Are you too busy making your life "better" that you're forgetting to live?

I was rereading some of my older posts and I was really convicted by this timely reminder. I decided to re-post it today and I pray that you are as encouraged as I was.

I realized some things this week while on a mini spur of the moment vacation. I love it when God takes ordinary opportunities and teaches me a lesson through them.

The Blog Next Door

I was thinking this morning and realized that reading other blogs, can at times, become like keeping up with the Jones for me. It isn't that I covet the look of their blog or their followers. It isn't that kind of keepin' up that I am talking about. I'm talking about the times that I start reading blogs and wonder why I am not doing all the things that author is doing; be it grinding my own grain, preserving 50 qts of tomatoes or sewing my 7th quilt for the year or even writing beautiful blog posts everyday. I start reading blogs and I start comparing my life to hers, I start being discontent with who I am. I start condemning myself and calling myself lazy. I start to beat myself up for all the things that I'm not doing in my life. Why do I do that? Who says I have to do all those things that the "blogger next door" is doing? Who says if I don't do them that I am not a capable, loving keeper at home? I'll tell you who. Satan!!

Help Homeschooling Multiple Children

Do you home school multiple grade levels at one time?  I do.

Do you want to make sure your children are learning enough?  I do.

Do you want them to love learning?  I do.

Do you want them to be able work independently?  I do.

Do you want them to learn a Christian worldview and develop a personal relationship with God?  I do.

Do you have the magic answer to make certain all of these things happen. I don't.

I wish I did, I would share it with you. I would shout it from my rooftop, although, you probably wouldn't hear me. I would shout it anyway! Since I don't have the answer, I have a question for you (please keep reading).

This is how we like to school.

Our latest homeschool study

With the Winter Olympics starting next week I decided it would be a great time to study some of the participating countries. There are 90 countries participating this year so we will not get to cover them all, but we will pick some that interest us and focus our attentions there. I am hoping to learn a little about each country we study: such as brief history, geography, their type of government, maybe flag, most common religion and their foods. One of my goals is to cook a meal for each country we study, using one of their most common types of foods.

Around here we take a pretty relaxed approach to homeschooling and normally I let each of my children pick their own "unit" study but we will work on the Olympic study together. Some of the other subjects that I require are bible, math, reading, Spanish, writing (either in journal or a letter) and we alternate typing and music sheets. I print out a pretty generic assignment sheet each week which helps them to keep track of what they have done and helps me keep track of their hours (required in our state).

How do you homeschool? Are you relaxed, unschool, or strict curriculum followers? I would love to hear how your family does it.

Blessings,
Rashel

Waiting, reading and learning

If you've been following me at all lately, you know I am starting my journey with Trim Healthy Mama, you can read about what that is here. My book is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so until then I have been reading the Facebook group posts, devouring the files on that group and printing lots and lots of recipes from others on the internet. I'm trying to be patient while waiting on my book, but truth be told, I am not a patient person when it comes to waiting on things I want like that. I am very thankful for all of the info I have learned on the group and from ladies like Stacy and Gwen. I also have a wonderful friend, Sara, that has been on the plan awhile and is answering some of my questions as well! I have been following the plan as well as I can for the last week, but I'm sure after I actually read the book I will be able to follow it even better.  Come on book get here!!!

Today I have been reading several websites, not only about Trim Healthy Mama but also some homeschooling websites. I have almost always been a very relaxed, eclectic approached homeschool mama, but this year at our homeschool convention I was very intrigued about unschooling. I had the privilege of speaking with one of the speakers for awhile after her class and she made me understand more than I ever had about how it actually works. I am reading more online now and reading her book I bought that day and seeing if it is the right thing for us this year. I will try to post more on that later.

Learning, aren't we always learning? I'm constantly learning about the THM way of eating, a new way to homeschool, how to can okra - which I detest but hubby loves and many many other things. I think that is what draws me to unschooling. I learn what interests me and I believe my children should too. Why should I care about a "list" "they" decided is what every child should learn? If God is going to direct them in their occupation, I believe He will direct them to want to learn what they will need for said occupation. Can you tell I am leaning toward unschooling?

Well, I just got a call and I am needed at our local horse sale to work.  I will talk to y'all later, have a blessed evening.

