Dallas Here We Come

Ever wonder what the church trailer looks like goin down the road? Well don't because it looks like this.

 

and this..

and this...

Had a fun ride down to Dallas for SNU's Naz Nite.

What is there to do at a stop light? Take pictures of course.

We had tons of fun in the car... driving 6 hours...

Do you Book Club? I Bloom.

All my life I have NOT, repeat not enjoyed reading.
Maybe because my lifestyle now and always has been so busy, so crazy, just too much going to for me to stop and read a book. However, as I get older... dare I say that, I am enjoying books more and more.

The Bloom {in}courage book club is a place to read, discuss and grow together and I'm so excited to join in on that reading, discussing and growing!

You are just in time to start the new life-changing book called 7 By Jen Hatmaker. Jen took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence. Check out the trailer here:



I plan on sharing what I learn, how I grow, and where God is calling me to refine in my life, each chapter at a time. I would love for you to share your growth too.

You can sign up here if you would like to receive emails when new Bloom posts are available.Also you can join in on the Bloom Facebook Page to interact with other readers, as well as in the comments of each post!



My 7:
   Clothes | Shopping | Waste | Food | Possessions | Media | Stress

The Bloom Post Schedule:

Monday, August 27: Introducing Jen Hatmaker/7
Wednesday, August 29: Month One: Food
Friday, August 31: Food-Guest Post
Monday, September 3: Month Two: Clothes
Wednesday, September 5: Clothes-Guest Post
Monday, September 10: Month Three: Possessions
Wednesday, September 12: Possessions- Guest Post
Monday, September 17: Month Four: Media
Wednesday, September 19: Media- Guest Post
Monday, September 24^th: Month Five: Waste
Wednesday, September 26^th: Waste- Guest Post
Monday, October 1: Month Six: Spending
Wednesday, October 3: Waste-Guest Post
Monday, October 8: Month Seven: Stress
Wednesday, October 10: Stress- Guest Post
Wednesday, October 17: FAQ with Jen {more details to come!}


Last spring I stumbled upon http://www.incourage.me/.
It has been a great christian resource for me as a wife, mom and daugther of the King.
I particpated in their bible study/community building weekend called in(RL) Real Life, back in April. Since then, I enjoy getting emails about articles that encourage me and uplift me in life and ministry.
We share a passion for community and relationships. That is how I believe we grow the Kingdom.

Happy Kingdom Building!



Southern Style

I checked out this lovely book at the Library on Thursday. I have a love for things "Southern" and wanted to share little idea's in this book that I fell in love with. Kind of like a favorite pins post, but things I actually looked up in a book instead of on my computer or phone. You know, old style. Take a look:

 

 

 

 

 

I loved the wire baskets hanging up as a shelve. Also love the starfish in the basket. Look at that simple and cute chandelier too.

 

 

I love all things green! Look at this front porch "chandelier" idea. I also love lemons, so this is such a cute idea for me to try out. Also did you know that lemons ward off mosquitoes? So what better arrangement to have outside on your patio!

 

 

 

So pretty and relaxing. Don't you just want to curl up with the Bible or a good book here? 

 

 

Here is another book I grabbed that caught my eye.

My love for ferns makes this a must in my house. I think I'm going to go out and buy a fern tomorrow to do this with!

The colors in this scence is what caught my eye. And I really like those curtains.

I also this idea and it makes me want to make a sign of my childhood family buisness, Palmers Plants. It would bring back great memories and would add a little personal touch to our home.

I though the stacking of these baskets was so cute. I loved that different colors of the baskets and mixing the Bread box in there for texture and color. Also love how the top basket has a tin, crab apples and greenery flowing out of it. So clever and simple! Beautiful!

 

 

Happy House Dreaming! 

Branson Retreat NEO Style

This weekend I got to spend 2 days in beautiful Branson, Mo with "the most amazing man I have ever met" for the NEO Minister's and Mates Retreat. And it was awesome.

I couldn't have asked for a better weekend, except an endless amount of money to go and do everything Mark and I could... like go see all the shows and eat at every place our hearts desired!!!

However I did have a great dinner Saturday night ....

Thanks NEO for an awesome weekend getaway with my pastor hubby! And thank you BFCNaz for sending us. This was much needed!

A week in the life of our "Homeschool"

With our homeschool starting up this week, life is officially crazy time. However I am trying to organize it as much as I can to make our days go by easier and be able to get the things we need done, DONE!

 



I plan on making schedules to go into the girls school binders to help them see a visual of what they are to except each day. We also plan using our wall pocket organizer to see our schedule on a large scale. To see what we use for the girls curriculum go here.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed with fitting everything in. We are a busy family (I know many are) but we are way busier than I would like to be. I don't get enough sleep as it is and  I don't see that changing any time soon. I'm a huge night owl. Here is how our week looks:

Mondays:
30 Mins of Each to finish before Lunch:
Bible
History
Geography & Timeline
English (Reading and Spelling)
Latin
Math
Science
Art & Music
Lunch
Then play, computers, outside, etc.

