My3Joys.com

Rule #10

Missy — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:30:05 +0000

I will spare you all the photos this time. But lets just say that our ENTIRE morning consisted of picking up the living room and make-shift playroom. What a grueling task it was for them and for me. Everything that could possibly be on the floor was. From books, to crayons, to paper, to toys, to clothes, to shoes, to clay. You name it, it was there. For some reason it just dawned on me that maybe I have taught my kids that they can just completely destroy the house and NOT have to clean it up. There is a difference between playing with things and making a mess and then there is Molly, I mean, just messing up the house for the sake of messing up the house. UGH!! I am a big believer in that if they are big enough to make the mess then they are big enough to clean it up. I am always there to help them but today, I wasn’t!! It took a few hours and it was hard work for them. I was very proud of them. When it was all said and done and I made sure I told them that too. I guess the entire week of learning about hard working insects wasn’t a total bust. Rule # 10 in our house, if you make a mess, you clean it up!!! Must drive this one home more.

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His masterpiece!

Missy — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:56:49 +0000

I have been reading a wonderful book lately and they mentioned setting up areas in your home to spark creative activities. I do not have a designated area where the kids are free to paint as their heart desires in my home, but outside I do. Once our toddler playhouse was falling to pieces I decided a few years ago that I would give them paint and have them paint the playhouse to their heart’s content. This has resulted in many hours of fun for them and for lots of kids that come over to play. I think they are surprised they are allowed to do this. But my house is not like most other homes I visit . It’s not that anything goes, it’s just that I like kids to be kids and I don’t mind the mess at all. So the other day I gave Ryan and Molly a pallet of paint each and told them to paint the playhouse, they started off strong and about an hour later it ended up on them, which it normally does and I love every minute of it.

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My kind of Gal!!

Missy — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:39:40 +0000

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a home school meeting with a friend. They were featuring Mary Hood, a home schooler since the 1980′s, who would be talking about how to loosen up without losing control, and regaining the joy of a relaxed, family-centered style of learning. I can’t even express how encouraged I was through these quick 2 hours. I am telling you, praying about specific things and trusting in the Lord and listening to him, he has brought an answer to prayers once again. This was the mind set I had and have, now I feel like I have something tangible. I purchased her book, “The Relaxed Home School” and am excited to begin reading it. I also found some great articles that are a wonderful quick read to just spark your interest. This is one of my favorite excerpts from the article:

“God didn’t create schools. he created families, because that was his plan for the training and nurture of children. He gave the job for the raising and educating of children squarely to the parents, and those who have abrogated their authority and turned their responsibilities over to other “experts” are short-circuiting their own success.

There is no other earthly expert who can possibly know your children as well as you do. No one else will ever care as deeply for them. That’s why you are totally capable of doing this job successfully. You were made for this purpose! You were assigned this job! God wouldn’t have chosen you if he didn’t believe in you and know you were up to the task.”

to read the article in it’s entirety, see below:

http://www.homeeducator.com/FamilyTimes/articles/11-4article8.htm

I can’t wait to re-read my notes that I took too. I hope some of you will be encouraged by her as well. Family first!! Thank you Lord and Thank you Mary Hood!!

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#13

Missy — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:48:03 +0000

Just about every day I think of different place I want to try out this homeschool thing, as if I need a specific room in the house to do this. I sure hope I figure this out by 1st grade. We started out in the kitchen, then the dining room, then back to the kitchen and now in the living room. See photos below!! I have found I like the living room best. I like to spread out. We do worksheets on the table, snuggle on the couch or floor to read books and play games on the carpet, my favorite! I would also like to mention that I have decided that most days I homeschool Kate while the other kids are napping, well actually the sit down, worksheet part of it anyway. Have I mentioned before, I am teaching them all day really. It just seems to work out best for now, otherwise I am spending most of my time playing damage control with the other little ones. YIKES!! And at this point in our journey we can. She has also told me that she loves that it is just me and her during this time and for me, I am sold. Kate loves to take pictures and she really wanted to take a picture of me when I am “teaching her”. see photos below. Yep, that’s me!! More blogs to follow on some fun things we did for different letters of the week. Stay tuned!!

