Homeschool Mom's Journal: May 7-12

In my life this week...
Goodness gracious!  Lots!  The week started with a trip to the dentist.  Dentists terrify me so before I visited this one, I made Chris go first to check him out.  Turns out, he's pretty awesome but I was shaking and praying in the waiting room (sad but true).  Our family is totally addicted to the game Tripoley!  We had another fun game night with that one!  On Friday, we ended the homeschool co-op Chris and I had started.  It was a bittersweet day - sad to say goodbye to it and many wonderful friends but joy and peace in knowing God's got it under control.

We headed up to Truckee on Saturday to visit the Donner museum and lake.  We went with good friends and spent the day together.  It's a day trip we had planned WAY back in February and I'm glad we did because I sure needed that R & R!  We originally were going to Petaluma for a Living History day but opted for cooler climates when we saw that Petaluma would be 84.

In our homeschool this week...
I'm suffering from a split mind right now - one half is focusing on finishing up this school year and transition into some light summer work and the other half of my brain is focused on next school year.  Our co-op did a wonderful lesson on Monet and in our personal school, had some great discussions on critical thinking, worldviews as well as history (both World and California)!  We've hit a much slower pace and I actually like it!

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share...
Don't fix what isn't broken!  Don't throw out a curriculum just because "it's that time of year".  If it's working, keep using it for the next year!  It's tempting to want to try new things out there, believe me, but I'm learning resist the urge to tweak!

I am inspired by...
authentic faith; today's sermon and the challenge put out there to all moms by Pastor Chris and perseverance...


Places we're going and people we're seeing...
We're heading to Truckee for some much needed R & R with friends.  It's a daytrip - which I LOVE - and the temps. will be much cooler than in Sacramento! We plan on going through the Donner Museum and hanging out at Donner Lake for the day!

My favorite thing this week was...
Leaving church today.  I'll blog more about it soon but I left crying. In a good way because Jake's Sunday School teacher shared with me her heart for Jake.  I was so overwhelmed!  Ahhh, LOVE my church family!

Oh! one more.. Jake was telling me how much he loved our church this week, which made my heart smile, but he turned to me and said, "Mom, the very first day we went there.. I just knew.  It was OUR church!".  (sigh)


What's working/not working for us...
The color in my living room is DEFINITELY not working for me right now.  Ok, now that I've got that off my mind... I'm re-thinking our English curriculum, at least for my youngest, as it doesn't seem to be working that well for him.


Questions/thoughts I have...
Why does Starbucks put their frapps on sale once a year or so???  I guess that's a good thing, though, because I'd be there all the time if they were always $2!  LOL!

Things I'm working on... 
VBS craft preparations with a group of ladies at church.  Our all-church memorial day weekend picnic - I'm heading up a couple of kid games!  I'm also beginning to lay the ground work for next year's school with establishing goals, purging our book shelves, etc.

I'm reading...
Spiritual Parenting

I'm cooking... 
NOTHING!  Yay!

I'm grateful for...
provision that comes, not from man, but God alone...


I'm praying for...
Baby Livvy; to live out my faith, first and foremost, for my children and for others.  May I leave a legacy of faith that Lois and Eunice left for Timothy; for family; for the ability to forgive as God did and to live that out daily...


Photo/video/quote to share...

Watch Mike from Tenth Avenue North talk about elephants and forgiveness.  VERY. AWESOME. REMINDER!  God, may I absorb more pain than I inflict!  May I not keep a record of other's wrongs for you erased mine!

I'm linking up to...