Blessings,
Rashel

Grammar Homeschool Help Needed Please

I am going to humble myself and admit that I need help. There are not many areas that I worry about my children learning "it all", however I have come to notice that they need additional help in grammar. We don't use textbooks, I detest them. We have always had a more relaxed, unit study approach and it works great for us. At the moment we are using Ancient Civilizations and The Bible by Diana Waring and you can see it here.  We have always learned grammar by them writing and I edit it, or by reading or by little ways here and there. I firmly believe in Ruth Beechick's methods and a lifestyle learning approach, I believe children retain more when learned in that way. With all of that said, I would like for them to learn a few more grammar rules and facts and I would like suggestions on what to use. My children range in age from 9-15. What do you use and do you like it? How do you teach your children grammar?

Thank you in advance and blessings my friends,
Rashel

They don't realize it's writing practice

Yesterday for our history lesson we watched Normandy: A Final Farewell by Vision Forum. Since then part of my two youngest children's play has been acting as if they are off in a war with the Germans. While they are "away at war" they are writing me letters to let me know how they are and then in turn, I have to write back. It is the sweetest thing to read these letters. Here are a couple samples:

From my 9yo dd:
Dear Mom,
It's very tough being away from you. I hope you're doing fine. We are doing fine right now. German attacked today. I miss you very much. I love you. I hope I can write a lot.

Love,

From my 11 yo ds:
Dearest Mother,
It's been a long journey but we made it. I will see you soon. we have been attacked twice in two days. I will write to you as much as I can.

All my love!

There are grammar mistakes, but I do not correct them. Some of the letters are in cursive, some are not - as they are just learning cursive. I write each of them back and after a little while I will get more letters. I believe that even if there are mistakes in their grammar, they are learning to write letters and will also see proper grammar in my letters. It also gives them a way to practice cursive without practice pages. I just had to share that not all learning comes from workbooks and practice pages. Plus, I thought it was sweet.

Blessings,
Rashel

Homeschool decisions

If you have followed me much the last few months, you know I have been struggling with what curriculum to use for the fall. I prayed about it, spent countless hours researching online and going back and forth between a few final choices. Well, God finally knocked me upside the head a few times and I realized what He was leading me toward. Yes, I am a little hard headed and He had to show me three times!

I'm sure you are just dying with anticipation, aren't you? (Just kidding). He guided me to Vision Forum resources. I have always been a huge fan of Vision Forum, we love all of their products. I know they don't have a "typical" school curriculum, but I didn't really want that anyway. What we will be using are some study course sets they offer: History of Christianity and Western Civilization and the WWII: D-Day and the Providence of God. We also got the Normandy: A Final Farewell DVD. You can see them all here. A few other resources I got are the Webster 1828 Dictionary and the Blue Back Speller, an audio CD about George Washington and an audio CD about Honorable Language. We also decided to use Balancing the Sword for our Bible study (see it here). I am very excited about all of these resources and we aren't waiting until the fall to start them, we have already begun using some of them.

For science, we will be using Switched on Schoolhouse Science. I have already purchased (used) the program for my 7th and 8th grader, they will be using the same one. So far, they enjoy using the computer for this portion of their schooling. I have not ordered my 3rd and 5th graders yet, I'm still looking for used for it.

We use Math U See for all of our math subjects. They will get their writing assignments from our Vision Forum products. I think that will be plenty for us, well, that is until we get a Spanish and music program!

I love the peaceful feeling I have when I finally follow the Lord's prompting. Would you like to hear how He gently nudged me toward Vision Forum? (If not, you can quit reading now) :)  I had decided that if the Vision Forum book Building a Curriculum was their deal of the day the next day, I would get it and use it to make our curriculum choices. Well, it wasn't the deal of the day, so I wasn't sure that was what I should do. However, God LOVES to bless His children, and that very same day, I was able to get it for free from paperbackswap! Well, I got it and looked into it and still wasn't sure. So, a few weeks later I was unable to sleep one night (dh was out of town) and I felt prompted to get up and make a list of pros and cons of each of the three curriculums I was considering. I did that and Vision Forum looked like the best choice. Okay, I am feeling a little more led but still not sure. Yes, I told you I am a little thickheaded.  I kept watching and waiting for one of the study courses to be the deal of the day, but no luck, they never were. Remember how I said God loves to bless His children? I was wanting one product to be on sale, but God decided to make almost EVERY product I wanted to be on sale!! That was when He finally got my attention and I knew we were to go with Vision Forum. They had their Spring sale for 7 days and almost every product I wanted to order had a very good discount that week! God is so amazing! His ways are so much better than our ways.

