I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!  My hubby made steaks on the grill, smothered with grilled onions & mushrooms, sweet corn, potato salad and cake!  The boys cleaned up.  It sure was nice (and a big change) to just get up from the table and walk away when we were finished! 

Then we watched 'chick flicks' all day :)  Even all three boys watched with me.... well, not quite all day though.  After the first chick flick they started to venture off.  But my hubby stayed and watched three with me!  Yes, I am blessed.

I am also blessed and getting excited to be part of the TOS crew!  Yippy!  Look for my upcoming reviews on homeschool curriculum.  I have to say, I am a little bit nervous as well.  But I hear that I'll have a wonderful bunch of ladies on the TOS crew to help me :)

Is removing textbooks from public school wise?

This has come up the past few years in our area here in WV.  Is removing textbooks from our public schools a wise choice?  Personally, I think it is not.  I am all for new technology, but our children still need to be taught HOW to retrieve information.  The library is becoming obsolete in our public schools I'm afraid!  My oldest is in 10'th grade and he tells me that he 'hangs out' in the library at lunch, not to read, but to chat with friends.  I'm happy he is in the library, but does anyone ever USE it? 

Well, homeschooling my younger two, we are at the library several times per week it seems.  It is the core of homeschooling for our family!  Children need to be taught how to get information they need or want to know.  For the record, the library in our area is awesome.  They are very homeschool friendly and are very helpful with requests as such.  The library offers several things people may not realize such as fax machine, copy machine, different types of free classes, internet, genealogy, tax and voting information, and much more!

It is a shame to hear that books may be replaced by technology.  Is it just the next generation or something more?  With facebook, twitter, cell phones, instant messaging, etc. we have no use for books?

What if our power source fails for any period of time and we don't have any technology use available?  I'm afraid this next generation and our civilisation would be lost!  Our banking, college classes, employment, etc. would be in chaos! Our bank accounts would be non-accessible... ouch! 

The Bible tells us that we should not fear times such as these but to trust God and he will take care of all your needs.  So at least there is peace and hope in our worries and concerns. 

Here are a very Bible verses I lean on when thinking about these things.

Jeremiah 29:1  
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

Romans 8:28 
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 

Amen.

It is really getting hard to keep the normal homeschool routine now that the end of our schoolyear is creeping up on us!  I think I will tilt the schoolhouse tomorrow and go on a bee search!  My youngest has been interested in bees for a while and what better time to learn more about them than now?!  We have studied bees in previous curriculum, but who says we cannot study them again right? 

We have been some of our homeschooling in the garden as well.  Checking on our plants everyday, making sure they have sufficient water and no critters are getting into it through the fence.  It is so important to teach our children how to be self sufficient in our living and not to depend on the food industry. 

Have you ever watched the movie "FOOD INC."?  Wow!  A must see!  It will totally change the way you see your food.

Another good educational movie on what goes into your body is "FOOD MATTERS".  Did you know that 100,000 mg. of vitamin C through IV kills cancer cells?  Yep.  Now just get the hospitals to do that.  Not easy.  Sad, but true. 

Well, I don't want to go on a rampage so if you want more "WOWS", just watch these movies listed above.  Don't forget to have your children watch them too; very educational!

    Do you have days where you are just finding yourself going to your room and crying?  I'm coming to an end of my 8'th year of homeschooling and still find myself doing that a few times a year.  :)  Life throws us curve balls and it doesn't care that we have English to finish or 5 more multiplication problems left.  We have to cut off the distractions and give our children (students) our 100% attention.  I find myself relaxing this time of year with allowing the distractions, but I have a new perspective on this coming school year!  I will go back to my old ways.....turning on the answering machine that plays my recorded message..."We are homeschooling at this moment so if you'd leave your name and number we'll get back with you after 2:00pm.  Thanks for understanding."  But it doesn't do any good if you leave the ringer on and check the caller ID.  It sounds easy, but it is harder than you realize to shut out the outside world for even hours!  

   Where did all this come from  you ask?  Well, I've leaned a great parental lesson this week!   I was checking my facebook page and my sons asked if they could get out the spray on tattoo kit.  I gave my permission.  Then they asked if they could have the skull and crossbones tattoo.   "Sure, no problem" I replied.  Before I knew it my 9 year old had the skull and crossbones tattoo on his forehead!  My oldest son (who is 13 yrs. old) said, "Mom, I asked you if you were sure if he could tattoo his forehead and you said 'yeah'"!  Really?  

Parental lesson #574 learned.  HAHAHA!

Wow, it's May 1'st already!  And I am soooo glad!  Yes, I am ready for a summer break from homeschooling!  The kids are ready too.  Even though we are all ready for our school year to end, it seems like yesterday I had the two oldest at the kitchen table with their new books ready (and excited) to start our homeschool adventure.  My littlest one was at the table too, still in a diaper, with pacifier in his mouth grinning ear to ear wantng to do 'his school' too.  How the time has passed.  I am wrapping up my 8'th year and feeling so 'tired and experienced' yet there is so much more to learn from other homeschool mothers.  I do love to hear all the 'typical' homeschool days of other families.  It is very inspiring. 

Feel free to tell me how a 'typical' homeschool day is with your family.

What plans do you have for this summer?  I usually spend my summers reading suspense books a fraction of the time, then organizing my homeschool for the upcoming year the rest of the summer.  I think I will try and NOT think about homeschooling this summer ;)  I have a pretty good head start on picking out my curriculum.  So..... I think I will spend more time in my garden, keeping the yard looking nice, spending more time at the local pool and of course reading my suspense books ;)

What plans do you have for this summer?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!  We did.  My boys did a wonderful job in their Easter Drama.  It was pretty extensive; 6 scenes - from creation to resurrection!  Most of the children were homeschoolers, which was awesome! 

I find it funny how 'non-homeschoolers' wonder about our social lives.  If we look up the word 'socialize' it means: to make social;  make fit for life in companionship with others.  Well, I think most of the homeschoolers that I know fall into this category for sure!  Notice that the definition says nothing about age, race or culture.  I think it is important for our homeschooled children to not only socialize with other children their own age, but adults as well.  Besides, out in the real world, we do have to 'socialize' with people of all ages, races, and cultures.


Finally, the Bible says in Romans 12:2

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (NLT)