April 2020 Scripture Plan : Scriptures for Fear and Worrying

Hey, y'all!  It has been a while since our last chat.  I pray that you are all in good health!  I wanted to send you some encouragement, because with all that is going on in the world with COVID-19, there's a lot of fear and worrying that has been stirred up.  I put together this scripture plan for you to find comfort in the Lord's Word.  Please join me as I read a verse or two in Psalms each day.  Read and pray daily for a peace that only God can give.  I love you all and hope you find comfort in these scriptures.

The Hamelin Stoop Series Book Review - Kaela's Corner

Have you ever read a book that was not a genre you would normally be interested in, but then found yourself flipping page after page with excitement, anxiously waiting to see what would happen next? Well, that has been me with our latest read aloud!  I am normally not a fan of young adult fiction or fantasy books, however, when the opportunity arose for us to review The Hamelin Stoop Series, I decided to give it a try.  First, let me just say that I am so glad I did!  We received Hamelin Stoop: The Eagle, The Cave, and the Footbridge (Book 1) and Hamelin Stoop: The Lost Princess and the Jewel of Periluna (Book 2) in exchange for our honest review.  Both books are published by 12 Gates Publishing.  Normally I would be giving you guys the review, but my oldest daughter enjoyed the first book so much (she is just about to start book 2) that she asked if she could tell y'all about it.  I will check in later to add my two cents.  

Transcripts Made Easy - Review

Hey, y'all! How is life?  We are just about settled in our new place, finally.  Most of you have been asking and waiting for me to talk more about high school well, today is your lucky day!
As a homeschool mom of two teens, I get asked on several occasions how I do it. A few of the things most people want to know is how do I create a transcript, how do I organize their paperwork, how do I choose their classes, etc.  Most of the time my answer is always the same, "Girl, we are learning as we go because I have no idea. However, Pinterest has a plethora of things."  
Well, moving forward I will have more concrete answers!  As part of the Homeschool Review Crew, I was blessed to be able to review Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork, written by Janice Campbell and published by Everyday Education. 

Wordless Wednesday - DIY Farmhouse Bench

Our first DIY project in our new home was a Farmhouse Kitchen Bench.

February Morning Basket

I'm sure you hear the talk about morning baskets all around the homeschool streets!  Well, we have always set aside time in the morning for things we like to do before we start "schooling" sort of like a warm-up.  I just never called it morning basket until now.  We are officially on the morning basket train, well almost official, I still need to find a basket.  I wanted to share with you what we have in our morning basket for the month of February.

The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls - Books 3 and 4 Book Review

Hey, Y'all!  The kids and I are back with an awesome book review, just for you!  This series is one of the kids' favorite.  We all love to read for the most part and we are always looking for a good book to listen to or curl up on the couch and read. It can get tough sometimes trying to find appropriate books that are entertaining and give good life lessons or morals.  I was very curious when we were offered the opportunity to read books 3 and 4 of The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls series from WorthyKids, an imprint of Hachette Book Group.  We had never heard of the series or of the author, M.J. Thomas, so I did some research.  Needless to say, I was impressed, so go grab your coffee and join us as we take you back to Bible days.

Brinkman Adventures - Missionary Audio Drama - Review

Do you enjoy reading missionary stories?  I know our family does!  Although we love to read them, Audio Missionary Dramas can be a hit or miss in our home, but Brinkman Adventures is always a hit.  Our family has been enjoying Season 6: Underground Rising, during dinner time.  This is one Audio Drama we enjoy listening to over and over again.  Continue reading to see how our family incorporated this audio story into our day and what we learned from it.

Smart Kidz Radio- Review

We take great caution in the music we allow our children to listen to so I was hesitant at first about the idea of reviewing Smart Kidz Radio from Smart Kidz Media.  However, my interest was peaked when I saw they offered original songs and stories that teach valuable life skills.  So because of that, I jumped in.    

T is for Tree: A Bible ABC book for toddlers - A Book Review

First of all is it really almost June already?!?  This year is almost halfway over.  Where did the time go?  I hope you are getting your summer book list ready.  Still gathering suggestions for your list?  Well, that's great because today I want to introduce you to a sweet Christian children's book titled, T is for Tree: A Bible ABC from Reformed Free Publishing Association.  I was sent this book in exchange for my honest review.   My niece has enjoyed listening to me read it to her as she looks at the pictures but even more so she has enjoyed talking over and trying to read it her self.  LOL

Kid Friendly Email Account - A Review

Although we don't allow our children to freely roam the internet there are a few things we would still like them to learn.  Things like how to send/receive emails and proper email etiquette.  In learning that we don't them to be exposed to inappropriate spam mail or have to worry about who they are sending and receiving emails from.  Kids Email helps alleviate a ton of the worrying.  Which is why we were happy to review a one-year subscription to their Kids Email Safe Email for Kids.  This has been a great way for them to continue practicing their keyboarding skills, writing skills, and spelling.  They really enjoyed being able to keep in contact with their grandparents and the grandparents enjoyed it just as much.

