Best Challenge ever!!

I love challenges, I don't know why. Maybe because they seem more possible change than making a permanent change in your life. Some are just down right fun, like the photo a day challenges. Especially when they are pictures of silly stuff, like a chair or a tree.  Since the beginning of the year I have been doing challenges that strengthen my faith and my relationship with God. In February I did the 30 day "Love" challenge, where we rewrote a bible verse every day. You can find that here if you missed it.  Yesterday I stumbled across a wonderful blog called Sweet Blessings. Shannon has created several scripture writing plans. Each day she has selected a verse for you to copy and journal. What a blessing. So for the next 30 days hopefully longer, depending on the arrival of our newest family member of course, I plan on doing this every day.  Why don't you join me. Hop on over to her blog and grab the printable list and journal along. 
Just click on the image above.  

Update on my Bullet Journaling

Its now been 3 months since I started my version of Bullet journaling and a monthly tracker. So I have to say I love it. The downside is that is it making me want to learn more creative handwriting. I'm getting sucked into expanding my lettering and art skills. Which at 5 weeks away from the delivery( I hope) of our forth child is not a good thing. I do not need one more obsession right now.  Oh well. Here is some updates on what I am doing.  First my monthly tracker, which has kept me accountable in doing the things that I feel need attention everyday. However it is also keeps track of how much I am slacking these months. 

As you can see between being pregnant and sick children I have a lot of holes in my tracker. In fact I never finished February, which I am ok with because I know at that point I was just in survival mode. As you can see I didn't get very creative with this one either. 

I started on Aprils already and I am trying my hand at being a little more artsy. I have seen a few with washi tape as well and I loved the splash of color. Im not done yet but its a great start to a very colorful page. 

For my weekly tasks and my youngest school, I am still using my old day planner since I only have one child to plan out school for. You can take a look at my explanation here. So here is an updated look as to what that looks like. 

Here is a monthly view.

So there you have it. What is working for me now. Question will be is can I keep it up when the baby comes, and what kind of layout can I use for next years school year. I will be planning out 2 of my 4 childrens lessons. Any suggestions are welcome. 

Organization of my life for the New Year.

Some people make New Year's resolutions, I try to set up an organization system to help me stay on top of everything during the new year. Which right now is homeschooling a Third grader, a kindergartner, mom to a very busy toddler, wife to a Gunner and let me take a sec to also add that we are expecting a new addition to our family in May. Yep I do all this and I am pregnant with our 4th child. Needless to say I need all the help that I can get.  Usually around January, sometimes in June I buy a new planner in hopes that it will help keep all this "craziness" in check. This is a big need especially while pregnant, can we say "baby brain". That might be a post all on its own though.  This year when we came back to the states I found what I thought would be a great planner. It was small, cute (yes that helps), it had a month overview, as well as a weekly layout. There was a place for appointments and a task list. However I didn't have a place for school stuff but I figured I would just make a school folder as I had done before since all I really needed was an overview. Both girls are on a preset up lesson plans, so I don't have to think just follow.  

Well after the Christmas season was over I realized that princess 2 was almost done with her Calvert school work. She is a smart cookie and started out this year already reading. So up to this point we just used the lessons to perfect her sounds, sight words, and writing. However now I realized that I needed to start stretching her toward the bridge that she will need to cross heading into First Grade.  So that meant I needed to mix things up, which means I need a different game plan every day, I needed to plan school work everyday. Ugh! Or at least a week at a time. This was about the time that I ran into the concept of Bullet Journals. It caught my attention but I was not sure how it would be useful to me. And I already have a planner. After some stewing on the thought and some Pintrest surfing, I decided to use my current planner but use the notations or "key"  for my daily tasks and planning.  Let me explain. I use the monthly section to do an overview as usual. Placing events, reminders and such on which ever day I think it may need to be on.  Don't you love my lil heart paper clip. It lets me find the current month very quickly. Once a week I sit down and look over my month and separate it into the days that it needs to be done on or that the event occurs on.  So it looks like this, on the weekly pages I use the appointment side for my tasks appointments and such using the Bullet Journal notations. And the task side I use to map out that day's school work for Princess 2.  It has worked very well so far for me. Next year I will have to change things up a little since we will all be going back to using our Sonlight curriculum again. Next year I will have to teach 1st, 4th and preschool. Ugh! So I will play with a few ideas and let you know what works for us. I am thinking it will look a lil more like the traditional bullet journal.  I did start a more traditional bullet journal to help me track things that I like to make sure I do. Like practice piano and remember to water the garden. I also track our savings for different money goals that we have. I will get a bit more into that in anther post though,  For now I am off to bed. Night.
Update on how its going 3 months later is here.

