Day One of Homeschool Kicks Off Successfully!

First day of school, and we're all in.  Hubby was wonderful and made the boys breakfast - bacon, eggs, biscuits, grits.  He really started their day off right!  They were both excited to jump in.  I'm so glad to have the first day almost under our belts in such a smooth fashion. 

Here's my oldest homeschooled boy working hard.  He's taken on managing his own progress this year.

 Here's youngest exploring the IPad trying to decide what his science projects will be for this year.

Here's Daisy doing her best to...  well...  do what she does...

What a blessing to be educating at home!



Slim Down Sunday Meme - Week 6

Whether you want to lose 10 pounds, 20 pounds or 100 pounds – it always helps to have support from those around you.

Goal – lose 20 pounds   

Pounds Lost (Week 4) – Down .5 pounds - 13.5 total...

How it Went This Week:

This week has had it's up's and down's - no, not on the scale, just in life. 

The scale barely moved, but it is THAT week of the month.  So, again, I'll be patient.  But let me tell you - it'd better MOVE this week!

I discovered that I do want to eat to compensate for hurt feelings.  I don't think I realized this about myself.  There was an event this week that really hurt my feelings and I totally wanted to go out to eat somewhere and really overindulge.  I was surprised to have that reaction.  I was proud of myself for staying the course and not overeating, but the next day we all went out for pizza.  Yep, I had some.  Sigh.

Five miles didn't happen.  I got in about 3.5 miles though, so I was close.  I'm eating less than my 1200 calorie goal typically, so barring my pizza indiscretion the weight should be moving.

What’s my Plan for nexty Week:

We start school this week.  It'll be an adjustment week for all of us, so I'm not going to make any grandiose plans.

I do want to go to TKD twice this week.  We didn't last week.  My older son broke his foot.  He and his brother and I go to TKD.  It's hard to go without him.  He loves TKD so I feel bad being there and learning when he's not.  Silly, I know, but what can I say?  Must look past that and keep moving forward as we love TKD too.  He'll be back in action in a month.

How's your week going?

High School can be Overwhelming!

We’re starting homeschooling high school on Monday.  I’m nervous, my son is nervous – we’re a bundle of nerves.  We just sat down with his planner to determine what week one looks like – Yikes! 

It really isn’t so so much, but when you transition from the lazy days of summer to the rigor of a full load, it’s a bit, well, overwhelming.

He’ll be taking six courses this year:

• Honors Biology
• Honors English I
• Spanish I
• Computer Applications/ 3D Programming
• Geometry
• Honors American History

We’ve talked and talked about how it all matters from Day One if you want to have your successful path laid out for college.  He knows that, I know that.  I fear failure.

Not for him, for me.  I am so afraid to fail him.  Don’t push too hard, push hard enough, give him all the opportunity available, let him spread his wings, keep him focused, let him grow. 

Dear God – please, please lead and give me the wisdom to follow! 

One more day, then it’s on… 

Wordless Wednesday - There be Fungus Amoung Us!

After lots of humidity and heavy rains, we've gotten some beautiful fungus's growing out and about. Whether you like mushrooms or not, you gotta admit they are beautiful.  God's creativity and artistry never ceases to take my breath away.  Even in the small things like mushrooms!

Review - Amish Values for Your Family

Amish Values for Your Family

What We Can Learn from the Simple Life

Suzanne Woods Fisher

I have always been fascinated by the Amish.  They aren’t afraid to live out their faith while eschewing the conventions of the modern world.  They seem to me to be somewhat unblemished.  Their values are based on their simple life and not on what the media feeds them. There’s something about an agrarian society that focuses on faith and family that really appeals to me.  That doesn’t mean I’m ready to “go Amish”, but it does mean that I know I have a lot to learn from them.

Suzanne Woods Fisher’s book does an excellent job of bringing the life of the Amish to the reader in small digestible bits.  There are four sections with several chapters that last only a few pages each.  It’s the content of those small chapters that really resonates with the reader.  Each chapter opens with an Amish saying or proverb, and then shares a little  window into the values of the Amish and allows us to see how they can be applied in our own lives.  The chapter is followed with a “Getting from Here to There" to help us apply the lesson to our daily lives.  At the conclusion are short clips shared by the Amish community through their local paper. 