Arts & Crafts Fun - A Zirrly Super Bead Jewelry Set Review

Arts & crafts, crafts & arts however you say it my kids are down for the part.  HAHA, that was funny!  Seriously though my kids love arts and crafts and their mama, that's me, is not a crafty person at all!  I mean I can make a few things here and there, but I am not an all-out arts & crafts type of person like they are, especially my youngest daughter.  I've been trying to do more arts &crafts so we were thrilled to try Super Beads from Zirrly.  We chose the Jewelry Set because she also loves jewelry.  I was like this is definitely going to be a hit.

Wordless Wednesday- Day Trip for Granny's Birthday

Wordless Wednesday is a post on Wednesdays with only pictures to describe the title.  I'm joining Wendy at Life at Rossmont in this fun Wednesday post.


This Wednesday's post was encouraged by my granny's birthday day trip!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANNY!!

PARENTING MADE PRACTICAL - Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think Review

Do you get tired of repeating yourself a million times to your kids?  How many times have you had to have a lecture with your kids about the same thing?  Have you ever repeated your self so much that you start feeling like you are the bad person?  Maybe you have fussed so much that you start to feel like maybe what you are fussing about is really not a big deal after all.  I know I am not alone in this.  I was just beginning to think it was part of parenting.  You know, one of those things you have to do until they get older and it finally sticks.  I was tired of nagging and fussing because I didn't want to be that mama.  The one that is always fussing about something.   Being apart of the Homeschool Review Crew has given me so many opportunities to review and be exposed to things that I would not have considered on my own.  Being able to review the Parenting Made Practical book Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think and the DVD with the same title was one of those opportunities.  I was happy because I already love to read and I'm tired of fussing and lecturing about the same thing every day.  It's not just tiring it's exhausting!

What we read in February in our Homeschool

I can't believe the month of February is already gone!  The days seem to be going by a lot faster lately.  The kids and I did not do as much reading this month.  Life got hectic and we just had a lot going on.  We did get some reading in though and we even listened to an audiobook, which we absolutely loved!  Even though we did not read as much as I would have liked to this month we could still meet our reading goal for the year.  Well, I will meet my goal, I didn't set one for the kids I just want them to read and enjoy it.  As promised I will be sharing with you all what books we are reading each month. So, here is what we read in February.

Baby Names A-Z

Our youngest child is 9-years-old and my husband and I are not planning to have any more children, but I am always thinking of cute baby names especially when I am having baby fever.  I remember when I was pregnant with all of my kids I would look through book after book trying to find names that my husband and I agreed on.  Guess what, none of my children names came from any of the books I read.  I like unique names and if it wasn't unique I wanted to a least spell it unique.  I thought it would be fun to come up with baby boy and girl names for every letter of the alphabet. You may or may not like any of the names I suggest but at least you can look through and share them with others.

Working Mom vs. Stay at Home Mom

 It breaks my heart to hear all the controversy about being a working mom or being a stay at home mom.  The hateful and unsolicited advice that comes from people makes my stomach turn.  I've heard so many strong opinions on both sides.  They say that if you work you don't love your kids as much as moms who stay home. If you are a stay home mom you're "lazy."  Some say they would never stay home and depend on a man and the one that tickles me the most is when people say it must be nice to just sit at home all day.  Then comes the advice "you know that's not a good idea what if your husband leaves you", or  "you know it's not that hard to just quit"  I could on and on for days with the comments.  Listen, coming from a mom that has been on both sides of the fence I've heard it all.  People can and will have something to say no matter which one you do.  I mean really is it that bad if a mom decides to work?  Is a mom who stays home and allow her husband to provide for the family worthless?   Is being a working mom better than being a stay at home mom?  We are going to talk about all of that and then some.  I would love to share my experience with being a working mom and being a stay at home mom with you and encourage you.

Modest Teen Fashion - Cleo Madison Review

Is it just me or is it hard to find cute, modest clothes for teen girls?  I'm always on the hunt for clothes for my oldest daughter. She's 14, very tall, slender, and she's at that awkward stage where she's over the kiddie section clothes, teens section is way too skimpy, and the women's section is too "old ladyish".  We can never find jeans long enough for her long legs or shirts that aren't cut too low or rise too high. The struggle is real!  Please, tell me I'm not the only mama going through this. You do understand, right?

This post is sponsored by Cleo Madison

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.

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.