Preschool Program
For the past seven school years I have been busy homeschooling my three kids. It has been a journey for sure, full of ups and downs. When our now sixth grader was starting pre-school we chose a curriculum that was recommended to us by a close friend. She told me it was a fun hands-on, project driven program and all the supplies would come in a box. Since my daughter was loving arts and crafts at the time and I am not a super arts and craftsy kind of person this seemed like the perfect fit. I have used this program for all three of my kids and YES everything I needed came in the box. Readymade Preschool has been a fun way to kick off homeschooling for each of my kids!readymadepreschool.com
Paper
We bought our home about fourteen years ago and I needed some packing paper. The huge roll lasted through our move and was still around in a closet a few years later when we started projects like painting with watercolors with our kids. That paper has come in SO handy. We love to use it as a "canvas" for the kids to get creative with or as a drop cloth for whatever projects we might be doing. I just fold it all up and throw it away when we are done. No need to clean the table, just throw away the paper.
Homeschool Blogging
I was hired by Global Student Network this year to be one of their homeschool bloggers. It's been a thought-provoking challenge to write about my experiences with homeschooling. I'm thankful for the opportunity to write for GSN and grateful to play a small role in encouraging the homeschooling world. Here's a link to one of my favorite topics, staying connected as a homeschool parent. Not an Island: The Solution to Homeschool Isolation
Spring!
It's SPRING in NY...need I say more? We waited about five months to get our springtime weather back. I love my gardens this time of year. My favorite flower, the peony, has blossomed and it's sweet rose-like fragrance has filled my home. Some of my peonies are from my grandmother's garden which makes them almost 100 years old.
Anne Morrow Lindberg
About thirteen years ago a close friend of mine gave me the book Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindberg. I recently got it out and began to read it again. She was a writer and a mother. I found myself relating to what she had to say about making time to do what she was passionate about as she raised her children, managed her household, and invested in numerous friendships. Here is an excerpt that I'm sure many if not all women can relate to: "For to be a woman is to have interests and duties, raying out in all directions from the central mother-core, like spokes from the hub of a wheel. The pattern of our lives is essentially circular. We must be open to all points of the compass; husband, children, friends, home, community; stretched out, exposed, sensitive like a spider's web to each breeze that blows, to each call that comes. How difficult for us, then, to achieve a balance in the midst of these contradictory tensions, and yet how necessary for the proper functioning of our lives. How much we need, and how arduous of attainment is that steadiness preached in all rules for holy living." I have added the italics to emphasize what she was saying. Balance and steadiness are so essential even now so many years after she wrote this in 1955.
David
I have been reading about the life of David, one of my favorite people in Scripture. This time around, it's hit me that he was a writer. There were years when he had no idea what was going to work out in his life, how he was going to survive rejection, loss, suffering and through all of those hardships he wrote. He composed. He played music. He created. The world still knows what God inspired him to write down. So much beauty is expressed in his writing of the Psalms that speaks to me every time I read them. Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me."
Family Friendly Hotel
In April my daughter and I went to Pensacola, Florida to visit family. After so many months of COLD and snow we were excited to travel together and for her to see the ocean for the first time ever and of course to spend time with extended family. We stayed at a hotel for our first night there and it was the ideal place for us. It was right on the beach and even had a heated pool with a lazy river. If you are ever in Pensacola, check it out! Holiday Inn Resort Pensacola Beach
What are some of your favorite things this time of year?
