2018 Planner Picks

Y'all!!  I CAN NOT believe that tomorrow we will be in 2018!  I mean where did 2017 go?!?!  I wasn't ready, but I have no choice.  So, because I'm trying to get my life together I had to get some planners to help keep me organized, and I'm going to share with you what planners I will be using in 2018 and what I will be using each one for.  Many of you know I'm a wife, homeschool mom, blogger, youtuber, and I love to knit.  I'm also a daughter, granddaughter, sister, friend, cousin, etc. So at times I can have a lot going on at once, and trying to keep track of everything, in my head just doesn't work, I guess I'm just getting old.  I can be on the phone with a friend, and she can tell me that we are invite to a party, by the time I hang up the phone with her I have totally forgotten, so that is the reason why I need planners to help  me keep my life in order.  Plus as most wives can relate, I am the "go to" person for everything!! Babe when do we have to be here, mommy when are we going to so and so party, babe do you remember when we have to go to this, and so on and so on.
So in the previous years I've tried to keep my  planner inventory at a two planners cap.  I had one for homeschool and then one for everything else.  The problem with that, is that having everything scheduled and planned in that one planner became confusing. So if my husband wanted to know when something at church was going on he had to read through a ton of other things, and he likes to just see what he needs and be done.  Therefore, for 2018 I've decided to go with five different planners I know it sounds crazy, because I used to think so myself, but the way I have it mapped out I feel like it's going to work just fine. I will be using a planner for homeschooling, my knitting projects,  my blog and YouTube channel, one for church, and then one for everything else in life like meal plans, doctor appointments, birthdays, etc.

Getting Over Back to School Blues

 It is always so hard to get back into the groove of things after being on Christmas break. Every year our family normally takes about 2 to 4 weeks off, for the holidays, during this time we do a lot of reading, Christmas crafts, relaxing, and just enjoying our family.  So you can imagine the looks on everyone's face and the mumbling and grumbling I hear when I tell them that we are going to start school again.  It's so pitiful!  So, over the four years that we've been homeschooling I've kind of put together some ways to alleviate the back-to-school blues. Because, let's be honest who wants to deal with a bunch of cranky pants?  I know I don't!  Hopefully, these things will help you in your homeschool as well.


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Tips for Choosing and Buying Curriculum

Can you believe that it's already that time of year, again?  The time of year when, us homeschooling mamas, set out on the hunt for curriculum at a great price. I know that while this time can be exciting for some mamas it can also be stressful and overwhelming for other mamas. So, I wanted to share some helpful tips, to hopefully, give you some peace on your journey.

Our 9th Grade Curriculum Choices

High school!  Already!!

It seems like it was just yesterday that I told myself we have plenty of time to prepare for high school no need to rush.  Ha!  High school  came faster than I could imagine!  So, now that we are three months in, and have worked out most of the kinks, I thought I'd share what my daughter is using for 9th grade.  As of now she plans to go to college because she wants to be a veterinarian or midwife (I know two totally different careers).  Therefore, we planned her four year high school outline around that.  If you all would like me to post how we did that, let me know. 

Why we made the decision to homeschool

My husband and I are asked all the time, why we choose to homeschool our kids, and it's always hard for me to narrow it down to just one reason because, there's so many reasons. I mean we know why we chose to homeschool it's just that when trying to put it in words so that others would understand, even though we really don't have to explain ourselves to others, it's  hard.   However, I do know that some people just genuinely want to know why we made the decision after having our kids in public school.  So, after praying about it and just leaving it alone the Lord put this on my heart.
“Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.”
‭‭2 Kings‬ ‭22:13‬ ‭KJV‬

Don't be a Prisoner to your Curriculum

One of things I had to come to realize as a new homeschool mama is that my children or myself should not become captive to our curriculum. What do I mean by that?  Well, there's some wonderful people out there that take the time to put together some amazing curriculum, with everything all nice and planned out for you, they have suggested booklist, suggested activities, I mean they have it all planned out for you, from beginning to end!  That sounds awesome, right?  Yes, it is and it's such a relief knowing that everything is laid out for you, however, you can quickly become stressed and/or overwhelmed.