Animal Kingdom

Tuesday was Homeschool Days at Animal Kingdom. We had a lot of fun but to be honest now that I have been to 3 of Disney's parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Animal Kingdom) I would only really want to go back to Epcot. Animal Kingdom was nice but way overpriced in my opinion.

Now back to our trip... there were stationed set up around the park with activities for us "homeschoolers" to learn about certain animals, the environment and the what not. To be honest they were kinda cheesy and geared towards lower elementary but we visited most of them. The best part (and probably most educational) was when Micah started asking one of the researchers that did the "Flight of Wonder" show how she got her job and where she went to school. Micah was very impressed and went away thinking about what he should do. He would like to work with animals but he would also be happy working on cars at this time. Only being 6th grade I am not pressuring him to make up his mind about future careers though, lol.

Here are some photo's of our day :)
Tree of Life

The first activity was about Gibbons.

Micah talking to the researcher.

Xavier is playing a game at one of the activities.

Isaac tried to call "Dada" but got to hear about conservation projects instead.

Drumming...

The end of the day...

30 Days of Nothing

A blog I read is doing a 30 Days of Nothing "Challenge" which got it off another blog. I am not sure if it is an actual challenge or has just inspired others to join in. Either way it is something I should definitely be joining in on. We spend to much time and money on junk and could live a lot more frugal. Hmmm, does it count if it is a bad time though and we have to spend money?? There is so much going on over the next 2 weeks I know we will not be able to be as frugal as I would like.

As I said the next week or two are going to be hard. Tomorrow we are heading down to Animal Kingdom @ Disney for their Home School Days (like being frugal there is going to work well). Wednesday we are suppose to go to the park & Awana then on Thursday the boys have a science class. Then Saturday the boys have a class at Audubon Center for Birds of Prey and Sunday is church. Ok that is just this week next week is not as bad... Monday - classes at One Room Schoolhouse & Music Lessons, Wednesday we have Awana, Thursday science and Saturday we are suppose to go to Orlando Science Center. Ughh how am I going to be frugal the next 2 weeks. Maybe I should consider starting this now but then again maybe I should wait a couple of weeks, lol.

Weekend Fun

Saturday Micah and Xavier went with Aunt K and cousin J to the beach. They had fun playing in the waves and hanging out. Only downfall was Micah dove into a big wave and went face first into a jellyfish that was hiding under the water. He got stung right under his nose and on his neck. Luckily it is not to bad although there are marks. Xavier had a blast playing volleyball and really wants someone to play sports with him. So I am going to have to make a point that Micah and I go outside and kick the ball around or something. This is gonna be hard since neither Micah or I are sports oriented at all.

Sunday we did the usual - church & Nana's. The girls (the boys cousins) came over for dinner like normal and the kids had fun playing some tag game they made up. Micah also spent the evening helping down at the shop with Papa J. He loves working down there. After the girls left we studied our spelling words for tomorrow's test and then read some more in our book for book club. While reading is a good thing... its not. We finished the assigned chapters and book club doesn't meet for another week. The boys are anxious to get on with it. The question is should we go ahead and keep reading or stop reading it for the week since we have 3 more weeks to go with this book. Ahhh, what to do, what to do? Micah wants to work on the "homework" and start another book and wait to finish. Hmm. Maybe I will look at the store tomorrow to see what books I can find in the mean time.

A Week In Review

TGIF! It has been one of those weeks where I am glad to see that it is over. We started the week with a sick baby. So first thing Monday morning I loaded him into the car and we went to the doctor. I probably would have let him just ride this cold out but I was out of albuterol so we had to go. What I did not expect was the ear infection and 6 prescriptions I had to pick up and a return trip on Wednesday. He has officially been diagnosed as asthmatic (which is a good thing) and he is now on a preventative. I just pray that the Lord heals him like he healed Xavier. The doctor appointment had us running a little behind in our Monday routine so the boys did not make it to their math class. However, we did make it to the One Room Schoolhouse in time for lunch/recess, spelling, countries and book club. Of course the boys had a blast (like usual). Afterwards we went and visited my mom & dad for a few minutes until it was time for their music lessons.

Tuesday was unproductive especially since I had a screaming toddler hanging on to my leg for the majority of the day. Unfortunately Wednesday did not fair much better. the screamer was still attached and we got an all expense paid trip back to the doctor's office on Friday. Praise the Lord - Friday's appointment found Isaac with clear lungs (which of the 5 medicine's helped I have no idea, lol) and ears healing. We have to continue to keep an eye on his ears because if he continues with the ear infections we will be getting tubes :( However the flu shot vaccine should be in next week where we get to make another trip to the doctor's office.