Blessings my friends,
Rashel

Homeschool dilemas

I have been thinking about it, praying about it, discussing it and looking online and in catalogs and I still have no idea what we are going to do for school this fall. I thought I had decided to do Truthquest, but after getting one of the guides, that just doesn't look like the right fit for us. Then I pondered Ancient Civilizations and the Bible by Diana Waring, but again I am not sure. A few other options I have been thinking about our just using Vision Forum DVD's, CD's and study guides or Mystery of History.  The only thing I think I have decided on is to use Switched on Schoolhouse for science.

Here are a few things that are really on my mind while choosing the right curriculum for us this year. 1, my oldest will be in 9th grade and I want to make sure he has a basic knowledge of history from ancient times until current. 2, my oldest son is also working some days and therefore, I am not sure that a curriculum that we all do together is the best thing for us, unless it can be done in the mornings before he leaves for work. I think he might need individual studies that he can do at his own pace. However, I have always loved that we can all be learning the same thing at the same time, it makes it easier on me. 3, with the span of their grades (4th-9th) it is getting harder to find a curriculum we can all do together.  4, I want to teach them history from a  distinctly biblical point of view.

So, most of my time online lately hasn't been reading the blogs I love or even posting on my own, it has been spent delving into the websites linked above and trying to find the one that suits us best.  If any of you have experience with those mentioned or even if you have other suggestions for me, I would truly love to hear from you.

Blessings,
Rashel

Homeschool items for sale

I am selling the following homeschool items.

KONOS History of the World Vol 1 $65ppd. This includes student and teacher guides, no maps or timelines.

KONOS Vol I with timeline figures. There are a couple loose pages in the volume and about 10 of the timeline figures are missing, the rest are in good shape. Asking $60ppd.

KONOS Vol II, good condition $50ppd

KONOS Compass $12 ppd

Jennifer Steward, Everything You Need to Know about Homeschool Unit Studies and Everything You Need to Know to Build a Unit Study Notebook. $15ppd.

If you are interested, please leave me a comment or email me at awomanswalk@gmail.com

Thank you for looking,
Rashel

Where are all the Titus 2 Women?

I will admit, I have been struggling lately but it is a different sort of struggle than normal for me. Normally I am struggling with homeschool or with housework, but not this time. I am so frustrated at the lack of real, in person Titus 2 women. Where are they? Where are the women in my church that are to teach me that yes, the Bible says homeschooling is God's plan? To teach me that yes, God wishes for wives/mothers to stay home, to be a keeper AT home? To teach me that as a daughter of the King that I am to dress modestly, to submit to my husband in all (biblical) things and that I am to love my children? Sometimes I feel so alone in the real world because I cannot name one person in my church that holds these beliefs right now. The friend I had at church that held most of these same beliefs is now out of town with her husband's work. I do have a friend that holds everyone of these beliefs, but she attends another church and lives in another town. Ugh, it is so frustrating to me. Please don't think that I mean to put down the women at my church, I don't. They are God fearing, God loving women who seek to follow His word, but it seems they are oblivious to commands regarding the beliefs I have mentioned. Most of the women in our church work outside the home, even the older women. I only know of one other homeschooling family. I am the only woman in our church that consistently wears skirts/dresses instead of jeans/pants. Many do not know how to show respect/submission to their own husbands. Sometimes I just want to scream, but other times it makes me question my beliefs. If I am the only one, maybe I am wrong. However, I don't believe that, not for one minute.

There are supposed to be Titus 2 women in the church, however I recently had a pastor's wife ask my opinion for a ladies Bible study and I recommended a Titus 2 study; she didn't understand what I meant until I explained it to her. How sad!

