PRACTICE IS PAYING OFF!

I just had to post this horse picture that my 6 year old daughter, Myah, drew last week. She did it all on her own with a little help from daddy on the legs. She just loves drawing and she loves horses! It's so fun to watch the drawings improve over time!

A GREAT SCRIPTURE MEMORY METHOD

Whether you homeschool or not, this is a great way to help your family learn Scripture in an easy way. Not only that, but it's teaching the life skill of memorizing Scripture! It's even good for those of us adults who need a little fire put under us to learn more of God's Word! The thing I like about it is that not only are you learning new passages, but it's a great way to review what you have already learned, and there's no pressure. You can go at your own pace.

It's a Charlotte Mason method, and you can read about it here. (Thanks to my new friend, Mandi, for bringing this method to my attention It's working well for us so far!)

HINTS FOR EASIER TRAVELING-- PART 2: ENTERTAINMENT!

Living in MT has helped our kids immensely when it comes to getting use to being in the car a lot. We travel 1 hour to church every Sunday and 45+ minutes to Billings two other times during the week for Joel's speech. I don't pack toys, books or anything along for them. If they choose to grab something on the way out the door, fine, but I just can't think about it for 3 kids as frequently as we go. It has taught them to enjoy their surroundings a bit more -- looking for cows, horses and hawks are always a favorite! When all else fails, they pick on each other, and drive mom crazy! :)

A 23 hour trip, however, is much different. There is plenty of time to enjoy surroundings and still be bored stiff. My kids love creative play. If you give them a few horses or animals of any sort, they can go crazy for an hour making them talk about anything. Here are some other thoughts of what I plan to bring...

* tub of horses/animals
* handful of matchbox cars
* drawing paper, stuff to write with
* books (hopefully I'll get to the library before we go for some new ones!)
* Leapsters (which is a treat b/c I never have the batteries charged up for them)
* magna doodle (I think ours is broke, though...)
* DVD player...yup, we give in to this one on these long trips. It only gets put in the car once a year when we travel to MI, but it works oh-so-well for that peace & quiet you just need once in a while when you're all crammed into a tiny place for such a long period of time! (Do I sound like I'm making excuses?????) :)

I'd love to hear any other suggestions you may have for entertaining children in the car. Do you know of any of those artsy things that would work? Keep in mind, I have very little time before we leave and don't want to go out and spend a fortune on new gadgets. I also like to keep things organized and un-messy (no cutting or pasting projects). The car has no problem becoming a pig-pen on it's own!

HINTS FOR EASIER TRAVELING -- PART 1: FOOD!

As I anticipate 23 hours on the road the end of next week, (& we won't even think about the return trip of the same distance only a little more than a week later!) I'm trying to gear up the best I can to make things as easy as possible. One thing I've learned about road-trips, especially with kids, is that having healthy snacks readily available is very important. We made this same trip last year, and only stopped for one meal the entire trip, if I remember right. (A healthy breakfast in the morning!) I just can't stand eating all that fast food, and it makes my stomach churn just thinking about it. Here are some thoughts about what good "road-trip" food might be. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to share! I'd love to expand my horizons a bit!

* fresh fruits (oranges, grapes, apples, etc.)
* fresh veggies (carrots and broccoli are favorites in this family, and yes, we have to have dip -- the little containers work best!)
* peanuts, mixed nuts, sunflower seeds
* crackers, pretzels
* summer sausage
* cheese slices or string cheese
* yogurt cups (save you from having to buy the "parfaits" at Mc D's)
* bagels (with mom controlled cream cheese)
* granola bars
* lots of water bottles

I even thought of stocking up on things like those cold coffee drinks at Costco before we go. Otherwise at 2am, Evan is buying caffeine to keep himself awake and paying $2+ for something! (He's not usually a caffeine guy...only when he has to drive at 2am b/c his wife can't keep her eyes open...)

Another thing I have learned to do is bring a bowl/container of some sort along for each child that is their own. Then when they want something, I serve it to them in that. They put any trash back in it and hand it back to me.

Any other suggestions??

