Back To School...

We are well underway for our first day of school. This year I have a 7th grader, 5th grader, 3rd grader, and K. Awesome and fun variety!! It is going to be a bit of a juggle and all the kids are going to need to be on their best behavior in order to give everyone their turn with mom, but the kids are used to sharing;) Getting a schedule down will take awhile but I know it will fall into place. We started out this morning with a fun walk just to wake us all up(especially mama, who is not a morning person and is already missing the summer routine!)

It was a gorgeous fall day!! Crisp cool air and bright sun!

Then we made our regular, first day of school, donut run! But we were greeted with this creepy fellow when we got in the car. Let's just say he is still giving me the shivers!!

We splurged on chocolate milks-yum! I took the oppratunity to read some more to them from my Corrie ten Boom book. We read about her experiences working in a leper colony. I am always so grateful for Corrie's honesty of her struggles and failures as well as her successes and the glory she gives to the Lord for her accomplishments.

A few weeks ago, Matt and I took Bell on a date. With five kiddos, we try and make special times for each of them to get some one on one time with them. Since Bell is starting school this year, and is beyond excited, we decided to take her out to get some school supplies and ice cream. Here is the happy girl on our school shopping trip...

She had fun picking out some of her charts....

some fun books and even pencils with her name...all the while, enjoying that funny lollipop!

We finished our date with a trip to DQ!

The last few days I spent time working to get the basement ready to start school. It has to transform from crazy forts and art projects to something that resembles a school room! The younger girls have a combined work station.

Madison has her own desk with a laptop for her lessons, and Cole works upstairs now where it is quiet. Our basement is all open which works really well for us right now. Since the 5 kids share only 2 bedrooms, we keep all of their toys in the basement.

Noah lives at his train table!! He is an all out Thomas fan! He plays very nicely while I work with the kids but he does like to get in on some of the coloring!

I am thankful for a good first day.....only a couple hundred more to go;)

Times Sure Have Changed.....

I have had the awesome privelege of teaching my children at home. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I hear the question, "Did you do this in school?" Most of the time I am amazed by how little I actually remember about what I learned in school or what I did. And, from day one of becoming "teacher mom" I have been relearning or learning, maybe even for the first time, so many things!!! I cannot believe how uneducated I have felt at times!!! - Or how completely humbling it is when your child teaches you something that you know you should know!

Today has been one of those days, that I can say- "I do actually know a few things they do not!" But! only because I am from the now "STONE AGE" compared to them. We are waiting for our new curriculum to arrive any day now. So, we have been filling in the gap with some fun brainteasers, checkups and reviews. I pulled out a crossword puzzle worksheet today on "which references should be used." I had no idea how funny this was going to end up being. Basically, my son came up with a one word answer for it all....GOOGLE! While I am obviously fond of the latest tools to find information, this actually made me feel like this exercise was quite useful. Now the kids would learn how us ancients located things. Like- how did you locate a book in the library-"What is a card catalog!?" Or "How do you determine the distance between two cities- "What is a map?"- How did you find out the cost of a bicycle- "What is a catalog?"-

Teaching my kids will be one of the most precious and worthwhile tasks I will ever have in my life! It will stretch me further than I could ever have imagined in every way-mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. It will keep me on my knees before the Lord-because the only way I can accomplish this is with Him!!! Philippians 4:13 The difficulties will never measure up to blessings! I will remember the laughter, the "I GET IT" moments, and the times at the table when each child first reads an entire sentence after the hours of repeating sounds, the tears of frustration, and the feelings of "Will it ever happen?" finally come to fruition. But one of the important lessons for me will continue to be that the Lord will use my children to teach me probably more than I teach them!