When thinking about what I took away from this book, the first thing that comes to mind is the title of the first chapter “Children are Loved but not Adored.”  How many times do we find ourselves adoring our children to a fault?  Through adoration they never learn their weaknesses, they are never allowed to stumble, and they find it difficult to be self-sufficient later in life.  I believe I see my own folly in this one as I have tended to adore my children making them less equip than they need to be for the adult world. 

Throughout the book, the focus is on family and the bond they have.  However, this bond does not exceed their faith, it comes through it.  We all need to spend more time with our spouses and our children – working, playing, worshiping.  It’s easy to let those moments get displaced by work, busyness, distraction, media.  I know I’m guilty.  I took away a deeper need to focus on the value of family rather than the value of things.  So what if we earn a lot of money and have a lot of things if our family suffers for it?  A friend the other day asked (on Facebook) how we define success.  Money wasn’t what popped into mind, it was a healthy, well adjusted family. 

Suzanne created a work that truly gives us a glimpse into the window of the lives of the Amish.  I count this book a blessing.  One day, I hope to visit the Amish communities and see their lives first hand, but until then I appreciate this opportunity to evaluate my life against the simple life and reevaluate what is important.  

I encourage all seeking to simplify life to check out Amish Values for Your Family.  In addition, Suzanne is running an exciting giveaway to coincide with the publishing of this book.  Take a look...
 

Enter 8/15 - 8/31!

Suzanne Woods Fisher is thrilled to announce the release of Amish Values for Your Family, her latest non-fiction release. "It offers loving ways to bring your fractured home back to life-Amish style. Read it and apply generously! It’s a beautiful book-funny, charming, soulful, and beautiful." -Mary Ann Kirkby

Read the reviews here.

To celebrate the release of Amish Values for Your Family, Suzanne has teamed up her publisher Revell Books to giveaway a Kindle, and with Bill Coleman (the amazing photographer used on Suzanne’s book covers) to give away a signed Bill Coleman original.

One Grand Prize winner will receive an Amish Values Prize Package (valued at over $200) and includes:

* A brand new KINDLE
* A Signed Bill Coleman original
* Amish Values for Your Family (for KINDLE)
<><> <><><><><><> <><><><>Click on one of the icons to enter. Winner will be announced on 9/2 at Suzanne’s blog. Be sure to stop by the blogs on Suzanne’s blog tour – many have copies of Amish Values for Your Family to give away.

But, wait there's more! Suzanne is running a Bill Coleman caption contest during the month of August on her blog. Title one of Bill’s gorgeous photos for a chance to win a print from Bill’s Amish Photo site and/or a copy of Amish Values for Your Family.

***  I was given this book free from LitFuse for my honest review.

Guest Blog #2 - Suzanne Woods Fischer - Five MORE Things I’ve Learned from the Amish

Five More Things I’ve Learned from the Amish that Have Nothing to Do with being Amish and Have Everything to Do with being a Christian:

Live humbly. This is the basis of the Amish life. They don’t waste, they reuse and recycle, they live simply and without luxury, they provide for each other’s needs. Daily life is embroidered with gratitude for all God has given them. Two prayers bookend every meal—a meal begins with thanks to God for the nourishing food, and ends with gratitude for what was received. 

Amish proverb: “The blessing of sharing outweighs the blessing of having.”

The Lesson: Choose simplicity over clutter. Economy over luxury. And give thanks!

A task takes as long as it takes. It seems like such a paradox—the Amish are busy, yet unhurried. They have a deliberateness in their actions—one job isn’t more important than the other. And they don’t have televisions or computers or radios or telephones—which gives them more time to cook, fish at the lake, enjoy a good book, and spend with their children and grandchildren. They have time to slow down a bit—to smell the roses along their path.

Amish proverb: “Every day that dawns brings something to do that can never be done as well again.”

The Lesson: Reduce the time where attention is focused on electronics (computer! Cell phone! Television!) and strive to be more emotionally present when with others.

Success and Size are not related. The Amish have rapidly adopted to the demands of the modern business world. Their self-owned businesses are remarkably successful, but not at the cost of everything else. They view money as a tool, not the goal.

