Vacation...

One of the benefits of homeschooling is the flexibility to just get up and go. We did just that! We were off to the beach. We set up camp at Huntington Beach, HOT Huntington  Beach. It was beautiful!

Our Site for the week

Thank the Lord our camper does have an air-conditioner! Honestly, I do not know how people camp in tents as hot as it was, yes, I don't do well in hot heat.  It did rain off and on which gave us an opportunity to head to Charleston for the day. If you have never been, I highly recommend it! What a beautiful city. Needless to say, Donnie and myself were in our element- we are such history buffs!

 We went on a carriage tour, again, something I recommend. The only drawback, I didn't want it to end! The city is just bursting with history. Did you know that the film, The Patriot, was filmed in the  city? The city was covered in dirt, straw and all the lamppost were removed to look back in the day. They even put a women in  big hooped dress over a fire-hydrant to hide the modern day essential. Who would of thought! Anyway, we had a great time on our last minute trip.

We are back at school again this week !  I hope you have  blessed day and we will catch up again on Friday!

First Week of School

 Country Places Academy has officially begun! What a great week! I am so happy that the Lord has opened the doors for us to homeschool our children. We have had several, " I get it! " moments.

I am going to try to journal with the Hommeschool Mother's Journal...I say TRY.

In  my life this week...

I spent a lot of time in prayer, praying for very dear friends, praying for an oppurtunity presented to us, and praying for our pastor who is under going surgery as  type.

In our homeschool this week...

We began! 

I am inspired by...

Mothers who homeschool 4+ children, whew!

Places we are going and seeing...

The Beach! Super excited to get away to sand,sun and hanging out with the family!

Questions/thoughts I have...

Will the excitement of homeschooling continue with my children? 

What I am reading...

3 Books-  A Girl's Guide to Life

                A Young Woman Who Reflects the Heart of Jesus

                A Young Woman's Guide to Making Right Choices - Your Life God's Way

I'm cooking...

Fresh veggies from the farmers market- YUM!

I'm praying for...

Our Pastor who is in surgery right now, an opportunity that has been offered to us, some sweet friends that just need to be lifted in prayer. My husbands business, that the Lord will continue to receive the  glory!

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

You may be the only Bible someone will see.

Have a blessed weekend!

2012...

Happy New Year!  It's hard to believe it's 2012, and we all go back to our regular schedules on Wednesday...sigh.  As I write this, I am in front of our wood burning stove, my hubby is on his comp searching ski deals, the boys have been out playing hockey in the snow.  Yes, we received our first snow this evening and a BIG 1 inch. Growing up in Michigan, that's not much, but here in East Tennessee, it's a lot!!! Yippie!

 Now that we have begun a new year, I really need to make some heart changing changes! I don't like making New Year's resolution but I rather enjoy compelling a list of goals. Goals that I know I can succeed at reaching...you guessed it- this blog is on that list.  I have my regular list of blogs that I find so inspiring that every time I read those, I feel guilty about how I have not done my best on keeping this blog up.  So, once again, I am going to give it a try...Along with building a chicken coop and raising chickens! I have learned so much over these past two weeks about myself, my kids, our family as a WHOLE! With that being said... Let's begin!

Tea Party!

What a grand tea! A very dear friend opened her lovely home and hosted ( now one of my favorite of favorites) an afternoon tea.  Each lady that was invited came with a beautiful hat or their own creation of a fascinator- the creativity was great, there was even a contest for the most creative! I know each of us had a wonderful time and will remeber this tea for days to come! Enjoy the slideshow!

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Free scrapbooking design personalized with Smilebox

Day 3

Day 3 My most recent project:

Day 2

Day 2 A picture of you and your children...

Day 1

Day 1- Picture of yourself....

Have  a blessed week!

30 Day Photo Challenge...

A dear friend of mine is has taken part of a 30 day photo challenge and I have always wanted to this and even though it seems things in my life are pulling in every direction, I will get this accomplished! And speaking of accomplishments, I finished our Good Morning Girls Bible study! I would highly recommend this Bible study, I learned so much about God's word and myself. The other 19 ladies that were in our group have taught me so much and I really appreciate their faithfulness to this Bible study! i
Now back to the 30 day photo challenge. You can view Sherry's blog here to get all the listings. Hope you all have a wonderful week full of many blessings!

