The Nativity Story

I picked up the movie "The Nativity Story" from the library this past week and we watched it today. We are sick today and so this movie was kind of church for us. I was fascinated by the politics, realistic settings, and portrayal of the customs of the time when Christ was born. I was deeply touched by the relationship between Joseph and Mary. Mary was shunned by her village for the pregnancy, while Joseph also made the decision to allow people to believe the child was his rather than allow Mary to be put on trial and most likely stoned to death.

My kids kept looking at me and asking, "Why are you crying?" I was so deeply moved by the scenes of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem and their desperation to find a place for Mary to give birth. Maybe it is partially because I'm a mother, but I just can't think of how difficult it must have been for Mary.

Of course, the main element missing in this portrayal of the Birth of Jesus Christ is the lack of what took place on this continent. The Book of Mormon references to the signs seen in this land and testify that there were many others looking for the sign of the Savior's birth. However, I feel this movie can greatly enhance educating ourselves and our children about what the scriptures say and understanding the times and circumstances of when Jesus Christ was born. I often wonder why the Savior came at that time rather than another period in history. It will be one of the questions I ask in the next life.

The Baby is the School

This week we are tending the baby, and sometimes the youngest three, of a sister I visit teach since she is on bed rest right now. We are having a great time! My children do not have any little siblings and so having these three (ages 4, 2, and 6 months) has been a fantastic learning experience for Marly and Chris. I read something once about homeschooling families that have babies and how they incorporate the baby into school. It really struck me that my kids are missing out on that. But, thanks to this service opportunity, we are able to include this as our life skills.

"Baby School" skills:

• Diaper changing
• Playing with younger children
• Bottle preparation and feeding
• Burping a baby
• Rocking a baby
  

In addition to "Baby School", we are working on:

• Devotional - New Era - Dec. 2008
• Do Together - Listening to the last 1/2 of Stave 3 and Stave 4 of "A Christmas Carol". We really need to finish this soon. We have book club at our house tomorrow on this!
• Read-A-Loud - History - Story of the World vol. 1- Chapter 30 "Ancient India"
• Chris - Reading - Calvin & Hobbes, Math - more geometry practice on area of a trapezoid and area of a triangle, Life skills - cooking science (he is getting really good at cookies), Science - Rabbit 4-H Project.
  
• Marly - Finished final exam for Math-U-See Delta - 97%! She finished a whole year of math in 3 months. Reading - "Turnabout", "Hunted", and "Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc" by Mark Twain. Science - Rabbit 4-H project.
  
• Me - I'm a little behind in my grading with the extra kids here. Planning for teen book club meeting tomorrow. Reading - "Out of the Silent Planet" by C.S. Lewis, "The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook" by Raymond Moore, and "The Host" by Stephanie Meyer.
  

Fieldtrip! - Teen Humanitarian Project

Fieldtrips are the bomb! One of the greatest things about homeschooling is we can go on lots and lots of fieldtrips. In fact, the local Chevron has become a favorite stop...(hee! hee!) just kidding. We do get a few stares sometimes until we showed the clerks our picture in the paper one day and explained we are homeschoolers. Now we are celebrities! Boy, I'm really cracking myself up today.

Today we went to the Mesa Cannery and bagged beans for the Arizona Food Banks. Don't we look cute in our little hair nets and pretty blue designer gloves? I have to say that I was having a difficult week and was not really in the mood to go down to the cannery today. But, I scheduled the event and was in charge of it so I kind of needed to go...don't you think? Once we got there to help set-up, we all jumped in and changed our attitudes completely. I felt so energized and happy to be serving the needy in our state. Another mom mentioned the same thing. She had also been having a bad week and considered not coming to this event. Like me, she felt so much better after having gone to the cannery.

Marly and Chris had gone to the cannery before with the Mutual, so they were pros and helped everyone else get the hang of the process. Chris kept our bean tubs full and even spent quite a bit of time helping in the cleanup. He does not like to get his picture taken though...

Homeschooling Today

I do not post much about home schooling, but it is the center of our life. I guess I just feel that most of my friends might be uncomfortable with my posts about home education...I'm not sure why I feel that way. Nobody has ever said anything to make me feel bad or anything. But, I want to share the joys and the difficulties of our homeschooling adventure so be prepared to read more posts about it mixed in with the "regular" family stuff.

