The Homeschool Mother's Journal Post for 8/12

http://www.soyoucallyourselfahomeschooler.com/homeschool-mothers-journal

In my life this week…I am all about getting back into the "routine" of school life. We are switching over to our homeschooling schedule as the week continues with bedtimes moved up and wake-up times moved up. I have a kazillion things to do this week between scheduling a lot of blog posts, prepping for homeschooling to start back up, ordering our final curriculum, and of course the joys of preserving our garden crops. Throw it all together with some card making for my church and I'm one busy girl!

In our homeschool this week…we are (as I said above) getting back into our daily schedule time-wise. I am also sorting through our curriculum and making sure I have everything we need. We bought school supplies this weekend as I had already noted items we needed for our new year (more binders!). I am hoping to work on our classroom set up as well as FINALLY pulling out all the 1st grade work and filing the best away.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…if the day you've chosen for your FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL suddenly seems like a death-trap...CHANGE IT! I had to do that today. With all I have going on I was just starting to get frantic thinking about starting school next Monday! So I said "I won't!" And the minute I said those words, the pressure lifted as I remembered--I AM IN CHARGE OUR EDUCATION! Which means I can move things around if I need to.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…last week Little Britches and I had an absolute BLAST at our churches pre-teen summer camp. I served as head counselor for G1 (Age 6-8 girls) and he was a first-time camper in B1. It was an awesome adventure! You can see some of our photos in my REAL LIFE HOMESCHOOLING blog post I'm sharing tomorrow.

My favorite thing this week was…spending time with a dear friend. She and her son drove up from Georgia and stayed the weekend with us last week before she and I carpooled with the boys up to summer camp. Then she stayed 2 more nights on the way home and left on Friday. We recharged each others friendship tanks and grew closer together just by BEING together.

My kiddos favorite thing this week was…camp for Little Britches. For SURE. And for Baby Britches--it was getting to be alone with my Mother-in-law and Father-In-Law while we were at camp. My husband (as some may remember) works out of town 3 days/2 nights a week. Baby Britches ate up all that one-on-one time with his grandparents.

I’m cooking…anything with peaches and apples. I was blessed with a lot of both and now I get to cook recipes I've been saving up!

I’m grateful for…the Lord's protection at summer camp. On Wednesday (the 7th) we had a terrible storm come in while we were packing the children up in the dorm...and then the tornado sirens went off. We had to grab our campers and run for the basement. It was so scary as many of us had never experienced this before AND because we had never had a drill to know what to do or where to go! I had 2 hysterical little girls who I had to comfort and remind of God's faithfulness to His people. Mercifully it worked and they were able to calm down and stay focused once we arrived at the basement. Our camp was safe (we had to hit the basements a second time later)--but it was a close call. The tornado touched down and tore a path just ONE MILE--yes ONE MILE from where our camp was located. That is way too close and the closest I EVER want to be to a tornado again. But God put His hand over our camp and prevented tragedy. It was an excellent way for the girls in my dorm to see God's promises in action. That whole week we had been discussing the promises of God in the Bible...so we were able to recite them during the tornado and I think it brought them GREAT comfort. And once they learned of God's protection of our camp they were even more convicted of the faithfulness of God. It really cemented what I had been working on with them over our time together during our morning and evening spiritual discussions.

I’m praying for…friends who are desperately in need of employment, friends who are desperate for mental peace, friends who need release from pain and friends who just need to know they are loved.

I rewarded my kids this week by…letting them enjoy some homemade popsicles!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…

The most GIGANTIC caterpillar I have EVER seen. I could have stared at it all day long! We found it during check-in at camp and the children (and adults!) were fascinated by it! It is the caterpillar of a Cecropia Moth, the largest moth in North America. We knew it had to make SOMETHING huge! LOL!

See you back here tomorrow!