In my life this week…

Sunday:  Enjoyed church service with Grandma & Grandpa….kids got a sneak peak of one of the “pipe rooms” for the church’s pipe organ.  I’m thinking some how, that counts as school, right?   Music Appreciation….that organ has over 3,300 pipes!!

Monday:  Summer Youth Olympic Archery….two hours of shooting arrows for the kids…two hours of chatting with friend for me. 🙂

Tuesday:  Found a cupcake cookbook at the craft store over the weekend…tried out some Mojito Cupcakes today.  Not too bad, need a little tweaking on the icing!

Wednesday:  Playing with new trail cam in the yard…Check out this early morning capture:

And later, dinner with friends to wish them a “Bon Voyage”…good food and good friends (No, we did not have venison!)

Thursday:  A little crafting today, thanks to Pinterest (See picture below.)….Suprise! Meet Grandma & Grandpa for dinner…

Friday:  A short shopping trip into town with my niece…smoothies…a special viewing of “A Knights Tale” with my sweet daughter….a favorite quote from the character Chaucer in the movie, “I’m a writer.  I give the truth scope!”  Ha ha…

Saturday:   Took girls to one of the largest Street Art fairs in the country, hoping for some artistic inspiration more than for a great purchasing opportunity.  As usual, it was HOT and extremely crowded.  There was some incredible art.  But we the end, we were HOT and tired more than we were inspired!   Crowds do that to me I think.  Back home to work on some ideas from Pinterest!   So happy to find my nephew over for a visit when we returned.  🙂

In our homeschool this week…kids working independently to finish anything they fell behind in.  I’m loving watching them take responsibility without a lot of prodding by me.  Trying to get my head around the next school year!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…So much of the time, we find ourselves stressing over the things that don’t come easy for our students.  Make sure to spend as much time allowing them to develop their talents.

I am inspired by…creativity in action and nature

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… looking forward to a family vacation next month. I think we’re over-due!

My favorite thing this week was… time with friends and family

Questions/thoughts I have… What if we all used most of our free time developing our God-given gifts and abilities??

Things I’m working on…

Jewelry:  Getting workbench/studio set back up and looking for inspiration.

Decorating:  Getting paint for foyer, so we can finish what we started!

Fiber:  Must get back to a little stick weaving….need to make a frame to hold more sticks.  Need to find a spinning class to try, would love to learn to make art yarn to use for my stick weaving.

I’m reading…  Heiress, by Susan May Warren, Bruchko, by Bruce Olson and Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young…oh, and honestly just started a book called Teddy’s Button, by Amy LeFeuvre written in 1896.  Do you think that’s too many to keep track of?  And to think I never used to spend any time reading!

I’m cooking…we’ve been eating out WAY too much…growing tired of restaurant food…must find some new recipes to try

I’m grateful for… God’s faithfulness….His Word, always there to guide, direct, encourage

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Idea from Pinterest:

With a twist by me:

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God…”  Just a reminder to give up the worry and relax!

In my life this week….

Sunday:  Went to take a look at the house my in-laws are buying.  We are so excited for them.

Spent sometime today getting organized for school…Finished reading The Northern Lights series by Lisa T. Bergren.

Monday:  Our first “Not Quite Back to School” day….since the official start date in our school district was today, we thought we’d play along….we did some school related things:  We shopped for a few school supplies, but really didn’t need much.  While we were out, we saw a Bald Eagle, so we talked about it = nature study.   On our way home, we decided since #1 Boy will be starting 7th Grade and #1 Girl will be starting 11th Grade, we should stop by 7-11 for a slurpee in commemoration!

Once home we organized our work space and set up our working notebooks and talked about the year ahead.

Tuesday:  My friend is redecorating….so now I’ve got the itch to do a few things around here!  Thanks, “Friend”…you know who you are!  DH and I spent some time moving furniture around in the living room.  It’s always nice to have a little change.  He even said he’ll help me make curtains if I can’t find any I like!  🙂

Ordered fabric to reupholster dining room chairs on Ebay!  That’s a little brave of me right?? (Or crazy, some may say!)

