Collage Friday - Feeling Like a New Person
Friday, January 25, 2013 at 5:00AM
This has been a busy week. Many odds and ends have been taken care of, and LOTS of schoolwork has been completed.
We will be driving to Florida next week and staying a few days with my mom and dad. Then, my dear husband will drive the kids all the way home (11 hours!) while I stay in sunny SW Florida for The BEECH Retreat.
As I'm preparing for all of this, I am so thankful for ENERGY --- energy that I did not have even a month ago.
Since participating in the Shakeology 10 Day Challenge I have adopted a whole new way of life. I've lost 8 lbs. and am feeling wonderful. Our whole family is happier. I've been cooking healthier meals, and focusing more on the physical and mental health of everyone in our home.
In short, life is changing, and for the better!
Even thought it has been freezing outside, the kids and I have been shooting baskets each afternoon. I feel like I've got the energy and stamina to keep up with my children, and I'm so thankful for this time that I have with them.
1. Our spelling curriculum is Spelling Workout. Both Anna and Grant work on their own levels each week. I LOVE these workbooks. This week, however, I downloaded the app, My Spelling Test, for them to take their tests. What fun! I enter the words on the iPad and speak them, too. Then, the kids take the test by listening to me and typing in the words. It keeps track of their progress and we can even email the results to dad.
2. We have been writing Thank You Notes this week for birthday and Christmas gifts. Sadly, I think this is becoming a lost art. It's a great way to practice writing skills and show someone you appreciate them.
3. The Story of the World Volume 3 is ready to go when we return home from vacation. Anna updated her timeline. We use a book from The Sonlight Curriculum - Book of Time
4. We are nearly finished with The Hobbit
5. Lots of quiet reading was done this week. Here's what they are reading:
The Camp-Out Mystery (The Boxcar Children, No. 27)
Nasty, Stinky Sneakers
Fablehaven Complete Set (Boxed Set): Fablehaven; Rise of the Evening Star; Grip of the Shadow Plague; Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary; Keys to the Demon Prison
6. Math is going very well this year. Anna feels confident in her math skills now (she didn't last year) thanks to the rigors of Saxon. We are using Math 7 / 6: Homeschool Set
7. The kids finished their respective levels of The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease:
In an effort to stay healthy, I am blogging about the changes we are making in our home.
I shared a recipe for Healthy Chicken Nuggets on the blog this week.
Part of our changes include me using Plan to Eat faithfully, and planning healthy recipes.
I sit down each Saturday evening and plan the meals for the week. Then, Sunday afternoon I shop for the week. I had to take a picture of it this week, because I just love how neat the groceries looked in the back of my husband's little Honda Fit. I love being organized and prepared, don't you?
Starting each day with a Shakeology shake is making all the difference in my life.
This Beef Vegetable Soup was wonderful. I put it in the crockpot and we had a warm dinner that everyone enjoyed.
I also made Diner Meatloaf Muffins. Traditional Meatloaf was always a favorite of my family's... I just sought out a more healthy recipe and served it with green beans and crescent rolls.
I didn't get any pictures of our first day of co-op this week. The kids were glad to be back in the swing of things and to see their friends. Grant is taking a math class and the science of baseball. Anna is taking a catering class and assisting a teacher in the two year old class.
News from the blog this week:
- Create Your Own LEGO Minifigure Printables for Girls and Boys
- Healthy Chicken Nuggets Recipe
- God's Promises for Boys Giveaway
How was your homeschool week? I'd love for you to join Collage Friday. The rules are simple: Write a post with photo collages documenting your homeschool week. Grab the Collage Friday button (in my sidebar) or text link back to this post. Then, sign the linky and visit a few others who have linked as well. This is a great way to gain ideas and offer support and encouragement.
Check back next week for Collage Friday -- with a short edition from the BEACH!
Reader Comments (19)
Making ourselves a priority is not only good for us, but good for our family! It can change just about everything. Have a super fun time in FL, I wish I was going.....
I am so glad you are feeling so much better. I love the energy boost. I pray it continues. Have a wonderful trip.
Blessings, Dawn
I'm so glad that you are feeling so good! Shakeology certainly does help. I'm chuckling over your neat groceries in your little car, last week our groceries were piled high in our van and we still didn't have enough room!! I was wondering if you were going to have a link up next week :)
You are very inspiring right now with your life changes. Proud of your efforts!
Oh, I need these shakes! LOL I feel like I'm dragging lately! But with the temperatures hovering around 0 (without windchill), I'm not too anxious to get moving! I'm frozen! LOL
Have a good trip next week!
I am so proud of/for you on your healthy journey! I have been on a very low sugar diet for a while (though I do indulge) and I am with you on feeling so much better. Love your Lego printables and all you share with us!! And I agree about thank you notes - it does seem a lost art but we include it as part of our handwriting (and art if we decorate them too!). What a great example and wonderful habit you are passing on to your children. I truly cannot believe BEECH is here and I get to meet you!
Lucky you, going to Florida! We're having -2 degree weather up here! Enjoy your time with your parents and at the conference!
We got one of those thank-yous! We both really enjoyed it so much. And you are right. It is a lost art. I'm not even as good at it as I was when I was Grant's age. So thanks for instilling it in him.
Also glad to hear Anna's confidence in her math skills is growing. It's such a great feeling to gain skill in a weakness. Even if it never becomes a strength, it's great to feel that a weakness isn't so weak anymore! And while I have not been a home-schooler, I have always heard great things about the Saxon folks.
great week Mary! Doing the same thing over at my house... making health a priority. We love the meatloaf muffins at our house and a big steaming bowl of beef and veg soup sounds like it would hit the spot today! We worked through the Writing With Ease samples this week and we really enjoyed it! I'm ready to jump all in and buy the books and start asap. Glad to hear you give a good review! Makes the decision to buy it so much easier!
Excited to "hear" all about BEECH! Have a safe trip!
I am so glad to hear you are feeling better- isn't it amazing how seemingly small changes can make such a BIG difference?
That spelling app sounds fun.! Have fun at the Beech Retreat, I can't wait to read about it.
Thank you for sharing.
Hurray for feeling like a new person! I'm trying to eat better this year -- and get my family eating better, too! :)
I'm happy to hear you are feeling better so quickly with the life style change. I hope it continues to help you and your family be healthier. It is so easy to let the healthy habits slide, little by little, until you are back into the unhealthy ones. We go through phases like that. We think we are healthy, and then realize how much we have let go.
We are back on an upward swing of our healthy eating habits too. Exercise isn't really ever a problem for us (well, 2 of us, the skinny guy who sits at a computer all day doesn't exercise at all.. grr).
I hope you all enjoy the trip and have fun on your own for a few days too.
Well done on all your new healthy habits and thanks for hosting!
It makes me so happy to hear of others taking the time to write thank you notes! I also think this is sadly becoming a lost art.
My daughter had fun playing around with her spelling words this week on the computer. I got the idea from you a couple weeks ago. Congratulations on all your healthy goals! You are doing great! Isn't it amazing how much better we feel when we fuel our bodies properly?
Have fun in Florida!
So glad that your recent changes are making you feel great! That is the best motivation.
Thank you for hosting the link-up, Mary. I'm delighted to have just discovered your blog! That spelling test app looks great - off to check it out... :-)
Mary, Grant's cursive is wonderful. Nolan doesn't write cursive yet. He is still learning to form each letter because he has some motor issues with his hands.
You had another wonderful week!! I agree with you that just about anything from Susan Wise Bauer is awesome.
I love the look of that spelling app - thanks for sharing!