Printable "No Soliciting" sign.

Our day is crazy busy. My day consists of homeschooling 2 children, chasing after a toddler, tackling the endless supply of dishes and laundry and I do all this now in my third trimester. I do not have time to answer the door for every sales or political person that has no idea what craziness is going on inside our home. Oh and when they do ring the doorbell we have a wonderful guard dog who I have to wrestle to get to the door to see who it is. I am not a mean person by nature, so I don't like being rude of short with the person at my door. They are just doing their job to. However it is just best for both parties if we just don't even get to that point. So after some Pintrest searching I came up with my own sign for the front door.  Please feel free to use it at yours if you would like. I would love to hear what you do to keep solicitors away. 

30 Day Love Challenge

As you read in the making of this study, this is not my normal study that I make for just the girls and me. God has asked me to stretch a little outside my comfort zone and share with you all. So here goes, please be patient and as always comments are welcomed. 
First I know February only has 29 days in it so why a 30 day challenge, To help keep you going into March. We should always be learning and growing in the word. This will bring us closer to God and will bring much joy into our lives.
As I post each days verse take a few minutes to read it, and let Gods love soak into you. I like to copy each verse down, I have found that there is power is coping Gods word. I also keep a journal of words that I read but not understand completely.  These are just suggestions, please do whatever is right for you and your time with God.  I hope to post a little more in depth "How I spend time with my Father in heaven" in the near future. Although I have found that everyone is different and God calls us differently depending on where we are in our walk with him. It is an always changing process as we grow and mature in him. 
I pray that you gain joy and peace in the days ahead as we study together. 

Day 1- Everlasting Jeremiah 31:3 The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Day 2- Good Psalm 100:3 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Day 3- Unchanging  Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,  nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.  
Day 4- Gift Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 
Day 5- Merciful Ephesians 2:4-5 But because of his love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgression it is by grace you have been saved.  

Day 6- Kind Psalm 145:17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all he does.
Day 7- Forgiving Numbers 14:18 The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.
Day 8- Faithful Deuteronomy 7:9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.
Day 9- Everyone John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only begotten son. So that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Day 10-Rejoices  Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.”
Day 11- Patient 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Day 12- Inseparable Romans 8:39 Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus our Lord. 
Day 13- Steadfast Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all of our days. 
Day 14- Perfect 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 
Day 15- For everyone Exodus 20:6 But showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 
Day 16- Endures Psalm 136:26 Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.
Day 17- Caring 1 Peter 5:6-7  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Day 18- Abounding Psalm 86:15  But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Day 19- Sacrificial  1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Day 20- God Is1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Day 21- Defends 
Deuteronomy 10:18
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.

Day 22- Transform 
Deuteronomy 23:5
However the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam but turn the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. 

Day 23- Upholding
Isaiah 41:10
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Day 24- Protective Psalm 118:6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.What can mere mortals do to me?
Day 25- Reaching Psalm 36:5 Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
Day 26- Priceless Psalm 36:7 How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Day 27- Sacrificial Ephesians 5:2 Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Day 28- Sharable 

John 15:9

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

Day 29- Unfailing
Psalm 48:9
Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.

