Journey to Excellence

In our regular life this week… You would think that coming off a vacation we would be ready to buckle down to a full week of school. But, life was busy and unusual this week! Monday night Brynne had a volleyball game and Eli had Scouts, so I was running between the two. On Tuesday night I went to watch Taylar play volleyball. We had church and handbell choir on Wednesday night. I had to travel two hours to and from my attorney's office Thursday to prepare for an upcoming hearing on child support against my ex-husband. Yesterday morning Brynne and I were up bright and early attending the elementary school pep assembly for homecoming because they were introducing all of the fall sports and she was there for volleyball. We came home and I got prepared to leave for the night to travel the four hours to Oklahoma for Rick and I to go see Alabama in concert. Then the kids were in the homecoming parade in the afternoon. Brynne introducing herself In our homeschool this wee...

As part of our ongoing unit study for this year on U.S. Geography and History, we have been settled around the Revolutionary War. We have done our usual: lots of reading, mapping, projects, writing, and videos. What we were lacking was a good read aloud. As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I had the option of choosing one of two biographies from the Heroes of History series from YWAM Publishing : Jim Elliott: One Great Purpose or George Washington: True Patriot  by Janet and Geoff Benge. The George Washington book would fit right into our current studies of the American Revolution, so I chose it. GREAT CHOICE! I will admit, I was reluctant to read a 224 page biography to my children of ages 9 and 8. But, the recommended age range for the books was 10 and up, so I decided to stretch the kids and give it all I had. I didn't have to do a thing but just read the book. They were so engaged in it that I never got a complaint as to it's length or the heaviness of it...

Well, coming off a week-long trip to Florida, I have been thinking back to the stack of good books I read. Actually, my reading streak started before that, but I was able to finish one book, read two more, and start another while on vacation. I am on a good book streak right now, so I thought I would share what I have been reading. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand I like to read books that are going to be movies in the upcoming year. I usually skip the movie because it's bound to be a disappointment, but Unbroken is one I just might have to catch. Unbroken is the life story of Louis Zamperini. He was a former bad kid turned U.S. Olympic track star turned U.S. airman. His plane crashed into the ocean in World War II and he, and two others, floated aimlessly for 47 days in a lifeboat. As if fighting off relentless sharks 24 hours a day wasn't enough, he was captured by the Japanese and held in a POW camp for a couple of years. The torture he endured is mind-numbing. But...

I'm just going to come out and say it ... my kids are really well-behaved. I never have to worry about how they will act in public, or at home for that matter. Sure, they make mistakes. But all it typically takes is a gentle reminder not to do something, and they don't. I very rarely have to raise my voice at them. They are respectful and kind. We have never been involved in a lot of activities outside the home, but Eli and Brynne are now old enough that they want to be involved in things. Eli is in Scouts and will soon start a bowling league. Brynne plays sports. They both go to Sunday School. It seems that everywhere we go there are disrespectful, mouthy, horribly behaved kids. And I mean the majority of them! Tonight I almost had all I could take! First, at Brynne's volleyball game, the girls were mouthing their coach, mouthing their parents during the game, acting selfish and loud. It was embarrassing! I was embarrassed that the other team was witnessing our girls ...

We were on vacation this past week in Pensacola, Florida. We have the pleasure of going there a couple of times a year. Thought it's intended to be a time of rest and relaxation, and a whole lot of fun, there is just too much going on that can be counted as educational hours. So we did. How? Take a look ... We spent an hour touring the Pensacola Lighthouse. It has an excellent museum that depicts life of the early Keepers of the Light. In fact, the museum is actually the Keeper's cottage. Just off the home is the water well and oil shack. There is a legend that the 23 year old daughter of one of the Keepers, who died in childbirth, still haunts the lighthouse. The kids and I watched a Ghost Hunters video about the lighthouse and climbed the 177 steps to the top. There was one hour logged of history and P.E. combined. On Sunday we spent a full day out and about. First we drove past Pensacola Beach to Navarre Beach on the scenic highway. It was beautiful! We stopped of...

In 1995 I started rising early each morning to read my Bible and do a daily devotional. I had purchased the Women's Devotional Bible by Zondervan . Over the course of that year I went through the entire Bible (not reading the whole Bible, but reading each and every devotional in it). I would read the scripture for the day, read the whole chapter from the Bible where the verse was located, read the devotional, and pray. Then the next year I purchased the Women's Devotional Bible 2 and read through it's entirety. Then the next year I went back and reread all of the devotionals in the first Bible. Then I gave it to my grandma so she could read it. The Women's Devotional Bible just spoke to me as a woman, and I gained wisdom and encouragement from it each morning. Zondervan has done it again. They have published a devotional Bible called Homeschool Mom's Bible   (a 365 day devotional) that I have had the immense pleasure of reviewing. I take that back. It st...