What are you serving at your family table this week? I love hearing what others are doing. My menu was lifted from the Fall 2008 Clean Eating issue, in case you're wondering about the page numbers. : ) I love having photos of all the healthy recipes featured, and am absolutely smitten with this magazine! You can request your own free copy from Clean Eating, or look for the latest issue at your local book store.

Day 1: Quinoa, Apple & Walnut Salad (p. 80)
Day 2: Mahi Mahi Tacos (p. 34-35)
Day 3: Sesame-Mango Chicken ( p. 57)
Day 4: Roasted Cauliflower, Leek & Garlic Soup (p. 46) with Balsamic-Glazed Cracked Pepper Salmon (p. 29)
Day 5: Turkey Ragout (p. 58)
Day 6: Shrimp & Edame Stir Fry “Salad” (p. 50-51)


To happy, healthy dining!

Catching Up

My online friend Rhonda over at Imagine reminded me through her blog today that I (GASP!) have not taken much time over the summer to scrapbook. Looking at my summer photos, I like this one of my dd on the lake. I used free items from Digital Scrapbook Search Engine and Scrapbook Designer to create this page in about 5 minutes!

I'd love to carve out a half an hour per day to scrapbook. Hmmm. I am going to have to think about this. Keeping up is really the key. Step by step, little by little, rather than waiting until I have a memory card of 200 photos (and no, this is not a theoretical number!) waiting to be scrapped.

How about you? Are you finding a little time each day for something fun? When was the last time you pulled out your crochet basket or your scrapbook supplies? It is a GOOD thing to schedule a little time for hobbies each day, even if it is only a half hour. I can't believe it, but I completed my page and this post in about 15 minutes total. I may not have hours and hours of free time per day, but I think thirty minutes per day is something I'm going to try.

A Peek

In our homeschool, we have been studying the Reconstruction period and studying some of the states. We have taken a leisurely literature approach to history using the TruthQuest AHYS III guide, and are adding in some notebooking/scrapbooking here and there. Miss M told me this morning that she wanted to share some of her notebook pages, so here you go:

So there is the first peek into our little homeschool this year! I hope you enjoyed it. More to come, Lord willing.

Fall Pursuits 2008

Another academic year has begun here in our little homeschool. My blog break was longer than intended, and my apologies for that! For my first post of the academic year, I am thinking it would be helpful to think about what my goals are for 2008-9. What am I shooting for this year above all else? I will keep returning to these goals to help me stay on track and evaluate what is most important in my day. Are the activities I am spending time on helping me meet my goals?

Here are my top goals and pursuits for 2008-9:

1) Pursue a loving relationship with God - "to have found God, and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of Love..." - AW Tozer

2) Pursue being a helper and mate to my husband - "My beloved is mine, and I am his" - Song of Songs 2:16

3) Pursue wisdom in my role as a Mom and home educator - "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Col. 3:16

4) Pursue good health and stewardship of the physical body as I plan meals and activities for my family - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

5) Pursue and intentionally cultivate a gracious, serving heart - "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." Hebrews 12:28

Pages could be filled with more goals, as I have so many areas I need to work on! However, starting with 5 is do-able.

Hope your year is off to a good start and that you are reaching for the goals the Lord has laid on your heart! I have homeschool stuff and pictures to post, but I'll save that for later! Have you begun your year with the end in mind? What are the 5 things you will not fail to pursue this year?

***Summer Blog Break***

We are taking some needed time off. Please check back in late summer/early fall! We will be posting writing ideas, science plans, and notebooking ideas. Have a great summer!

Weekly Update

We are on our summer schedule, keeping up with chores, habit training, and some academics. I am finding that sleeping in late is not worth it to us. It seems to instantly produce sluggishness, laziness, and bad habits. So this week, it is back to 'regular' wake-up time. Keeping daily rhythms going works best for us at this point, although I reserve the right to change my mind. : )

Here's what we're studying this week:

Greek
We have learned the first 10 letters and sounds of the Greek alphabet. Each day we review our letter sounds, sing the Greek alphabet song, and do a page in the workbook (Hey Andrew!) This curriculum is hit so far, but we are only a few weeks into it. My dd really likes the songs, so I would recommend buying the CD's if you are considering this program.

Writing
Dd started an IEW writing class last week. We will continue to meet for 5 more weeks or so. She enjoyed the classroom setting and hanging out with her HS friends afterwards. She has a writing assignment to complete, and is actually EXCITED about it. Woo hoo! I am a complete failure at teaching composition and have been praying to find a tutor! What an answer to prayer!

Reading
Dh is reading Summer of the Monkeys aloud. This is a great adventure story. If your kids enjoy Gentle Ben or Lassie, your kids are sure to like this one. I tried to get my dh to read Sounder or Where the Red Fern Grows, but he refuses to read dog stories that make one want to jump off a bridge. He is a happy ending sort of guy. ; )

Miss M has been reading like crazy. She started and finished Island of the Aunts and James and the Giant Peach, and The Search for the Delicious last week. Today, she started Crispin by Avi.

Bible
We received and began the Wise Up! study by Positive Action for Christ. I really like this curriculum. It is a change for us, since the focus is on application. All the studies we have done in the past have been purely expositional. Memory work, activities, writing ideas, and other extras are included. It is pretty much a pick up and go program, and we enjoyed our first family lesson. We plan to do it together all through the summer, and transition into 50% independent/family work split with it by Fall.

Math
We are doing a math lesson twice a week to keep skills sharp. Miss M started the new book this week. The first CLE Light Unit is mostly review, so it have been easy and enjoyable so far.

Science & Nature Study
We are learning about flower pollination this week. We have a bunch of resources in our library basket, and have been discussing as well as doing some notebooking. On alternate days, Miss M has been working with the CyberEd Physical Science software. This software has been great, and she seems to be retaining what she has learned!

Other than that, we have been hanging out with friends more often, taking more walks, and just "getting out there" a lot. Listing the academics all together makes it look like we are doing a lot, but don't be fooled! Most subjects are only getting done twice a week, or so, reading being the exception.

I'm looking forward to more beautiful early summer days! This time of the year is truly glorious.