An Easier Homeschool Day? How Can It Be?

Another great blog post 10 Ways to Make your Homeschool Day Run Smoothly

I am stealing several of these ideas!!

No reason to reinvent the wheel!

Which of these 10 ways speaks to your heart? Post below in the comments.

Can Anyone Else Relate To This?

Is it just me or can an anyone else relate to this?
I was really encouraged last night by Todd Wilson's talk on The Old Schoolhouse Expo. This is one of his cartoons that I find so funny! We have both of his calendars too and get a laugh out of them over and over again.

And yes, I often find that I have done the last load of laundry, only to walk out to the laundry room and find full bins again!  ARGH!!  But it's job security  :O)

Have a great weekend!

Stop by my blog

http://adoptivemomhomeschoolinganonlychild.blogspot.com/

Just sharing..........

Where are your priorities? This blog post that is in this link from a fellow blogger over at http://peacecreekontheprairie.com is an interesting thought.

I'm enjoy blogging and getting comments, but I try not to allow it to run my life. The Internet is very easy to get sucked into. Seems like a time waster that Satan allows us to use. Sometimes a good tool and most often a time waster.

Please think on your Internet usage and think about if you need more face time with your kids and less screen time? I know we watch how much screen time our kids get, but what about the screen time that mom and dad get?

I've had some days where I am online a lot, looking for ways to find corn free, gluten free, yet I have a gazillion recipes that I could be using. I think I am going to stop looking for recipes and try using what I have on hand.

What do you think?
Moe

Pantry Challenege Day 6

We cleaned out the refrigerator and had leftovers, along with corn from the freezer, canned fruit and veggies from the pantry. Sent hubby to work with cookies from the freezer and our large stash of fresh giant oranges from the local school band.

How are you doing? I have a large can of black beans, got any suggestions to hide those in something? We are not big bean eaters (well we like greenbeans......lol) and I bought those when I was on a 'lets get healthy kick.'  Yeah, the family really likes when mom gets on that high horse. lol

Moe

Pantry Challenge Day 5

I thought I would share some pictures of my stockpiles.......lol. I have a few.

First here is my stash of food that sits above my washer & dryer.

This is my NON gluten free stash of things that I need to use up.

My top of the refrigerator stash......ignore the dust up there! I'm too short to see it, so I don't dust if often :O)

My Lazy-Susan cabinet or better known as "The finger pinching spinner thing" to my toddler son back in the day. lol. Yes I have a ton of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce because the Amish salvage store has it for like .95¢ per bottle and the expiration date is 2013. YUM!

For some reason the server is rejecting my final picture, which is of a tiny cabinet that my Dh and Ds have munchies & snacks stored in. It's not real large, but it has Ritz Crackers, hot cocoa packets and stuff like that in it.

Feel free to share your stash photos with us. I've not even ventured to take pictures of the freezers yet.......lol. Maybe next week.

Happy frugal cooking this month.

Moe

Time Management: Ecclesiastes 3:1

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" Ecclesiastes 3:1.
What does this verse mean to you and your homeschool? To your family?

As I write this I think about how the Internet can suck up so much time in a day, jump online to find a recipe, then that mushrooms into checking email, then looking up a link that someone sent you, then a great deal on homeschool materials and on and on. It is my personal opinion that Satan is behind the Internet. We would call it sin if we sat and watch soap operas for 4 hours straight.

What a better way to harm our children than to take away their mothers: nursing mothers chat on-line while babies feed, checking emails while kids are wanting to talk after school, mothers staying up late to chat online or mindlessly surfing the net into the wee hours of the night, only to wake grouchy and tired from lack of sleep.

If you are feeling convicted by anything above, please pray about your Internet usage and find a buddy to be accountable to. Last year a dear friend of mine and I got on this subject, it was something that was on both of our hearts and a hard habit to break. But we came up with spending 30 minutes online in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon. And guess what? We had a lot more time in our day for much more important things than surfing the web and as an added bonus, we noticed that we did not have "FUZZY BRAIN".  Ever get a fuzzy head after being online? Sort of a spaced out feeling? Think about how the kids look after playing video games for an hour, that glazed look, they can't hear mom calling for them, they are zoned out.

How on earth do we figure out how to spend out time? Pray, pray without ceasing (my husbands favorite line). Sunday is my planning day, I glance through the up coming weeks work, check over the calendar, get a quick list of things that I MUST DO and then add in the extras, Internet time is one of those extras and I actually use a timer imagine that!

LOL.....even better it's a chicken timer! We also use this same timer for video game time and all computer time. You really can get all your surfing done in a set amount of time. Now for you 30 min might not be enough, especially if you do work online. I fill out surveys, sell items and moderate groups, so I have to be really mindful of the time that I spend on each item. This year what has really helped me is that I have unsubscribed from several emails, now that I have a junior high homeschooler, I have gotten rid of several younger kid material emails, groups etc. That has helped me go through the emails faster. I also have unsubscribed to several business emails, if I have not bought anything in the last year from a company that sends me emails I click on the unsubscribe button. WOW does that cut down on the emails! I will tell you that sometimes you have to unsubscribe a few times before it takes effect, I do it one week and then if I am still getting emails the next week I do it again. I have also set my emails up to filter in to folders for homeschooing, frugal ideas, recipes and personal emails. This really saves time, since if I am looking for a recipe, I can just go to that folder.

I will make a brief comment on Facebook, I'm not a big fan of FB. Think about how you can use FB for Jesus Christ. How can you further the Gospel using FB? Well for one remove all the "Christian" friends that you have on there that complain about their lives, how poor they are, how bad their kids are, what terrible husbands that they have (you know the people I am talking about!) or the ones who talk about what color undies they have on and if they like it on the chair or on the table (a purse that is), just delete them all! Then invite those that don't know Christ as Saviour and be an encouragement to those people. Be up lifting and inviting, share what the Lord has done in your life. Be salt and light to the world through Facebook. Also "LIKE" positive things and before you post a status line think of Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Or as I like to say "Post about these things!"

Now if you are a tired mom that feels the need to "zone out", please get on your knees and ask the Lord to help you overcome that need to be zoned out, that need is not healthy nor is it conducive to your family life, marriage or homeschool. Sometimes life online is a lot more fun that life in your own home. Get into the Word of God and let it permeate your soul!! Jesus Christ can be closer to you than anyone else. He is waiting for you to come to him. And He will understand and forgive you your sins of wasting time online and He is willing to forgive you all your other sins too, just for the asking, go to this website to find out more. http://needhim.com/

Spend your time wisely with your children as it is fleeting.
Moe