in with the Lord. 

Lately my children have become a little better at keeping down the noise, but I've ran into another problem. I can't seem to stay awake! I get so comfortable and reading makes me just want to fall asleep. So again I pray to God to help me stay awake and stay focused on Him. Most days I end up nodding off and asking the oldest to watch the youngest just a little longer so I can take a short nap. What's this mom to do? I've thought about trying to get my reading in at night, but I really enjoy starting my day off with the Lord. If you have any tips for me, feel free to leave me a note in the comments.