Ok, So my New Years Resolution is to Blog more!

So as the holidays draw closer, and I have to contimplate Christmas with my kids and family, I can look back on the last 5 months and evaluate what the first half of the year of homeschooling has been like.

Hectic-to say the least. Juggling everything that we have has been enormous, but worth it.

Trying-It has been so hard with Wyatt to get him to adjust to the fact that no matter what public school let him get away with, Momma don't buy it!

Difficult-I was so selfish for resenting the fact that I no longer had "me" time in the beginning, but I see what I gave up now as an amazing opportunity to have the most influence on my children.

REWARDING- With Wyatt it was so hard to get to this point, but we have amazing times together to read and work, and figure out Math (on that day I swore I could not teach him anymore!). I am proud of my kids.. and all the new things they have been able to learn and that I taught them.

I am posting some pictures of projects we did this fall, and tomorrow we start our Christmas crafts. I have links to most of the crafts, and I love searching the net to find new cheap arts and crafts projects! The 3-D stand up turkeys and thankful trees were fun, and they also did a beaded cornhusk magnet that I bought from Oriental Trading (another favorite I have come to rely on) so they had a blast with them!

I scrapbooked the place cards for everyone in my family to tell them how thankful I was for them and why!

Merry Christmas to all, and remember Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Amanda & The Gang

Where did the time go?

Where did the time go?? Shortly after returning from vacation in South Texas, we started school. It has been a roller coaster to say the least, but I am proud of the job I am doing at home, and proud to say that my husband preached his first sermon on September 30th! I guess all that going on could be why I haven't been blogging like I had thought/hoped I would. That, and there really isn't anyone to read it... so its more for my sanity than anything. Plus, it's here for me to look back on later. I am excited at what we have accomplished in the 6 weeks we have been schooling at home. We love that our kids are here, and we can mold and shape them into the young minds that we want them to be, not what someone else wants to turn them into.

In Christ,
Amanda & The Kids

Count Down To Vacation...

Ahhh the joys of Fall will be coming before we know it. But until then... we are counting the days as a family until we get to South Texas to see everyone. I miss my sweet sister-in-law, both mothers in law, my father-in-law and everyone else. We don't get south as often as we would like, but our hope is that will be changing soon!

Books are unpacked, in process of getting my new computer hooked up and all of my homeschool files downloaded. Laptops shipped to be worked on (my innocent daughter has an obsession with pulling keys off the keyboards) and now we are just killing time until August 24. They keep complaining about boredom... and I wish we had everything ready to go so that I could just put them to work. I sufficently raided my moms house for necessities and I think desk chairs are all I have left to get.

As I write this 3/4's of the kids are at my feet growling like monsters and chasing people around, I think I should probably get lunch started before they eat each other!!!

God Bless!
Amanda & The Kids

Summer's Almost Over.. Sort Of!

Hey Everyone!!

I decided to start this blog, in the hopes that it will be "therapeutic" for me. So much has changed this year, and we have so much to share and explore as a family. Homeschooling, Bucky's call to preach, and Cassidy getting bigger. Throw the potential for Wyatt's surgery being rescheduled this winter/spring, and keeping Dylan healthy into the mix, anything could be possible.

It has been such an amazing summer, and the Lord has dealt with me on a number of issues. But I think that by stepping out of the "normal" and taking a stand in being the people that raise our children is huge, and I don't take the responsibility lightly. Not only is being a parent a huge job, but also being accountable for their education. Wow!!

I hope that the blogging is a way to keep the family updated on what is going on in our world, and also a way for me to keep my head on and keep focused on what's important at home.

Have a great day!
Amanda & The Kids