Looking forward to the new year

I am grateful for each and every day in each year.  Each January of the new year gives me an opportunity to seek God's plans and purposes for the year in prayer and fasting.  To me, it's like given God the first fruits offering.  The first month of the new year is dedicated to seeking him. 

I gain so much during this time.  Perhaps I should give God one week in the following months of the year to keep the spirit of the sacrifice going the whole year.  Anyone want to hold me accountable to that?

Here is to a prosperous new year.  Praying that it brings joy to each of you.

IEW's 12 Days of Christmas Giving

Excellence in Writing is offering free downloads from December 26 - January 6.  Families can register here:  IEW.com/Christmas13.  You will receive an email with a link to the free download.

What a great Christmas gift to you from IEW.

To register for this event, click here. Sign up to receive daily reminders.

Christmas Help pt 2

The bottom line is ...I didn't make it.  My body rejected anything that had to do with staying up between 11 pm - 4 am.  No amount of caffeine or chocolate resolved the issue.  So I clocked 25 working hours then I was done!  The amount of money made in that time takes less than an hour to spend.  I'm not sure if it was worth it or not.  But I'm all for new experiences.

There are a lot of new experiences in our household this month.  The year 2013 goes down as the year of transition.  There has been so much to adjust to this year and its only by His Grace that each and every day is won.

But this is a homeschooling blog so I would like to focus on what has been successful in this school year thus far:

1.  Public School classes have been great for Princess both socially and academically.  It's not that the class instruction has been so great but she has been forced to rely on herself to seek out resources so that she can learn the skills that are being introduced.  Lackluster teaching and unmotivated peers are not an excuse for failing.  You are responsible for your own learning.

2.  Videotext Math Online.  No book to tote around.  Everything is online.  Sometimes I can check Pumpkin's work away from home and only print out quizzes and tests for recordkeeping.  Having the video instruction is great!

3.  My Father's World is always a winner in our home.  When I am lesson planning for my oldest and youngest, I am so grateful that MFW has done all the work for me.

4.  Outsource Grading.  I've used the same outside grader for this school year to grade high school writing papers.  I love the outside accountability and justification for my writing instruction.  She gives great feedback and her grades are right on point with my own assessment.

I am often inconsistent and have so many obligations.  I don't always spend enough time with each child and sometimes I doubt if I am doing a good job.  This is when it is good to take the time to reflect on what has been going well.  I know each year will not be perfect.  My kids are learning in and out of the "classroom."  I pray in the end it will all be good.

Christmas help anyone pt 1?

 

So I've done a lot of odd jobs during Christmas time over the years; primarily of the retail variety. It puts you smack dab in the middle of the Christmas rush. You have random conversations with people, you get to see what's on sale, etc. etc. I make a little Christmas cash and everyone's happy right?

Well this year truly takes the cake. My husband saw a commercial about amazon.com needing seasonal help at their fulfillment center 25 minutes from where we live. It took an hour just to fill out the application online. Next you show up at a strip mall for further testing and an interview. I got to the strip mall one hour after the place opened because I wanted to be there early. I waited in line with other "characters," and I do mean characters for an hour. Once inside, it was another 2 hours before I walked out of the door with my schedule to report to work on 12/4.

My head was spinning. I thought I could work about 20 hours per week until Christmas. Little did I know they only had full-time shifts. My choice was 7:30 - 5 pm or 5:30 pm - 4 am! My mouth hung open but I had 3 hours invested already so I took the night shift. You know I homeschool during the day so it was just no way to do the day shift.

My husband laughed so long when I told him the story. But hey, I like a challenge, they promised 5-20 miles of walking a night; and I could stand to lose a few pounds. I actually looked forward to it. I knew I could only do one week realistically. There was no way to keep this type of schedule through Christmas. By night 2, I was wondering if I would make it to my last night.

Stay tuned for part 2........