The two older boys are well and much to my surprise Xavier has been practicing his violin not only without me hounding him about it but also with great enthusiasm! dare I speak to soon... I do hope it lasts. Micah had to check my tires with his tire gauge and check the oil. He is planning a trip to the auto store to get the supplies to change my oil using his new tools. I don't think he can wait much longer, he is dying to use them, lol.

With a screaming toddler and me searching the internet for information on weaning and transitioning a child of 20 months into their own bed our schooling was not as productive as I had planned. However, we did get our homework accomplished and are halfway through the first part of the book we are reading for book club. Our SOW lessons didn't make it on to the agenda this week and I will have to re-schedule the lesson plan because of activities we have going on over the next few weeks. Oh - school is back in full force! I am so happy that "summer" is over and we can get back to being busy little beavers.

Hope everyone has a blessed weekend!

Blog Changes

I am trying to redo my blog which has turned into quite a task. Hopefully I will have all the kinks worked out by next week. This page will continue to be our family & homeschool blog. A Changing Heart is where I will ramble and journal my thoughts and feelings that the Lord has placed upon me. I am hoping to get my Unit Studies blog back up, I have not posted there in years but have files and plans from various "studies" we have done that I wanted to post.

God Bless

Option 3 - Don't Vote

It is amazing to me how Christians are so divided over who we should vote for in the upcoming election. A majority of the people I know will probably vote for McCain, they prefer his stand on abortion, the military and other issues but a few have chosen to vote for Obama. I think we should take option number 3 and NOT vote.

I know, it sounds horrible, unpatriotic, it's a dereliction of our civic duty or is it? We must remember that we who have been born again are to look to Christ. His kingdom is the only true kingdom and His governing is the only one worth living for. The kingdom's of the world will pass away. They are not of God, although God alone will appoint those who He wants to lead the world's governments. Will he appoint those who are not Christians - yes, that is obvious. Is it our duty to try and appoint those who we feel will lead us in a Christian direction - debatable. We must remember that the world will become more ungodly according to the Bible. Only at the appointed time when the Lord calls us home will we have a perfect world and kingdom. Until then we will be in a sin filled world and we must be a light in the darkness. But do we compromise our saltiness by voting for either candidate?

I believe we do, Obama obviously has policies that a Christian should not support. McCain while coming across pretty clean for the most part has decided to ask a woman to be VP. We all know that Obama's issues get a way range of publicity from Christians who are against him but why are all the Christians rallying around someone who blatantly is disrupting the order of headship and who has decided to take sides with the feminist movement? Voting for the lesser of 2 evils is still a vote for evil. Are we not to separate ourselves from the world and the evil that it contains?

Oh, how far we have fallen since He first saved us. We can not save a condemned world but we can spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and be a light to those in the darkness. We can not vote for the one who everything belongs to, well unless you write in Jesus Christ on the ballot. No one on earth can be without sin, for we all have fallen short of the glory of God but we can choose to either vote according to our own flesh because that is where our opinions come from or we can vote from a Biblical standpoint. For myself the Bible clearly states what we should or should not do and I cannot vote for either Obama or McCain when looking at it from a Biblical worldview.

We must all ask ourselves where we stand when it comes to voting and the upcoming election. I pray that whatever you choose to do you do with much prayer and remember whether you go to the voting booth or not:
We are not of this world...
The world does not know him...
We must pray for our leaders and the nations...
We must shine our light in the world AND stay away from evil.

I am reading a book called "Married to Television (Restructuring Your Prime Time)" which has been very interesting. It was written in the early 90's so I am sure the facts and figures have changed but even then TV usage in the home and the moral decline of television was present. Chapter 3 discusses family altar (the tele) and starts with a poem that I thought I would share with you.

The TV is my shepherd. My spiritual growth shall want. It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for His name's sake, because it requireth all my spare time. It keepeth me from doing my duty as a CHristian because it presenteth so many good shows that I must see.

It restoreth my knowledge of the things of the world and keepeth me from the study of God's Word. It leadeth me int he paths of failing to attend the evening church services and doing nothing for the kingdom of God. Yet, thought I shall live to be a hundred, I shall keep viewing my TV as long as it will work, for it is my closest friend. It sounds and its pictures they comfort me.

It presenteth entertainment before me and keepeth me from doing important things with my family. It fills my head with ideas which differ from those in the Word of God.

Surely no good thing will come of my life because of so many wasted hours, and I shall dwell in remorse and regrets forever.
~ Author Unknown

TV

My ramble for the day... Seems the Lord is always putting something new in front of me that needs to be addressed. The current "issue" is the TV. To be honest it is not that new of an issue just one that I have not wanted to deal with and have found excuses to ignore. Last year we gave up TV for a week (minus news). However it has been pressing on my heart that this is something I need to do something about.

