F is for Fourth!

F is for Fourth

Well, this Fourth of July was a wet soggy one.  We have a sort of tropical system (sort of because its not named, but has tropical characteristics) sitting right over the top of the Panhandle of Florida.  And this year, we actually made plans for the WHOLE weekend.  We never make plans ANY weekend, so for us to make plans is amazing.  LOL!  We were "supposed" to go to the beach on Thursday, the Florida Caverns of Friday, and have a yard sale Saturday.  But, what we ended up doing was going to the Navy Museum on Thursday, sit around on Friday because the weather was just too wet, and go to dinner at my mother in laws tonight (Saturday).  We have had a great long weekend despite the yucky weather.  Here are some pics of some crafts we did on Tuesday, and then a pic of my daughter and youngest son at the museum.

Colored rice is really easy.  1 Tablespoon of Vinegar, and food coloring, mix in 1 Cup of rice.  Then, once its the color you want, spread the rice out on parchment paper to dry.  I let mine dry over night.

I didn't know how messy it would be, so I had the boys take their shirts off.  This is one area my mom is shocked at that we school in just shorts.  I told her that sometimes the boys don't even have on shorts, sometime we homeschool in underwear, that is the beauty of homeschooling.  :-)
 

 

 Happy Birthday America!  May God Bless us all!
Sherie

B is for Boys

Back to my writing through the alphabet!

(Pic taken in hotel before Grandma's funeral 5/11/13)

What a busy couple of weeks we have had.  On Thursday, May 23rd, I was watching Fox & Friends.  They had a family on that homeschools their 12 kids.  Well............. this struck something in me that I cannot explain.  I had ALWAYS said, I could not EVER  homeschool my boys, it would just be too much.  Well, I could not stop thinking about it all day and all night.  Finally Thursday night, I prayed and asked the Lord, "if this is what you want me to do, please give me clarity."  Let me tell you, if you ask the Lord for clarity, He will give it to you if it is His will (at least He did with me).  That night it began.  I would wake up (to use the bathroom or just wake up out of a deep sleep) but then, my heart would speed up and I would start thinking.  And I could NOT go back to sleep for several hours.  I would be researching homeschooling.  Now, I am no stranger to homeschooling.  I homeschooled my daughter 5th-7th grade.  But, I still was not sure this was for me.  But, it began to get clearer and clearer.  I hesitated talking to my husband because I thought he would think I was nuts.  You see, my boys are 13 months apart in age and they are VERY competitive with each other, therefore we have fights constantly.  But, I got up the nerve to tell him what I was considering.  I about fell out because he was for it.  WOW!

A few days later, I started researching curriculum.  By the Tuesday after Memorial Day, I had ALL of the curriculum picked out for BOTH boys.  If you have ever researched curriculum, you know this is a MAJOR ordeal.  When I started homeschooling my daughter, it seemed like forever before I could settle on a curriculum.  Now, this curriculum may not work out like I planned, but it is a start.  And, that is the joy of homeschooling, you can change if its not working out for you and your student/child.  So, I would definitely say that the Lord was giving me CLARITY, wouldn't you?

On Wednesday, I ordered my youngest's Math curriculum.  He has been struggling all year with math, so I knew I wanted to get started with him ASAP.  I ordered the beginning math for him so that he can have a little more confidence in the backbone of the subject before we move on.  Again, the joys of homeschooling.  Well, the books were supposed to be in on Monday (yesterday).  So, I thought we would start today.  But, they came in on Saturday, so we got to start yesterday (Monday).

Also Saturday, while cleaning the boys room.  I came across a 3rd grade reader.  I had bought it for my daughter when she was in 3rd grade, but never used it.  So, he started it yesterday as well.  And he keeps asking for more to do (but he is my bookworm, so its not too unusual).

I feel God's had in everything.  It is AWESOME!!!!!

This past Friday, my husband said, I just want to make sure we look at the good and the bad of homeschooling and are aware of any down sides to it.  So, I googled the disadvantages of homeschooling and read a bunch of site's information.  But, every time I would read something negative, I got a calmness about me and knew God wanted me to do this.

Then, Sunday I had some doubt.  But, that day I was just cruising around on the internet and came across some blogs from homeschoolers.  They talked about having doubt and how doubt is the devils work and gave Bible verses to back it up and then some encouraging verses and all of my doubts disappeared.  Thank you Lord.  WOW!!!!!

A is for AFTER

My high school English teacher is a friend of mine on Facebook.  A few weeks ago, she said she was taking an online writing class and their assignment is to write with the topic starting with each of the letters of the alphabet.  I thought that was a neat idea, so I think I will take my assignment from my English teacher and do the same thing.  So, for the next 26 posts (26, right?  Haha!) I will be writing through the alphabet.

Well, if you know me, you know I own my own tax business.  Well, from about December 26th - April 15th, my favorite saying is "After tax season........." fill in the blank with whatever, its ALWAYS "after tax season".  I am sure my kids get tired of hearing that.  They probably think, these are empty promises because there are some things they think are going to happen the very next day after tax season that are not going to happen that quickly.  For instance, I told them, "After tax season" you won't have to go to the office anymore, we will come straight home.  Well, wouldn't you know yesterday I had 6 people file their taxes, yes late, but guess what, they had to come to the office.  But, we left around 3:30 instead of 5:30 - 6:00, so maybe that made up for it.

The kids are real troopers though.  They look forward to my mom picking them up from school every day during tax season and bringing them to my office.  My daughter drives herself to the office every day after school.  You never hear them complain about being there......well, until about April 1.  Then, they have become stir crazy and want to be home in a MUCH bigger environment.  And I can't blame them, I want to be home too.  But, I have to make my living while I can, so I don't complain.  I may sulk when nobody is looking.  Especially on those 80 degree days when the sun is out and beautiful and I am stuck inside a tiny box.  Yea, I sulk on those days.  But, this year we had an over abundance of rainy days, so I didn't sulk as much as other years.

Well, now that tax season is OVER, I have tons of plans.  Today, I went and bought 3 rose bushes.  I have a brown thumb, but I am going to try my hardest to grow something this year.  I'm also planning a garden.  I started my healthy eating habits today (well, mostly).  I did have 2 small Hawaiian rolls.  I have to go to the veggie market and get me some good ole veggies to have here at home Now that tax season is over.  See where I am going with this?  Now, my saying is "Now that tax season is over".  I will use this on everything for about a month.  LOL!

Well, I know you don't want to read about my boring life, so I will share my recipe with you. 

Korean Beef (SPICY, but delicious)
2 lbs of beef.  I used flank steak
1/4 Cup Mirin
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon ginger powder
2 Tablespoons Garlic powder
1/2 Tablespoon red pepper flakes

In a bowl, or resealable bag, combine all of the seasoning (I left out the red pepper until later).  Slice the beef into bite sized pieces.  Add Beef to seasoning.  seal up, shake around and let sit in your fridge for 30 minutes.  Heat 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil in skillet to medium heat.  Now, the reason I didn't put the red pepper flakes in is my boys can't handle spicy, so I took out enough meat for them and cooked it.  While theirs was cooking, I added the red pepper flakes and let it sit until their meat was done.  Then, I removed their meat and added ours and cooked it until done, stirring frequently.

I served ours over yellow rice, but it would be great over white or brown rice either one.

Enjoy!