On the Hunt...

YES! I have been on the hunt this past week...Curriculum Hunting! Let me tell you this, my head is hurting,lol. There is so much great curriculum out there! I find one that I think this is great, we will go with this one. Guess what? I find another that I like better or one that I think my children will strive on! UGH! I need to step back and really ask the Lord for his guidance in all of this, there is so much and being just a wee bit excited doesn't help much either.  Yes, the little girl looking at all the presents under the tree is still gleaming! I can barely control myself!!!! I have hit the homeschooling blogs full force! Watch out, crazy woman on a mission for great curriculum for her children...just giving a heads up!
Hope you all have a blessed week!

Awesome Giveaway...

You have to head over to Hip Homeschool Moms they are giving away so much, very excited, it's a must see! You'll be glad you did!

I'm linking up this week on one of my fav blogs...it's actually a homeschooling blog, and as most of you know, that homeschooling has such a tender spot in my heart.  Having started out homeschooling our children and now because of jobs, they are in a christian day school I find myself constantly on homeschooling blogs- funny I know, but secretly, I am praying that we can get back to homeschooling!

In my life this week...
We found out that Bradlynn, our 6th grader took 1st at regional in Vocal Solo, and I must say she did a great job!
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We are so proud her!
We also took 2 school days off and headed to the mountains this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Every year our church host a couples retreat and this year we rented a cabin and took the kids...yes, I know it was a "couples retreat" but, our office pretty much runs it meaning I knew I would be working most of the time and probably wouldn't be in the sessions. We really had a fun get away, it was much needed!
Places we're going to and people we are seeing...  
Like I mentioned earlier, we went to the couples retreat and we saw so many of our friends. Friends from college, friends that Donnie went to school with and friends that we do see at church but really just don't have time to sit and fellowship with, it was just great to see everyone!
What we are working on this week...
We are going to try to start working on the boys room, building a loft for the three of them.  Donnie is actually heading out to Alabama for work this week, and the children do not have school on Monday-in service day for the teachers, so we shall see how far we really do get done on this project.
We also tilled the garden for the first time, it's hard to believe that it's that time again.  We will begin the starter seeds in the next few weeks. I can hardly wait for fresh zucchini...mmmmmm!
Photo, video, link or quote to share...
Hopefully the video of Bradlynns vocal will post. We actually downloaded it on Vimeo, the site that Donnie uses for all the properties. And as I type this, he is out on the tractor, so my fingers are crossed that it will work.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy Valentine's Day!

My sweet neice Jacqueline Rose turned 1! She did such a great job devouring her cake. It was great to get together with family and friends to help celebrate this little ones birthday.
On another note, the stomach sickness has hit our family! I will say I am so proud of each of my children, they have been so brave thru each of their sickness. I wish I could take their pain away, as a mother the last thing you like to see is your children hurting. 

This week we begin week 2 of our study in James! Really looking forward to what God has for me this week! Along with this study I have been reading:

Wow! It too has blessed my soul! It is a devotional book that would take you a few minutes to read but leaves an impression on your heart and mind. Throughout the day, I have reverted back to what I read that morning and how the Lord has just challenged my heart!  I know you will be blessed!  Hope and pray you have a blessed Monday!                                                                                                                          



Here they go!

A New Year!

Good Morning Girls!

I have to introduce you to this amazing site!  Good Morning Girls   it's a blog that has challenged ladies to form a group, by using email, facebook or twitter to keep each other accountable for their quiet time with the Lord.  Right now there are over 1,000 GMG and over 150 groups!  We have just begun our first week and I can not begin to tell you how the Lord, and the other 19 women in our group, have blessed my soul this past week!  We are studying the book of James.  James, along with the book of Esther, are my two favorite books of the Bible! I was so excited to begin this study!
My dear friend and I decided to create these cute little journals for each of our ladies. (Just a little something to help along with the SOAP  method) They turned out great I must say...wink wink.
I encourage each of you to take a few minutes to hop over and check out these blogs! You will be blessed!

Jodilynn