Tuesdays: CC Community Day
Bible
Off to CC
Supplemental work at cc in the afternoon
No more learning for the day, just play!

Wednesdays: CBS Day
Bible
30 mins CC Memory Review
Off to CBS
Lunch
15 mins on:
History
Geography & Timeline
English (Reading and Spelling)
Latin
Math
Science
Art & Music
Now get ready for church tonight.

Thursdays:
30 Mins of Each to finish before Lunch:
Bible
History
Geography & Timeline
English (Reading & Spelling)
Latin
Math
Science
Art & Music
Lunch
Library Time
Dance
Praise and Worship Practice

Fridays:
30 Mins of Each to finish before Lunch:
Bible
History
Geography & Timeline
English (Reading & Spelling)
Latin
Math
Science
Art & Music
Lunch
Then Family Fun Day!

Hopefully we can do things that go along with this weeks learning, like field trips and fun games to review memory work. But if we can't then we just need to have fun as a family.

Happy Homeschooling!

 

Project Life 2012: Week 33

So it is {Week 33} now and I have managed to complete a layout for this week. I like the way it turned out. I'm still getting used to this way of scrap booking but I love it. I'm trying to find my style and voice for our book. I think it will be different each and every year, simply because my style changes all of the time.

 

  This week I share about our "not" Back-to-School day. This was a fun week!

 

 

I also share about my girls enrolling in dance class and how this is our "PE" portion of our homeschooling. My pretty ballerinas. 

 

Emma made this cute little drawing on a piece of paper and I wanted to incorporate it into this week's layout. So I took a pic of it using my beloved Instagram and printed it out 2x2 to add to this 3x4 journaling card. This week I found a cool faux washi freebie at BananaFishStudio and used some free cards from Misstiina.com as well to create this week's blocks.

 

 

In the top right corner I share a sweet little gift from my little one who decided I needed some butterflies in my life. I also included some cute freebie cards by Simply Fresh Designs into my layout this week. {I am not LDS, but she has some cute cards, go take a look.}

I don't know what it is with Emma and wanting to keep every one's fortunes, but she has been doing it a lot these days. So this week I decided to add the ones from lunch on Sunday to our layout.

We also enjoyed Thursday - Saturday with my niece's and their cousins in Springdale, AR. We had so much fun just playing together. Can you tell? I love those smiles.

Just simple and cute in my opinion.

Check out {Week 34 Here} 

Day in the Life of a "Masters" Tutor, Not Me But Them

 

This year I am so excited to be the Foundations tutor for CC Masters at the new Bartlesville Town and Country Campus. Masters are the "Older" kids in our CC Community. I wanted to give you a look at what our a day in the life of a Master would be:

8:30am - We will arrive at our CC location. I have made a trifold board to put all of our memory work on to use at home and in the classroom. It is so helpful and cute at the same time. I know the students don't care but I do!  

8:50am - The tutors get together before the Opening Assembly and pray together.

9:00am - Assembly - the whole group gets together to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, the Pledge to the Bible, recite and learn the new timeline cards for the week, and learn the memory verse, which builds over the course of the year.
 

9:30am - Class starts!  We present the new grammar first.  There are 6 subjects to present. Iwant  to go in the same order each week. Geography, History, English, Latin, Math, Science. It doesn't really matter what subject you start with as long as you get it all in. The key is to repeat the information 7 times.
 

Geography: I  will have the students start off the day by coming in and getting right to work with a "Review Sheet" and copy work. During this time we might proof as well.

History:  I will present the history work by reading the sentence to my students, teach hand motions, listen to the song, and then we all sing the song with hand motions. I will also write the history sentence on the board and repeat the info over and over erasing words each time.

English: For the first 12 weeks we will be learning about prepositions. There is a song on our CC Cycle 1 Resource CD that will help us learn the prepositions. Also you can find motions to this song {here}.

Latin: I will use resources off of C3 to use in class.

Math: Since I have the Masters, we do Multiplication Facts instead of Skip Counting.

Science: There are some great ideas on pinterest out there that I will be using.

10:00am - Science Project: Each week there is a Science Project or Activity to complete.

10:30am - Wash up from Science Project and have a Snack and Bathroom break.

10:40am - Presentations. I'm not allowing snack during presentations. I have the older students and at this stage they need to be displaying proper communication during this time.
 

11:00am - Art - for the first 6 weeks, we are focusing on drawing. 

11:30am - Review - this is the time during which we review the memory work from the past 6 weeks plus what we learned today.  {Here} are some review games I plan on using.

12:00pm - Lunch Time, Yum! Then Recess!

That is a look at what our day will be as a CC Tutor and Student. We start next week and can't wait!
Happy CCing!

 

 

Big Ideas...

So I was over at the amazing Ali Ewards blog and discovered this little surprize that I am so excited about passing along to y'all!