The living room it is!

Kate's picture of me

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Scavenger Hunt

Missy — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:20:27 +0000

Along with My Father’s World Curriculum that I use for Kit Kat, I have also been downloading www.ConfessionsofaHomeschooler.com printables for both her and RyRy!! They have been a GREAT addition to our everyday stuff. One of my favorite things that she has is a scavenger hunt for each letter of the week. And because we live in a state that has FANTASTIC weather almost everyday, we do our scavenger hunt outside!! I have been taking the kids for walks since before they were born and I haven’t stopped. It is truly one of my favorite times of the day. When the laundry is piled too high or I can’t seem to keep the house picked up enough, I know it is time to go outside. I just say, “lets go for a walk”. I almost NEVER hear anyone complain. So today our letter of the week is “D” for dinosaur. RyRy brought his wagon to collect items that we found and Good Golly Miss Molly brought her baby stroller to gather her items. Kit Kat just walked with me. We love to hold hands as we walk. So special to me, I must say!! We start to say things out loud that start with the letter “D”. I come up with most of the items but I have found giving them hints about what I am thinking about makes it really fun for them. RyRy likes to make up words, which is sooo funny for all of us. Kit Kat came up with a great one, “Diamond”!! and Ry Ry said “Darn”. We look for things on our walk that might start with that letter or just start blurting things out. They found it cute that I acted out a few of the words like “Dance”. So when you see some crazy lady with 3 little ones dancing on the sidewalk and shouting out words that start with the letter “D”, that’s me, it’s my plan and I’m sticking to it.

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#11

Missy — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 06:50:45 +0000

So tonight the kids and I went to see my nephew play some hockey!! While Kate and Ryan love to sit and watch the boys play, Molly gets a little restless after the first hour. She managed to dig into my purse only to find our Christmas Go Fish games, which I ALWAYS keep in my purse for times like these, and pulled them out with a BIG smile. She played with them for all of about 2 minutes and then it was off to eating my lipstick. But low and behold another little girl about 3 or 4 years of age came over to me and I asked her if she wanted to play cards, she replied, “Yes”. She didn’t seem to know how to play Go Fish, but she did know some colors and started to play the game in her very own way. She did a FABULOUS job sorting the cards and putting them into their matching groups. Ryan eventually joined in on the fun. I told her I would be back next time and she said she wanted to play again. Moms, I am telling you, these cards are the BEST to just keep in your purse and use at a moments notice. You may even delight in someone else’s child at the same time. Just another fun way to use Alphabet Alley Go Fish games!!!

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My Friday nights!!

Missy — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 04:16:33 +0000

My husband works very late on Friday nights and it just dawned on me to use this time more productively. I decided to use this night of the week to prepare for the next homeschooling week instead of Sunday nights. So as I am typing this, I am also printing out downloads for Ryan(3). I have all the curriculum prepared for Kate(5) it came that way. My laminating machine is warmed and ready to be used. So thankful I bought that piece of equipment. I have realized that I do need to put a little more effort into preparing for the week, it gets me excited about each day when I do. I am definitely not someone who wants to figure it out myself, I am just thrilled for all of the moms who have gone before me and are willing to share there ways of doing things and all of their FUN ideas. There really are some AWESOME websites and blogs out there. It is slowly all coming together. Thank you Lord for directing me and Thank you Moms for sharing you, with me!!!

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Our Homeschool Room!!