FAVORITE HOLIDAY CHILDREN'S BOOKS

I tuck away our Christmas books every year and pull them out when we decorate the tree. This makes them extra special and fun to read this time of the year. Some of the books in our book basket include the following: (I'd also love to hear what some of your favorites are!)

A Star From the Least by Amy Jo Hoekzema
A Child's Christmas at St. Nicholas Circle inspired by Thomas Kinkade
The Candymaker's Gift by David & Helen Haidle
Mary Did You Know? by Mark Lowry
The Legend of the Christmas Tree by Rick Osborne
The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg
A Candle in the Window by Grace Johnson
A Cat in the Stable by Troon Harrison
Cranberry Christmas by Wende and Harry Devlin
The Polar Express by Christ Van Allsburg
Christmas Carols for a Kid's Heart by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada

Every year my mom picks out a new Christmas story and blesses our children with it. It's been a great way to add to our collection. We also love to visit the library and see what Christmas books they have. We recently read one called "A Christmas with Grandfather" and it we all enjoyed it. I'm just amazed at all the good literature that is out there for our kids to enjoy, each season of the year!

FINALLY GETTING AROUND TO MY BLOG!

Life has been really busy lately, so I've had to put this on the back burner. I started a post about a week ago, but struggled with uploading my pictures, so I gave up. Dinner is in the oven. The house is mostly cleaned for Bible study tonight. Cranberry cheescake bars are made for tonight and Myah is folding socks for me. I have about 2 minutes to catch up! So, here is a quick update on what's been going on in my head....and our lives!

ANNUAL CHRISTMAS TREE HUNT!
This past weekend we kept the tradition alive of traveling to Red Lodge for our annual Christmas tree hunt. We trudged through the National Forest and finally chose a small "charlie brown" Christmas tree to take home. We always go on the weekend they are having their Christmas stroll, so we can enjoy the later shopping times and all the free goodies they hand out. This is one of my favorite days of the year every year! Hopefully I can get some pictures on here eventually!

NEW HOMESCHOOL IDEAS THANKS TO A NEW FRIEND!
Met another homeschool mom through some friends of ours and though we live in different states and have only known each other less than a week via e-mail, I feel like we already have become very close friends. We have a TON in common, only she's about 3 years ahead of me in life. I've been having some frustrations lately, and it's always nice to have someone who's "been there and done that" to talk things through with. She gave me oodles of new websites and resources to check out for homeschool. I plan to pass those along in a later post because they have already been SO helpful to me and maybe someone out there could also benefit from them. I've been trying to really focus on what methods God is calling me to use with our family and how to incorporate what I feel He's showing me amidst our very busy scheule. We've already implemented many new ideas, adding daily lessons on character and also we have started a new thing called "notebooking", which Myah thoroughly loves, and Joel can do already as well. (More on that later, hopefully!) Now I just need to wait for a little extra cash to order a few more goodies! :)

PUTTING OUR HOUSE UP FOR SALE?????
Still trying to figure out how I feel about this one. I have mixed feelings, but after the holidays, we plan to pur our house on the market, if all goes well. I'm sad because this is "home" and has been for over 3 years, and though we are outgrowing it desperately, I love this house! I am also very excited, however, because this means a new chapter of our lives is beginning. This next chapter will include a ton of work, but in the long run, will be a wonderful change for our family. The house we are buying is on 42 acres, and we were just out there this past weekend to take some family photos, and I just loved it. There were pheasant and fox tracks in the front yard, and we scared up 8 white-tail deer from the fields as we were walking. The rabbits were everywhere and it was so peaceful. We just have a lot of work to do to even get that house livable!

LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR TRIP HOME
We plan to leave in about 2 weeks. I'm excited to see everyone, especially my grandpa, who was recently in the hospital. I'm looking forward to spending the holidays with the people we love! Just wish I could snap my fingers and be there instead of spending 23 hours on the road to get there!

ABOVE RUBIES
Just got a some new magazines and can't put them down. (Which is bad becuase I've been staying up way too late reading them!) If you haven't checked these out yet, you NEED to! Very encouraging stuff for families!