Seven of {Big Picture Classes} instructors are teaming up with seven surprise instructors {who will be unveiled on opening night} to share their biggest big ideas with us !!! I'm so excited!!! Can't you tell. Fun Fun Fun!   

Back to School Photos 2012

It's a tradition every year right?
To take Back-to-School photos!

I have to confess that we aren't actually Back-to-School yet but in the spirit of blog hopping with iHomeschool Network's "Not" Back-to-School Blog Hop, we had a photo shoot today. Take a look...

Ready for what Homeschool 2012-2013 holds for us! 

Emma Grace will officially start school this year as a Kindergartner.  She is my big girl at age 5.

Ready to take off with learning! 

 Olivia will be starting PreK this year. My baby is growing up. She is 4 years old.

This is what I love! That my children get to be classmates with their best friend.

We would love to see your "Not" Back-to-School photos for this year. Head over to iHomeschool Network and share your blessings. There is even a nice freebie for the homeschooling mamas located there!

Beach Vaca 2012: Cover & Title Page

All of Mark's family went to the beach to stay in one house together for a whole week.I made a Shutterfly book along with scraping it into my PL album. Here is our story of the Sanford Beach Vaca of 2012... and look how cute the cover turned out.

 

Title Page:
This page documents our journey down to the beach. It was about a four hour drive that took longer than just four hours. We left the house right before 7am. We were in our car, Nana and Poppie in their's. We traveled south to later meet up with Uncle Josh on his bike and Aunt Lala (Lauren) with baby Ava and Jenna.

All the stops made me hungry, very hungry! That is all I could think of the whole trip and that I was not looking forward to that ferry ride. Somewhere Uncle Josh found some friends from the gas station to the ferry, a bunch of them! Once we got in line for the ferry, Jenna and Ava hopped into our car to hangout. Poppie kept playing with them. They didnt mind waiting. I on the other hand did, I was hungry and needed some food.

After waiting for about 45 mins, the ferry came and picked us up. They loaded us on that boat like sardines. I did not like it. We also had to turn off the car until the ride was over. Also I thought I could pick up a snack on this ride, but I was mistsken. There was only heat, sweat, and tears, from me not the girls.

We do look happy in our pic on the ferry, but don't let me smile fool you, I wanted off that thing as soon as I could.





*Note the green and graph tag at the top of the page. I placed that on each page to add handwritten journaling. I thought it would look good with the Project Life concept, my new style of scrapbooking by Becky Higgins.

{Check out Saturday Lunch Here}Coming Soon



Back to School... NOT

So this is how we decided to celebrate our local school district going back to school. See, we don't start till September 4th doing our Classical Conversations... and I'm not going to start any earlier than I have to!
Plus I need the time to plan. School will be here soon enough.

A group of Homeschool Mamas headed off to the local splashpad to enjoy play and fellowship. I really enjoyed our time there today and so did the girls. Can't you tell? 

Our Home School Room

As apart of iHomeschool Network's "Not" Back-to-School Blog Hop"
I'm participating in this week's  School Room Hop.

This Wednesday our school district goes back to school, but we don't start back till Sept 4th when our Classical Conversations Community starts up. Why start earlier than I have to right? =)

Here are some pictures of our school room. Enjoy!

Here is our geography and mapping area. I got this map for $4.99 at Target in the school supply section. I was pretty happy with that price. I would love for a cute globe like this one...

{Signature Series by Heidi Swapp "Masked Globe" Craft}

 to be put in this spot, but that will have to be for another time, when I have some time. But isn't it so cute?! And I think it would be a perfect addition to our home school room.  

Here I got this cute baker's rack at Hobby Lobby 4 years ago. This is one of my favorite pieces of furniture in my house. I have used it in almost every room. But now it is in the dinning room our home school room. It holds all sorts of items needed. There is a lot of scrapbooking items on this baker's rack. At the top of the rack I keep my School Clipart Books. At the bottom of the rack are $1 bins that I got at Wal-Mart to organize supplies.

Here is my CC TriBoard that I will use with my children and my Masters Class at our local CC Community. My TriBoard is all ready for the first week of class.

Ha, this is our bedroom dresser that wouldn't fit down our hall, so now it is in the dinning room. It isn't so bad though because it gives me more surface space to pile things on =) right now it's clean because I was taking a picture. Come on moms, you know how that is. I also keep a cheap and cute basket {pictured to the right of the dresser} to hold our new Classical Conversations Classical Acts & Facts Timeline Cards.

Here is our work boxes. I don't use them like most families use work boxes. I only store items needed for that subject. How ever if the girls were to pull one out there is stuff to do in those work boxes. Maybe in the near future I will work it out to where these boxes get used everyday with school work in them. 

Our work boxes are divided by the subjects we cover each day through our Classical Conversations.

I put all my materials in these boxes. They help me stay clean around our school room.  

Thanks for stopping by at viewing our home school room. I would love to see your room!

So feel free to share the link of your school room in the comments.

 

Happy Homeschooling!