Titus 2:3-5

3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

KJV

We are called to homeschool our children.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

KJV
You can also read 2 Timothy 3:14, Ephesians 6:4, Isaiah 38:19, Mark 9:42, Romans 6:16 and Proverbs 22:6 for a few more verses about the parent's responsibility to train up their children. (I have more but will stop here for now.)

We are to dress modestly and differently from men and the rest of the world, and we are to submit to our husbands.
1 Peter 3:1-6

3 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: 6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

KJV


1 Timothy 2:9-12

9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

KJV

There are more verses and I will share if someone really wants to know, but otherwise I will leave it at these.
 
How am I to learn how to physically be a Titus 2 woman if I have no example? More importantly, how do I do it in a church that doesn't hold these beliefs? I can't instruct the younger women without expressing my beliefs, and that has caused me to consider stepping down from my teaching position in our youth ministry. Right now I teach a small group of 9-10th grade girls, but they keep asking my beliefs on touchy subjects (such as dating) and I have to be honest with them, even if it goes against the majority's beliefs. I am still praying about that decision, and really that isn't the main point of this post anyway.  (I'm not even sure I believe in youth groups but that is for another post entirely. I see their need in certain instances, otherwise, certain kids would NEVER hear the word of God.)
 
Back to topic, I just want to yell it out sometimes, "WHERE ARE YOU TITUS 2 WOMEN?"  And, why aren't you following the Word of God?
 
I thank God for the encouragement I receive online through wonderful, like-minded blogs.
 
Blessings,
Rashel

I couldn't get the link up to work but I am linking up with 

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

Moody Science Videos opinions needed

I was just wondering if anyone has seen any of these or used them for science and what your opinions were? I really appreciate any feedback as I haven't seen any of them.
Thank you so much,
Rashel

*Or if you have any recommendations for other biblical science videos, I would appreciate those too. Based on the way some of my children learn, I know videos would work well for them. Thanks again.

Homeschool help needed for logging hours

I need some help knowing what subject to list house construction under. I know the calculating aspects could be math, but what about the general construction. We are adding on to our home and my boys have been helping with some of it, so I know I should be counting some of it as school. I just don't know what subject to list it under. What we are doing now is laying the foundation and pouring a concrete slab. I am trying hard to be flexible with our schooling so we can help with construction when needed, but we still need to be logging hours toward our required yearly amount. Thank you so much for any suggestions, I really appreciate it.

Blessings,
Rashel

Truthquest History and Thank You!!

First, thank you to all of you that shared with me regarding our homeschooling and living books. I appreciate it SOO much!

I think I have finally found what we are going with for school next year, Truthquest History. I have been looking into several things and this really looks like it is just what I am looking for. I found one of the guides on a used curriculum site for $10 today, so I went ahead and ordered it. I can't wait to get it and actually get to see if it really is what  I am looking for. If you want more information about Truthquest, go here.

Now, for anyone that is familiar with it, I do have a question. Is there a list of what books are recommended for each guide? I would like to go ahead and be looking for some of the books. I have looked at the sample pages on the website and have seen some of the recommended readings to choose from, but I wasn't sure if that was the complete list or just for that section. I know that I don't have to follow any certain book (which I absolutely love), but I know that the ones recommended would be excellent choices. I thought if I had a list ahead of time, I could be looking at the library, used book places and on paperbackswap.

Thank you again for all of your comments and help. I am still looking into science and have been looking at the ones suggested!

Blessings,
Rashel

Any living book suggestions?

I could really use some help finding really good living books to read as part of our home educating. Not only would I like find good books, but I want to know the time period they cover (if you happen to know it). If you want the long explanation of why I want to know, you can read my last post about changing the way we home educate here. If you want a short explanation, we are going to use living books as the primary source of learning history, geography and social studies. I just want to read really good living books but do it in chronological order. Maybe you know of a website that has already done all the work for me and has a list, or maybe you just know one book; either way, I would appreciate your help. I do plan to look at a few curriculum websites that I think have good reading books such as Sonlight and Trail Guide to Learning.

Thank you in advance for any help you are willing to give, I truly appreciate your time!