Missy — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:42:44 +0000

Some of you have asked to see what our homeschool room looks like… well I have included some pictures. Most of the time it takes place in our little kitchen area. We love it, it is cozy and in our favorite room in the house. We LOVE to eat if you hadn’t noticed. I also use our dining room area to store books and other stuff that doesn’t fit in the tiny shelf in the kitchen. We have tried to use the dining room table since it has more room but has basically been used for our business instead. I am still learning and finding my way. I am 5 weeks in and still haven’t really gotten a groove yet, I assume this is very normal? Moms that have gone before me, can I get an AMEN! I am finding it challenging to homeschool 1 of them while the other 2 have free reign of the house. It has been difficult most days. I have resorted to doing most of the school with Kate while the other 2 are napping but have also found that this is not the best time for her as she is getting tired by then. Believe me, I have been praying about this and asking the Lord to show me, direct me and today he showed me BIG time. I had never really felt the need to have Ryan(3) do the school with us, I feel it is more important at this age that he has free play. Well I decided i would try something different and had thought I would find some fun things he could do with us instead. I had gone onto one of my FAVORITE homeschool blogs (www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com) and downloaded all of her preschool stuff on the Letter of the week that coincides with the Letter of the week I am doing with Kate. I found the types of things Ryan liked to do best and had him do those things while Kate did some of them too, along with her other curriculum, they were easy and fun for all. Molly colored and threw everything that was on the table on to the floor . But at least they were all contained with me and we had FUN, FUN, FUN!!! Hallelujah, Praise you Jesus!!! It was the most manageable for me which allowed me to not feel like i wanted to pull my hair out because everyone needed me at the same time but in a different room. Oh and can I say worship music is so great to have in the background too!! I could write an entire blog on just music alone, will save for another one I guess. I am learning to keep it fun!! For me, i like having all 3 included in the activities. I will do my best to keep it that way although i know it won’t always work out that way either. Enjoy the pictures. We do use the entire house as a pin cushion for all of our projects… sorry honey!!!

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Italian Meatball Soup

Missy — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 05:43:37 +0000

So some of you asked for the recipes I use so I thought I would create a page just for them. I will be updating new ones when I can…so be on the look out.

Italian Meatball Soup

Stir together 1(32-oz.) container chicken stock or reduced sodium broth, 1 (12 oz.) package of Italian Meatballs or any flavor you like, 1 cup marinara sauce, 1/2 cup each: chopped onion, carrot, celery and zucchini and 2 tsp. dried basil. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Serve with lots of Parmesan cheese and crusty bread.

I can’t tell you how much i LOVE this soup. It is just great all the time. I love how it is packed with lots of fresh veggies. You can always add more to it too if you want. I have done that as well. The kids love it just the same. So easy and tastes so good. Hope you enjoy!!

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Home education for my family!

Missy — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 05:28:37 +0000

I always assumed I would send my kids to a private Christian school when the time came. Well, when you can’t afford it, your options change. Public school was not an option for my husband and me, so we toyed around with the thought of homeschooling. I am so thankful to the Lord for those conversations. I have no desire to send my children to a school even if I could afford it. I have such a desire to home-school my children. I am so excited about it and nervous all at the same time. What I really feel when asked why I am homeschooling, is that I have been homeschooling them since the day they were born. I try to take every opportunity I can to teach my children. Why would I want to stop now? When I think about it, there is so much time I would miss if I had them IN school and away from me. My primary focus in raising my kids is to have them love and serve the God of the Bible. If I don’t teach this to them first and foremost, than what good have I done? My job as a mother is to “train them up in the way they should go.” I am honored to have this job. I want my children to get what it is like to be part of a family first, to honor and respect one another, to think of others first. If they don’t get this at home, how will they get it outside of the home? If I don’t teach them to honor and obey mommy and daddy first, how will they then learn to honor and obey a Holy God? I want my children to learn all things through God’s eyes and to understand how he sees things. I want them to know his ways and what better way than to educate them at home. I am thrilled about it, I pray about it daily, even hourly, but I have never had a desire do anything different. I do have moments where I want to call the local school and see if enrollment is still open, but then I remember I am only human and so are they. My family is my ministry and I want to cherish every moment I have with them. I am NOT super mom, nor do I want to be. I just want to glorify the Lord in all I say and all I do. I pray for this journey I am on and am thankful for the work he is doing in me, I am seeing the change where it matters most…my home!

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