I considered having a separate homeschooling blog, but what is the point of that? Homeschooling is part of who we are. But, I will separate homeschooling from other family events and thoughts even if I post more than once on the same day.

Our Schedule...
We are very flexible with our time. We have "school" from 9am-2pm with lunch from 11:00am to 11:30am. You might think, "That is short." However, when you consider the fact that we are doing one-on-one tutoring, it is much more streamlined than traditional school. We follow the TJED method, so it will not look like what you are used to or, most likely, what your children are doing.

Today we did...

• Devotional - New Era - Oct. 2008 - We have been reading all about the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet. It is nice to have the stories in the New Era to go along with the standards in the pamphlet.
• Read-A-Loud - Story of the World Vol. 1, Chapter 29 "The Punic Wars", studied map of ancient Rome and located the ancient citites involved in the wars.
  
• Christian - Math-U-See geometry - area of a trapezoid, game programming using R4DS, reading "Calvin & Hobbes", journal writing
  
• Marlayna - read all of "The Shattered Land" (yes, the whole book in one day!), piano, singing, journal writing
  
• Together - Stave 2 and half of Stave 3 of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens
• Me - Graded math, read journal writing, and prepared lesson for tomorrow's reading of "A Christmas Carol" which includes spelling, vocabulary, and grammar. We focus all of our standard English lessons on the current reading that we are doing together.

All of the "parts" of our education time include discussion and explanation of the topics.

Great Emergency Preparedness Buy at Kohl's

I bought some awesome preparedness items at Kohl's today. I got this crank powered radio-flashlight for $29.99, two crank LCD lanterns for $19.99 each, and three candles on clearance (just because they smell pretty). Plus, I had an extra discount card that I got in the mail and Kohl's cash. Altogether my grand total was $53.31. Not my best shopping trip, but still a good discount in my book for these types of items.

I cranked one of the lanterns three times (you can crank them and turn them on while still in the package) and had it on in my cart around the store. I was there for over 1/2 and hour and it was still very bright. People were commenting on the lanterns as I walked around the store. Even my cashier commented on them. They have little bonus lanterns with each one that I think will be great for Chris to take on Boy Scout campouts. They are the right size for the kids to hang in their little tents.

I have been concentrating on preparedness items a lot lately. I'm sure many of you are too. I still have Global Sun Ovens for $220 including shipping and handling. The price will be going up to $227 on January 1st since the manufacturer is raising their price again.

New December Blog Template

Anyone who follows my blog knows I L-O-V-E to change my template or layout every few months. Well, I picked a new beauty for my December/Christmas theme! I liked the one I used last year too because it counted down to Christmas, but I could not get that part of it working.

Enjoy the super red layout for December!

Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving and Stuff

Whew! November went by fast! We had a great Thanksgiving Day with Mike's family at Uncle John's with lots of family, food, and feasting! Sam spent Wednesday night with us and went to her dad's for dinner. The rest of us spent the evening stuffed like a turkey, but happy and content.

I did a little shopping on Black Friday, but found there wasn't much that I wanted that I couldn't find online for cheaper with free shipping! I scored a few good deals at Amazon...Next year, check out www.bfads.net. They have great posts on the ads before they come out and also post the online deals that start on Thanksgiving Day. This year we had already shopped by the time we went to Thanksgiving Dinner. How easy is that?!!?

Saturday Mike went to get all our Christmas lights and found that most were broken. We had these really awesome big lights that Walmart only sold for one year. I guess it is because they don't stand up to the test of time. I miss the big lights. They were so pretty. So, we bought all new mini lights. It's just not the same...now we look like everybody else. We also spent some time at the city park so Marly and Chris could Rollerblade. The weather has been great!

Work has been C-R-A-Z-Y with the store being a huge mess. I just can't believe how messy holiday shoppers are. Most people just throw everything on the floor, trample on it, and then leave behind them a wake of rumpled up stuff. I just have to say, if you are one of those people you are causing the prices of what you buy to go up because the store has to pay people like me to go behind you and clean up after you. And, please be nice to your store employees. They are most likely new seasonal hires who don't know ANYTHING because they did not get any training.

Just my loud mouth .02 worth...