Blessings,
Rashel

Thinking about a different approach to home educating

After 8 years of home educating, you might think that I have it all figured out and have the perfect system set in place for us; well, I don't. I hate to disappoint you but that's just the truth of the matter. We are a relaxed homeschooling family and I detest textbooks, although, I know we need some sort of structure and we are in no way unschoolers. We have used KONOS, unit studies I have created and some preplanned ones and presently, we are using Paths of Exploration. While I have liked using POE, there are some things that I don't particularly like about it. I have adjusted it to fit our needs instead of just blindly following everything the curriculum said to do, but it still isn't working for us. I firmly believe whatever curriculum homeschoolers use, they are the boss of the books, not the other way around.  I think you should make the curriculum work for you and not feel that you have to do what it says just because the writers thought it should be done that way. Make sense?
So, onto the point of the title of this post, I have come up with something new I want to try. Oh, I guess I should say new to us. I am certain that I am not the only person to ever come up with this idea. The thing my children love most about POE is the stories we read. Even though I am reading two books and fitting two days worth of assignments into one day, I almost always hear, "NO, you can't stop there!" or "No, you have to keep reading." That got me to thinking, which can be very dangerous at times. Why do I need a curriculum to tell me what writing assignments my children need to do, what spelling words they should learn and what pages to read on certain days. Why can't I just read the books at the pace we want to read them? If I am doing my job, I will know what words my children need for spelling or vocabulary. I'm also certain that I can find things in our reading that my children can write about or at the very least they can copy or dictate. So, I think we will be scrapping the curriculum and investing in a lot of good living history books, which I really hope to read chronologically.
Another thing I have really been convicted of lately is that I am not doing enough character training or Bible study. That got me to thinking again, yes, scary I know. I started wondering what would be the best way to teach the Bible? Yes, I could just read it and we could discuss it, but I wanted more than that. Now, let me insert here that I think we could get our entire education from the Bible alone and be very well educated. I believe that completely, really I do. However, I want more to go with it while instructing my children. So I will share my thoughts with you, only if you promise to cut me some slack because at this point, my thoughts are still fragmented and I don't have our concrete plan yet. My hope is to read about missionaries everyday as part of our Bible time; whether it is a good biography or a story from "Jesus Freaks" or something totally different. I think this will be a good way to help my kids work on selfishness, which we seem to be having a lot of trouble with lately as well as encourage them in the great commission. We all are to be sharing Jesus with the world, we are all to be missions of one kind or another. We will also be praying for missions each day and when we can, we will do missions. The rest of our Bible study, I am not quite sure about yet. I am still looking into that and seeing where God will lead us. I know we will be working on scripture memorization no matter what else we do, but I am looking for something that will teach the word of God in a way that makes it interesting to my children. I want something that they will love and look forward to each day.
As for geography and social studies, that will go along with our living books and our missionary reading. We will be looking on maps to find the places the people live and learn some things about each area and culture.
What about science? I haven't quite decided on that either. I can't decide if I want to find a good biblical curriculum or try to find the material in our reading. I am leaning toward a curriculum of some kind, but it will have to be one that fits our style of learning.  Any suggestions in this area?
Well, those are my scatter brained thoughts on our new approach to home educating. What do you think? Do you have any good suggestions for me? I would love to hear them.

Blessings,
Rashel

Struggling with homeschool, any advice?

Hopefully this post will make some sort of sense, my mind is racing and full of thoughts but I will try to contain them in some kind of understandable fashion for you. I know that I go through cycles and I have good ones and not so good ones. I seem to be in a not so good one right now. I am having those feelings of not doing enough with my children and wondering if they are learning all they need to know, however in the same breath, I remember that God is in control and He will guide them in their directed paths. I am to be a good steward and to teach them the basics, and I'm doing that. I don't know, I guess sometimes I let doubt slip in even when I know I shouldn't. I think the reason I'm struggling right now is because we have been so inconsistent with our schooling. Dh and I went on vacation last week, so not much schooling got done and then this week has been trying to get back into a schedule but it isn't happening. We've had two trips to town for doctor's visits (different days), another day in town for groceries and one day I was just too tired to function. I really do try not to make so many trips, but occasionally we have weeks like this one.  On top of that, it is deer season and ds1 spent two days at my dad's hunting. I think it is good for him to hunt and to spend time with his granddad, but it makes it hard to do school.

