I just randomly ran across the neatest blog! The post i read was about stewardship of time/money/effort.... you know, MORE THAN TITHES! So cool, very few people think that way. I am always amazed when I run across what I call "Christian hippies". Rex balks at that and I know it doesn't really fit but I know so many Christians (who challenge me so very much) that are beginning to think in terms of protecting God's creation and modeling for our children lifestyle stewardship. Okay, enough soapbox... check it out!
Carlisle Clan Conversations
I really should be doing the cloth napkins thing.... that one made me wince! We use WAAAAAYYYYY too many paper towels!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Writing contest link!
For you homeschool friends looking for a fun way to encourage writing this year:
http://homeschoolwriters.com/chart.aspx
enjoy!
Man, if you'd told me when I was a kid that one day I would find joy and pleasure in spending 1.5 hrs. cleaning the guts of my fridge I'd have written you off as nuts...........
http://homeschoolwriters.com/chart.aspx
enjoy!
Man, if you'd told me when I was a kid that one day I would find joy and pleasure in spending 1.5 hrs. cleaning the guts of my fridge I'd have written you off as nuts...........
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Warning:D
I'm about to go "homeschool" on you:D not yet... you're safe for now.... but my friend who shall remain nameless for now, does some pretty amazing posts about her schedules and plans and daily routines! So, I'm thinking it'll motivate me if I post my intentions as well. I need the prodding seeing as how school, for us, will start August 2.
Sigh, next week we're doing our Cat5's! This week we're squeezing in some school in between basketball camp and football practice. Well, I'm making them read while I paint Glitter's room.... They need at least one week of "downtime"? Right?
I'm so ready to put this year behind me and start OVER! :D
If all goes the way it's supposed to, we do 17 weeks (of actual curriculum work) in the fall, 17 weeks in the spring and then spend the rest of our "school time" exploring and field tripping to museums/zoos/aquariums/science centers/caves and things like that. We also do a fun "study" of Jewish holidays around Christmas since our fall semester finishes the week of Thanksgiving. Don't be fooled though, I use that time to reinforce and review and pound into heads what we learned in first semester. We read a lot too but not all school takes place in a book! So the 6 weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year are put to good use in alternative ways.
Ahhhhhh, I'm ready for a new "normal" whatever that is.
Here's some pictures for you: oops, it's up there?!?!? ummm, from DC a few weeks ago.
IMAX movie...see? Learning takes place all the time!
DC National Gallery of Art... We even got some actual curriculum done that morning too! A full day of learning and fun crammed into one!
She was so hot and sweaty!! But, it was too hard to pass up, our lovely lady in front of a lovely painting......
Sigh, next week we're doing our Cat5's! This week we're squeezing in some school in between basketball camp and football practice. Well, I'm making them read while I paint Glitter's room.... They need at least one week of "downtime"? Right?
I'm so ready to put this year behind me and start OVER! :D
If all goes the way it's supposed to, we do 17 weeks (of actual curriculum work) in the fall, 17 weeks in the spring and then spend the rest of our "school time" exploring and field tripping to museums/zoos/aquariums/science centers/caves and things like that. We also do a fun "study" of Jewish holidays around Christmas since our fall semester finishes the week of Thanksgiving. Don't be fooled though, I use that time to reinforce and review and pound into heads what we learned in first semester. We read a lot too but not all school takes place in a book! So the 6 weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year are put to good use in alternative ways.
Ahhhhhh, I'm ready for a new "normal" whatever that is.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Summer School... and bribes.
What do you do when you have a tough year with school 2 years in a row? Summer school.
What do you do when you feel ridiculously guilty for having to do summer school? Bribes.
sooooooo, this is what we've been bribing our kids with :D.
Each day if they accomplish the basics (math and grammar) in the allotted time (2 hours) they receive a sticker and 3 pieces of candy- from the bucket. (yes, go ahead and faint! I'm actually letting my kids have sugar!! I can't believe it either.) After 5 days in a row, they get to choose one of the large candy choices (on the shelf next to the bucket). When they have successfully completed the needed number of lessons, they receive an item from the top shelf... each prize was chosen for a specific kiddo. The extra prizes are for reading books. The $5 and the Walmart gift cards are for reading books too.The playdoh giant pack is a group prize when everyone is finished! I'm sure what gets created will be blog worthy... their creativity makes me stand mouth agape while scratching my head.
I know, I feel horrible resorting to this but they get a little fun out of the deal after having to work hard. I don't feel the need to buy the kids lots of stuff and I feel staunchly that kids need to be diligent and have a servants attitude towards responsibility but....... Rex came up with this idea to make summer school more fun and it's been fantastic! I love it. I'm going to modify it for the next school year (which, sigh, starts in 2 weeks!)
