Hiatus Over

Good grief, it's been a long time and so much has happened since my last post and I really don't want to type it all out.  To say that the last year has been trying would be THE understatement of the century.  Ups and downs and lots of in between.  So the best way I feel for me to start blogging again is just to pick up like I never left off.
I feel like I've been head above water here, purely in survival mode when it comes to just about everything.  And that's mostly my own doing.  I know, I know, I can't control circumstances sometimes, but I do have complete control over how I handle my circumstances and I just haven't handled them as well as I could have been.
Ever feel like you're constantly walking uphill with no destination in sight?  Yeah, that's kinda how it feels.  But I am not utterly cast down...my desire is to not stay down in my circumstances but to triumph over them.  I don't want to say at the end of a trial that I merely survived, that I "endured" it...I want to say that I was made better by it, that God refined me a bit through it, that I learned the lesson I believe every circumstance poses for us.
Enough deep stuff, my head hurts...really learned alot as far as homeschooling goes.  Learned not to stress so much, and I'm seeing fruits of my labor which helps a great deal.  I have three in "school", though I feel more and more everyday that I don't like to use that word.
Lillie is reading like crazy which is a wonderful relief.  Her cursive writing is very nice considering she just started about 6 months ago.  We use italic cursive, Getty-Dubay specifically, for it's ease in transitioning from print to cursive.  However, she does her copywork in cursive daily, she still prefers to write in print, which is fine by me as long as I know she knows how to write in cursive.  I never write in cursive, EVER.  Haven't since they stopped making me in school.  She loves to make up stories, but is a reluctant creative writer.  So, I let her use print when she writes independently and that seems to help.  I also checked out a wonderful book by Peggy Kaye called Games for Writing.  Anything Peggy Kaye writes, I love.  And my kids love games and that avenue really drives alot of things home with them.  Whatever works, right?

We played a game the other day called Silly Sentences and the girls had a blast with it.  So , I think that before I expect Lillie to just start pumping out amazing literature, maybe I ought to EASE her into it?  These games really are doing the trick, wetting her whistle so to speak to express herself through writing more.
Jack started the Math-It program.  Lillie is halfway through it and learning so fast.  Which is great.  Jack is stealthy at math, Lillie prefers history and reading and drawing, but the Math It has helped her so much to memorize her math facts.  I can't recommend it enough.
Chloe is learning to read and write her numbers to 100 and she has been doing Hundred Chart puzzles.  Just print out a hundred chart, cut it up into pieces and let them assemble away.  She loves it and it makes math , which can be intimidating to her, fun.  That's important, let me tell you.

Lillie doing a word search using her spelling words.  I use plastic page protectors to  reuse worksheets and things using dry erase markers instead of pencils.  Saves paper....
Wrapping up, just a few pictures from lately....

Woodburning

Finished woodburning...

Boy can build anything with legos....

 

Ummmmm, Makeup gone Wrong

                                                       
Have a Blessed Day!