Amish proverb: “Love, peace, and happiness in the home is of infinitely more value than honor, fame and wealth.”

The Lesson: Never let ambition destroy life’s better goals.

They teach us not to seek vengeance but to forgive. The Amish take the Lord’s Prayer seriously—if they are asking God to forgive them their sins, they must be willing to forgive others who have sinned against them. Being a forgiving person is an everyday intention.

Amish proverb: “It is far better to forgive and forget than to resent and remember.”

The Lesson: No doubt you’re familiar with the Nickel Mines tragedy. If the Amish can forgive the killer of their children, can’t we forgive a friend for not inviting us to a party? Or a driver who cuts us off? Make forgiveness your default button. A habit. An everyday intention.

God has a plan. To the Amish, everything passes through the hands of God. Everything. Joys and sorrows, both. God is sovereign over all—from weather to illness to births to who’s in the White House. They yield to God’s perfect will, trust Him for what they don’t understand, and thank Him for what they do.

Amish proverb: “God’s hand that holds the ocean’s depth can hold my small affairs. His hand, which guides the universe, can carry all my cares.”

The Lesson: Trusting God isn’t passive—it takes a lot of work! But what peace and joy are available to us when we put our faith in the Almighty God. Everything, ultimately, works out for good.

Suzanne Woods Fisher is a bestselling author of Amish fiction and non-fiction and the host of a weekly radio program called Amish Wisdom. Her most recent book, Amish Values for Your Family released in August. The Waiting is a finalist for a 2011 Christy Award. Amish Peace: Simple and Amish Proverbs were both finalists for the ECPA Book of the Year (2010, 2011). Her interest in the Amish began with her grandfather, W.D. Benedict, who was raised Plain. Suzanne has a great admiration for the Plain people and believes they provide wonderful examples to the world.  When Suzanne isn't writing or bragging to her friends about her first new grandbaby (!), she is raising puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind. To Suzanne's way of thinking, you just can't take life too seriously when a puppy is tearing through your house with someone's underwear in its mouth. Keep up on Suzanne's latest news on Facebook, Twitter and on her blog!

Slim Down Sunday Meme - Week 5

Whether you want to lose 10 pounds, 20 pounds or 100 pounds – it always helps to have support from those around you.

Goal – lose 20 pounds   

Pounds Lost (Week 4) – Down 1 pound - 13 total...

How it Went This Week:

In keeping with my crazy weeks theme, my husband hit a deer and my son broke his foot.  Lots of running around getting things fixed, but not much focus on weightloss technique.

I have to say I'm OK with the one pound even though I've been really good food wise this week.  My body tends to lose a little, lose a little, and then drop (lather, rinse, repeat).

Unfortunately, all my designs around exercise, water, doctor, etc. haven't been followed. 
Still no energy, but that's nothing new. 

I can actually see my body changing a bit, and that is exciting!  How about you?  Do you look in the mirror and see where your body is starting to shed weight?  One thing I notice is my arms and legs slimming a bit.  That's also the first area I notice when I gain weight.  It's nice to have a little visual verification.

What’s my Plan for this Week:

I have a lot to accomplish this week getting ready for starting school on the 22nd, so I'm not going to start making promises I won't keep.

However, that being said, the weather is cooling a bit, and I AM going to get into the habit of that one mile walk each night.  Mark my words ladies!  At least five miles will be walked by next Sunday!!! 

I have fallen in love with tomatoes!  Did you know a regular tomato is only thirty or so calories!  Yum!  I dice up an entire tomato, add a handful of baby carrots, a splash of fat free balsamic viniagrette and have a feast.  Yum! 

Also - Vlasic whole pickles claims on the jar that they are calorie free.  I find that hard to believe, but if they are really low in calorie, they definitely help with my salt cravings without going to crackers and starting that whole carb consumption that makes me ravenous.  So, those are my snacks/meals for this week.

Finally, I'm really enjoying YoCrunch 100 Calorie packs in cheescake flavor.  Vanilla yogurt with graham sprinkles.  A safe indulgence.

How about you?  What are those foods that you enjoy that help you stay on track without feeling like you are being deprived?