Anyhow, this has given the kids a tangible reward for their efforts and they have risen to the challenge with a great attitude! We've even managed to fit swim team, Lego camp, VBS, piano lessons, pool parties, play dates, movies, and coming up, football summer training and basketball camp into our days and still get school done too! We also went to DC with Rex for a work trip (pics later). That's a lot to cram in!
PS- please ignore the junk accumulation on the bottom shelf. I haven't unpacked the kitchen yet! Thus the empty shelves that were available for filling. One of these days I'll post pictures of a decorated organized house...... one day. :)
What do you do when you feel ridiculously guilty for having to do summer school? Bribes.
sooooooo, this is what we've been bribing our kids with :D.
Each day if they accomplish the basics (math and grammar) in the allotted time (2 hours) they receive a sticker and 3 pieces of candy- from the bucket. (yes, go ahead and faint! I'm actually letting my kids have sugar!! I can't believe it either.) After 5 days in a row, they get to choose one of the large candy choices (on the shelf next to the bucket). When they have successfully completed the needed number of lessons, they receive an item from the top shelf... each prize was chosen for a specific kiddo. The extra prizes are for reading books. The $5 and the Walmart gift cards are for reading books too.The playdoh giant pack is a group prize when everyone is finished! I'm sure what gets created will be blog worthy... their creativity makes me stand mouth agape while scratching my head.
I know, I feel horrible resorting to this but they get a little fun out of the deal after having to work hard. I don't feel the need to buy the kids lots of stuff and I feel staunchly that kids need to be diligent and have a servants attitude towards responsibility but....... Rex came up with this idea to make summer school more fun and it's been fantastic! I love it. I'm going to modify it for the next school year (which, sigh, starts in 2 weeks!)
Anyhow, this has given the kids a tangible reward for their efforts and they have risen to the challenge with a great attitude! We've even managed to fit swim team, Lego camp, VBS, piano lessons, pool parties, play dates, movies, and coming up, football summer training and basketball camp into our days and still get school done too! We also went to DC with Rex for a work trip (pics later). That's a lot to cram in!
PS- please ignore the junk accumulation on the bottom shelf. I haven't unpacked the kitchen yet! Thus the empty shelves that were available for filling. One of these days I'll post pictures of a decorated organized house...... one day. :)
Childhood at its finest!
Well, I'm a few weeks late but this just had to get posted (so i can remember it)!
The kids were having a ball playing in the hose. They claimed to be creating "habitats". They do this frequently.
Presently, I have a turtle living in my garden (I know, nasty. But this year there's nothing planted except 2 pathetic little tomato plants in the far corner and the garden plot is huge.... so i'm giving them a few days.) I think they were trying to lure another mommy frog into laying another 300 eggs in our yard.
Wish I had pictures of THAT! but my ever faithful MAC that I love ate the pictures....and about 300 others! It never acts up! Never! Never gets a virus.... nothing. One Christmas it just decided to eat my pictures. I'm not a happy camper about it.
Anyway, they were thrilled to find many animal tracks the next morning and had fun identifying them. I had to get them to move it to the grass so it wouldn't damage the vans but it was fun to see their ingenuity, creativity and just plain wild imaginations at work. Needless to say, bathtime was immediately after this picture was taken!
ahhhhhh, summer!
-Melissa
The kids were having a ball playing in the hose. They claimed to be creating "habitats". They do this frequently.
Presently, I have a turtle living in my garden (I know, nasty. But this year there's nothing planted except 2 pathetic little tomato plants in the far corner and the garden plot is huge.... so i'm giving them a few days.) I think they were trying to lure another mommy frog into laying another 300 eggs in our yard.
Wish I had pictures of THAT! but my ever faithful MAC that I love ate the pictures....and about 300 others! It never acts up! Never! Never gets a virus.... nothing. One Christmas it just decided to eat my pictures. I'm not a happy camper about it.
Anyway, they were thrilled to find many animal tracks the next morning and had fun identifying them. I had to get them to move it to the grass so it wouldn't damage the vans but it was fun to see their ingenuity, creativity and just plain wild imaginations at work. Needless to say, bathtime was immediately after this picture was taken!
-Melissa
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Oreo..our New Addition to the Harrell Tribe!
Wow won't do that again. We drove almost up to DC to get this little
monkey for Glitter. She is beyond excited to have a new puppy. This
little guy is a miniature australian shepherd. We had a choice between
this one and one with two blue eyes, but we couldn't help but fall in
love with this little guy....OREO. He is a total mess.
monkey for Glitter. She is beyond excited to have a new puppy. This
little guy is a miniature australian shepherd. We had a choice between
this one and one with two blue eyes, but we couldn't help but fall in
love with this little guy....OREO. He is a total mess.
The ones with Glitter turned out really nice.
How can you turn that face down. Oh and his "full" name
per Glitter is Oreo "Cuddles" Harrell. No comment.
How can you not want to love me?
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