These are just a few of the verses in the Bible that tell us how much God loves us. Now that we have studied these. And thank you for hanging in there with me, we had a few late days of posting, sorry about that. Its stomach bug time in our area and we seem to be on a never ending cycle.
Now lets focus on the future and what God has for us. He has a plan and we must rest in the fact that he loves us and will take care of our now and future.


Day 30- Future plans
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

I hope you have enjoyed this study I know the girls and I have. 

The making of the "30 Day LOVE Challenge"

So I normally am not one to start Bible studies. I love learning and growing but I have never thought of myself as a spiritual leader. However God has been placing this on my heart for a while now. So when I was putting together a Love bible lesson for the girl this month, it occurred to me that I could share what we are learning and you can use it to study with us.  Unless I am doing Bible study with a group or my hubby I usually do a study along with the girls. I just go a lil more in depth during my quite time with God. I have found that God usually uses this time to help give me tools to share or use with the girls.  So what does this look like. First I pray about what they are to learn. So this month being a love month I wanted them to learn how deep and strong God's love for them is. After praying and reading I come up with a selection of verses or ideas to outline a study for them. Next I pray and work with God to develop each one into a weekly lesson, then into daily lessons or reinforcements that they will cover each day. Now I wont fool you into thinking I don't need inspirations sometimes. I have found that Pinterest is a good place for ideas as well. I have found that if God wants us to study something he will fill my Pinterest feed with it.  There is always a memory verse, although I usually only have them do one a week since they do AWANA as well. I don't want them overwhelmed. This month we are just getting back after a long holiday break so I think one a day is not unreasonable for right now.  For princess 2, who is in Kindergarten I usually have a coloring page or easy activity to do. For princess 1 I can get a little more in depth by asking questions and having her copy scriptures. Princess 2 copies scriptures as well but not usually the whole thing, unless its short.  So that is in a nut shell how I develope our Bible lessons for our homeschool. Also this is how I planned out a 30 day Bible challenge for myself and you.  So grab a cup of your favorite drink, get comfy and join us.  30 Day Love Challenge

CC cycle 3 Week1

Can you believe its that time again. Well this lil one has not made her appearance yet. Someone please tell her that she is supposed to get out at 40 weeks. Although this year we have been blessed in our CC group to have another mom join us (she's a teacher, yea!!) who's daughter will be in the class that I normally tutor.  So she will be starting off this year while I try to figure out how to get this baby out and how to navigate life with 3 lil ones. By the way did I mention that my husband has to leave again right after this one is born. The Navy is being nice and letting hom stay with me a lil longer till after princess 3 is born then he will be whisked off. Yep its trial by fire for all this year. Not sure who is getting the better end of the deal me or the new mom that has agreed to take my class till I can. Anyway I am going to continue to post my break down of what I intend to do for each subject each week. Even if I am not the tutor I still have to plan for my 2 princesses here at home, so here goes. First is Geography, and guess what my favorite Utube mom is back and she has started this year off with a bang. She has come up with a song for weeks 1-3. Yea!! Here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iKxlmevnzQ Math: Since my oldest princess is continuing with times tables I found this worksheet sight that has a new twist(yes pun intended) on skip counting.    But for my lil princess at home I will just use the skip counting maze. Grammar: My girls love to sing and especially try to rap, and I do mean try. So this is more than likely how I will tackle this one.  Science: I will be using hand motions along with showing my girls this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzWMAbTYNbg&list=PL166B7E06026603DB&feature=plcp&context=C3d135a6FDOEgsToPDskJaAkYdCqSf14klu7VX36http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=K8iIjAg7K9w&list=PL166B7E06026603DBJ7 It is a adorably cute video that will have both my girls in awe, and more than likely wanting to make their own video, sigh. Yes I can see the future.  Well hopefully this lil one will make an appearance soon so I can get back to normal. I cant wait to meet her. Its so hard for me to sit and just wait, but I refuse to have a c section so here I am.  Till next week.