My 2 older boys have grown up with TV, and yes I was a "bad" mother and used it to babysit at times. Unfortunately it has turned into an addiction issue I believe. Of course they do not see it that way. They think it is a great way to buy time because they are bored and they do watch shows they shouldn't. They watch cartoons, kids shows and Discovery Channel. Discovery I can live with (we love Dirty Jobs) but the cartoons and kid shows do have a lot of content and ways of opening doors which do not need opened. But even more that that it has become an idol. We put it before God on a daily basis.

So how do we change this? I don't want to get rid of it (plus it won't do much good considering we live with family). But changing to a No or Limited TV lifestyle is not going to be easy.

Leviticus 19:4 Turn ye not unto idols, nor make to yourselves molten gods: I am the LORD your God.

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.

KJV Bible

Like most people I grew up thinking that the Bible version you read did not matter because they were all the Word of God. I have known a few people who read only the KJV but it was never an issue so I just continued on my way. Until recently when I heard a sermon online about why the KJV is the only true Word of God. Oh WoW! According to the sermon certain translations have not only changed words so the original meaning was also changed but certain words and verses had been totally deleted. After personally going through my Bibles and looking at the differences I decided to further study this issue. After reading both sides of the KJV debate and sorting through what versions come from what texts and manuscripts I have decided to join the ranks of the KJV only crowd. The decision to switch was actually quite simple once I understood where the Bible translations came from and I saw the changes and omissions in my various Bibles. Of course my poor brain does not understand why so many churches have allowed these bibles with deleted verses in their church and even worse why they preach from them. Satan will get his hold on whatever he can I suppose. I just pray the Lord continues to open my eyes to the truth and He leads me on the path I am to go.

Not My Day...

Where do I even begin? Today has no been one of our best days. Joel has been told to be ready to PCS just in case he is not staying in Korea. Mind you a week ago he was told his extension paperwork went through and he would be there 3 more months. (Hmmm).
I spent 40 minutes waiting for 2 doctor's appointment only to be told Tricare won't pay for them. They charged me $35 per child to look in the mouth with a tongue depressor, listen to them breathe and fill out a piece of paper? You have got to be kidding me! We stopped by Gamestop on the way home because Xavier's PSP's analog stick is not working... oh I have to contact Sony because the stupid product replacement plan i paid for doesn't go into effect until Sony's warranty expires. So I put in a service request only for it to "not be processed". What does that mean?

Luckily the night did get better. Xavier went to Awana tonight (his first time ever) and had a blast. Micah went to Middle school Bible Study and it was and I quote "SWEET". We did not get home until almost 9 and after a little wind down time the boys got tucked into bed and we read a 2 more chapters of "My Brother Sam is Dead". We are really enjoying this book and are 1/2 way through it already. I better start looking for our next book to read as this one will be done in a week at this rate.

In the end I just have to remember that no matter how frustrating I may get at things tomorrow is a new day and Praise God - He is in control and I am blessed!

Monday's News

I should have known it was going to be an "off" day when I woke up this morning and the boys were jumping around the house. Micah decided to conveniently clean out the car from this past weekend when we were fixing to start school but that is okay because it gave me a few minutes with Xavier do review our math and he was able to take the test and fact test. While Micah worked on his math Xavier did his science and history reading. English was put on hold along with SOW because Micah had started his science while I was putting Isaac down for his nap.

Today for SOW we worked on the topical study "helper". As we discussed our scripture verse my 2 dear sons thought it would be funny to draw pictures of their future wife. Well... draw pictures of their brothers future wife. First they were funny pictures, then Xavier decided to draw a French girl. Now I am not sure what made her French but here is a stick girl with a dress, scarf and sunglasses on her head. He went to draw high heels but Micah piped up that he doesn't like heels so she became barefooted. After his drawing Micah says in a French accent (or at least what he thinks is a French accent) "Me like French girl". Xavier then informed us he wants a Swedish wife. Ok.. this is not where this lesson was suppose to go. But the class clowns just kept rolling along. Thankfully they did understand the lesson, even though they goofed around a bit :-)

Tonight we have music practice and then we are going by my momma's house for a little while. We have to leave a little earlier than planned because my dear son Xavier broke the chin piece off his violin. How he managed that I still don't quite understand.

Oh - the boys birthday party/camping trip was canceled because of Hurricane Faye. The boys were not thrilled at all but what that is how it goes at times. Anyways, hope everyone has a wonderful evening.

Friday's Ramble

Yesterday I broke the news to the boys that dad won't be home in October like planned. Surprisingly they took it pretty well. As anyone in the military knows nothing is ever set in stone so his 1 year unaccompanied tour will now be a 15 month tour. But because of deployment dates here in the states Joel is hoping that he can extend for 2 years in Korea and bring us over after all. We should know pretty soon on whether it will be approved or not. I have been tasked out to get the EFMP paperwork on Xavier filled out because that may have a bearing on if they will let us over. Because Xavier was diagnosed with asthma they turned him down on Germany tour. To be honest I am not sure how much I want to go to Korea but it does mean I will be able to be with my hubby for 2 years without deployments (unless something drastically changes). However, I am looking to the Lord and trusting He will put us where we are suppose to be. I just wish he would hurry up. Patience is something I desperately need, don't pray for and still have to learn.