Wednesday:  Worked on blog post about curriculum choices for the year…It was quite elaborate with pictures and stuff…Google Chrome crashed and my hour of work disappeared before my eyes.  I took it as a sign from God!  I was, possibly, going overboard….No way I’m going to re-do all that! 😦  Don’t you hate it when that happens?  If you’d like to know what we’re using for curriculum, feel free to ask!

Did a little shopping with a friend, made a little comfort food for dinner:

Meatloaf, Parsley Parmesan Potato’s, Corn and a nice tossed salad 🙂

Thursday:  Got the World map and the U.S. map back on the wall today.  The kids actually hung out there for a good half hour, checking things out! 🙂  Last year, I added locations for some of our ancestors just for reference.  It brings a personal dimension to U.S. History when you can see where our family was during the important times in history.

We spent some time reviewing where we left off in American History, just after the American Revolution.  This year we will be studying the 19th Century, both here and abroad.

Started back to Rock Band lessons this week…#1 Girl plays lead guitar, and #1 Boy usually plays drums, but this week they handed him a bass guitar to try!  He did pretty well, but had sore fingers!  Hmmm…who knows where that will go?

Surprised to receive fabric I ordered two days ago!  It’s perfect…can’t wait to get started on my project! 🙂

Friday:   A bloggy kind of day.  I’ve been really lacking motivation on this, my previous post was for ABSee Photo Meme.  It was Z is for Zebra; he’s cute, but I’ve grown tired of looking at him.  So I pulled out this draft post for my first Homeschool Mother’s Journal, thought I’d give it a try….finally.

This morning will be our first pick up for a produce co-op we just joined.  I’m excited to see what the shoppers picked for us this week!   Gee, I hope they didn’t pick lima beans or brussel sprouts.

#1 Girl is back to Flute Lessons today….I’m getting excited to hear her get back to work.  I came across a beautiful piece of music for Flute and Piano on Monday and just had to order it for her to work on.  It is Suite Antique, by John Rutter…I know some of it will be a challenge, but the beginning is quite beautiful.  I was excited to find it was written by Rutter, as he is one of my absolute favorite composers.

Here, take a listen:

Saturday:  Perhaps a little boating??

Places we’re going, people we’re seeing…I need to start planning some places to go this fall.  We’d like to take a family trip to north Georgia or Tennessee to spend some time in the mountains.  #1 Girl and I were planning to go to New York City for a weekend this summer, but didn’t get there.  So, I think maybe September or October for that.   In November, we’ll be heading north to Michigan for my nieces wedding and my Mom’s birthday.  So really need to get busy figuring it all out!

What I’m reading…

Right now I’m reading The Frontiersman’s Daughter, by Laura Frantz…it’s pretty good so far.

Things I’m working on…organization, right?  But I do have my eye on a couple of jewelry projects, who knows maybe I’ll get started this weekend.

What’s working and what’s not…I purchased, but I’m really not sure about Tapestry of Grace for History and Literature.  It has been overwhelming getting it organized.  It truly looks amazing, but I’m not at all convinced I should have gone this route.  Not sure if it is a good fit for us…..hmmm.  We’ll give it a little time, before we jump ship!  If you’ve been there, please by all means feel free to leave a comment.

Homeschool questions and thoughts…

Thought #1:  I can’t believe this will be our sixth year homeschooling.  It has been the most amazing experience.  I couldn’t be prouder of how the kids have developed through the years.   They are independent, diligent, and creative. (Keep up the good work, you babies! :))

Thought #2:  Looking forward to doing Apologia’s, Exploring Creation with Marine Biology, with #1 Girl….good excuse to go to the boat, don’t you think?

A photo to share…

Here’s my first take from the Produce Co-Op! Not too bad for $10….and no lima beans or brussel sprouts!

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