I plan to sit down with dh soon and try to figure out some kind of plan for keeping us on track with school. I've been thinking that maybe we need to set some strict rules such as we don't go anywhere Monday-Wednesday no matter what, so we would at least always get 3 days a week in. But then I think, one of the benefits of homeschooling is the flexibility and being able to take advantage of things we wouldn't be able to if they were in school. Maybe I just need to relax and remember that this time is not the normal for us and it's okay if it happens once in awhile. Maybe I just need to relook at my school schedule for the rest of this year and adjust to account for this time we have lost and know that we will get it made up eventually. Or maybe, I need to crack down and be strict in our days and our schedule.  How do you handle these times? Any advice? I would love some!

Thank you for listening and letting me ramble,
Rashel

Handwriting Practice- Free online site

Penmanship is something most of my children struggle with and I've decided we need more practice in this area. I remember my own father making my sister and me practice our penmanship, and we went to public school. He just firmly believed that our handwriting (penmanship) makes a huge statement. I cannot tell you over the years how many times I have been complimented on my handwriting because of the time spent practicing. One simple example of what a difference it can make in life: imagine you were a boss and you had two applications in front of you and the qualifications of the individuals were exactly the same. The only differences in them were one was written sloppily and the other was very neat in appearance. Which one would you hire? If honest, most people would go with the neater penmanship. It does make a difference.

With all of that said, my children need practice. I have been thinking I need to order some books for this purpose but today decided to look online and found a wonderful free site. You choose the style of writing you prefer, if you want to practice on word, several words or a paragraph, etc. You can also choose size of font I believe. Then you type in what you want them to practice. I typed in their memory verse for the week. Now they are getting penmanship practice while memorizing their scripture verse. I love it!

I will give you the link but will also say I have not looked around the site other than for the practice sheets, so I cannot say about anything else on the site. Here is the link: Amazing Handwriting Worksheets

If you check it out, let me know what you think. I bookmarked the site and plan to use them again and again.

Blessings,
Rashel

Music help needed, please

I really need some help from you. I want to teach my children about music, but I know nothing. I had music in school and a keyboard class but I have forgotten everything. I need something that will teach my children the basics of music without me having to know anything. A couple of them are wanting to take music lessons but I thought it might be beneficial to teach them about notes and such first. Can anyone please give me ideas? Thank you so much!!

Blessings,
Rashel

Eating healthy, being self sufficient and homeschooling..oh my!

It seems overwhelming to look at the list of things I want to accomplish in my home; I want to feed my family the healthiest food I can while being as self sufficient as we can be and on top of that homeschool my children. (did I mention do laundry, scrub the floors, mend the sewing, mow the lawn and wash the dishes too?) Oh my! I know I'm not superwoman and I can't "do it all", but I do feel I can do more than I am now. I think if I organized my time more, cut down on outside commitments and planned all those things that I would accomplish much more than I am currently. But do you know what, it's hard!

I had great plans at the beginning of the summer of things I wanted to accomplish: declutter, spring cleaning, organizing, scrapbooking and a few other things. I'm not sure what happened, but summer got crazy busy and I didn't get to most of that list. I did scrapbook a couple days and finally this week I am doing some deep cleaning (can't really call it spring cleaning when it's almost fall!).  But for the most part, I don't feel like I accomplished much at all. The only thing I do feel good about is that I took several days to just play with my kids and take them to the beach or the creek and just enjoy each other. Those times are important and I'm glad we were able to do it.

We're starting school soon, a light schedule next week and then full swing the week after that, so my time this week will be to finish my "fall" cleaning. I am also thinking I need to make a master plan of some things I would like to accomplish and then work out a schedule to actually get them done. I'm still pondering that idea and how it would work. I do know that I am looking forward to getting back on some kind of schedule or routine, I seem to get more done then. Earlier this year I worked out a schedule that seems to work pretty well for us, you can see it here. Today or tomorrow I plan to make sure it is up to date and ready to go for next week.

How do you "get it all done"?  What works for you and your family? I love hearing from all of you and how you do things. Now, I know I'll never be superwoman and "it" will never get ALL done, but you know what I mean. I have certain things I want to learn how to do or become more proficient at, like growing more of our own food and preserving it, sewing more, crochet more, keep my home clean consistently, school consistently, etc. What have you found that helps you?

Blessings to you all,
Rashel