On another note... Xavier is getting quite good at chess. He has finally gotten the strategy part down. Which means that I have to actually pay more attention to the board now and not make silly mistakes which he did not notice before. Micah and him played a couple of games today, I played Xavier once and I have to play Micah tomorrow. I think we are back to the "good old days" and will be playing chess for hours each day like we use to do.

I hope everyone has a wonderful night! I am off to surf...

Weekly Update

This week has gone by so quickly. We started the week off great but life happened so we had to put school on hold Thursday and Friday. We have begun SOW Lesson 2 and are diving into Genesis 2. We managed to get our outline, vocabulary and memory verse done this week. I was hoping to finish the Language Arts section but we will pick it up Saturday. Yes, I did say Saturday! Next week the boys leave for a camping trip/birthday party Monday morning and I do not pick them back up until Wednesday morning. So we are going to work on SOW Saturday and then finish it up next Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

We finished reading Island of the Blue Dolphins this week. Both boys have completed their rough draft for a book review and will be typing it up next week as well as making a cover for the book and writing a short author biography.

Last weekend Micah built his first shelf. He did everything but use the circular saw. I am not sure what he is planning on building next but he can't wait to get his own set of tools.

Time flies by...

I know I should be taking pictures but that would involve getting the camera out of my car where it has been sitting for the past couple of weeks. Last Tuesday the boys and I were blessed with the arrival of my sister's new baby, Natalie!! Yay! The boys were excited to see their new cousin.

Tuesday we went to Daytona Museum of Arts & Science and explored the current exhibits. The boys loved the exhibit of photographs from WWII but were not impressed with the Greek art (Xavier was especially distraught over the male nudity on some of the vases). This of course led into many discussions.

Wednesday we headed over to Daytona again to see the baby. Afterwards we went to the local Christian bookstore where I was able to pick up 2 books I wanted to use for school and Xavier bought a necklace. We ended the day at a local park where the boys played with some friends while I toured what is going to be the new art center located at the park. The center offers homeschool classes in Spanish, Art, Writing and Theater. I thought the day was done until I got home and remembered that Xavier had basketball camp starting that evening. The camp was Wed., Thurs., and Friday for a couple hours each night. Needless to say he had a blast and has been dribbling ever since.

We continued to review the first lesson in SOW last week. Micah and Xavier have been really getting into reading their Bible each morning before school. Micah has even taken to reading it at night before bed. What a blessing to see! It has been so wonderful to put the Lord first each day and use His word for our school work. I sat down this weekend and "planned" the next couple of weeks out. We are spending about 2 weeks on each SOW lesson. So far the plan is:

week a
Monday - Reading, Penmanship, Outline, English #1 in SOW
Tuesday - Penmanship, Vocabulary, Topical, English #2-4 in SOW
Wed. - Reading, Penmanship, Character, English #5 in SOW
Thursday - Penmanship, Setting, English #6 in SOW, Literature (Short Story or Book)
Friday - Penmanship, Commentary, English #7 in SOW

week b
Monday - Reading, Penmanship, Sci/Geo/History
Tuesday - Penmanship, Sci/Geo/History
Wednesday - Reading, Penmanship, Creative Writing
Thursday - Pemanship, Creative Writing and/or Elective, Literature (Poetry)
Friday - Memory Verse Quiz, Elective

During the second week we are using extras for English pulling from Rod & Staff or Learning English with the Bible. We also use things from Remembering God's Awesome Acts the second week. We plan any field trips which correspond with the SOW lesson for Friday ofthe second week.

Well I hope you have a wonderful day... I need to get to bed. God Bless :)

First Week of School

Our first week of school and the boys had a blast! What started as a "not school" turned into children eagerly doing the lessons. I am surprised I didn't die from shock, especially when they wanted to do math! We are using a variety of things but our main source is SOW. I am having to tweak it a little bit here and there so that I can fit in some other things I want to do this year.

This week we reviewed the first week of SOW which we did earlier this summer. We also started Saxon 65 (we are doing this as a "class" for the time being, but this will probably change later on). We also started "Remembering God's Awesome Acts" and a unit study from a book I picked up at the local teacher store about democracy.

Now I just need to sit down and make the schedule out for our schoolwork. That way I know what we are suppose to be doing each day and don't become scatterbrained. I am hoping that this next week we can really focus on starting individual Bible time. I have not been very good about teaching my boys to spend one on one time with the Lord. So that is where we are going to start. I would like for them to write their PRAYS letters at that time also.

It is getting late so I better get to bed. Have a great night!