Good Days and Bad Days

Spring fever has officially hit the Sutton Ponderosa!  ELO is over, kids want to sleep late, lessons are being rushed through, tempers are short and the days are long.  We are ready for summer! We only have four weeks left until we are done with our curriculum for this year!  So hard to believe.  Over the last few weeks we have been super busy with school, gardening and planning end of year activities and all the while trying to keep our sanity during our hard school days :)  Not sure I have kept up that end of the bargain...

Today was one of the hardest days thus far!  Can I just say LONG DIVISION?! OH MY GOODNESS!!  Never thought that would be so difficult to teach but it was!  After 3 1/2 hours, more then 20 problems, 3 different "teachers", tears, and even a little blood (JUST KIDDING)...HE FINALLY GOT IT!  Sheesh.  I admit it.  I lost my temper, pulled out some hair, slammed a door and cried like a baby, LOL!  But he got it and that's all that matters.  Didn't say I was perfect, just a real mom trying to teach long division to a hard headed little boy and that is a recipe for a very difficult day.

So after I came out of my room from pouting... he showed me the circled problem he worked CORRECTLY without any help!!!  I gave the the biggest and longest hug ever and then we had some lunch.  We feel so much better now.  I hate having bad days.  All the good days don't even come to mind when you are having a bad day.  All the victories, successes and great moments seem to be forgotten and stored away in never never land.  In the midst of turmoil, it is so hard to see the whole picture and remember the reason we are doing this in the first place.  So taking my husband's advice, I took a deep breath, went for a walk and remembered all the good days.  I wanted to share some of those with all of you:

This is Bubba at ELO playing dodgeball during PE.  He looks so little but the guy behind him is a giant!  It makes me smile every time I see it :)

 Here is another great day at ELO in Critical Thinking class.  They are trying to do something with an egg :)

One of our great park days after ELO.  Loved seeing the "older" kids still enjoying the swings!

My crazy, sweet friend got hold of my phone during our Presidents' class and had a little fun!  This picture always makes me happy when I am having a bad day :)

We learned about butterflies in Science this year and found this beautiful butterfly in our green house.  It could not escape, so Bubba rescued it.  Pretty cool!

This is not a recent picture but it always reminds me that even when Little Man has a bad day, he is still a little boy and deserves his mother's forgiving heart!

I am so glad that God decided to forgive me, even after all the miserable, stupid and ignorant things I have done.  Man, He must have been really angry at me at times and even today when my patience ran thin.  But He still loves me and I most definitely still love my Little Man.

For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14

Our Schedule

I get asked all the time what our schedule is like during the day.  So, I thought I would post a little bit about what our day looks like at the Sutton Ponderosa.  However, this can change on any given day at any given moment, depending on what is going on.  I have the authority to do that since I have the privilege of running this shindig :)  So here we go...

6:30 Mom rise and shine
6:45 Mom workout
7:45 Bible time for Mom
8:00 Boys up/Breakfast
9:00 Bible with boys
9:30 History with boys
10:30 Break
10:45 Little man Math on the computer
          Brother has Science
11:15 Little man Science with me
         Brother has Math on computer
11:45 Violin/Handwriting
12:00 Lunch/play time
1:00 Little man English with me
        Brother has English on computer
1:30 PE
2:00 Brother has Spanish on computer
2:30 (Tuesday's) Violin lessons

We follow this schedule Monday-Thursday with no school on Friday, unless they didn't finish something during the week.  Now on three Wednesday's a month, we have ELO (our Co-op).  The boys meet with their own grade from 8:30-12:30 and they have Science, PE, Art, Presidents, Geography, and Critical Thinking.  We also have field trips on some Fridays or various days during the month and we adjust our schedule accordingly.  However, this schedule looks great on paper but is not always followed to the "T"!  Some days we are done by lunch and somedays we may go until 3 or so.  Some days Mom may have various "discipline" on various children and may cause unnecessary delays in various assignments :) But all in all this pretty much wraps it up.

So there you have it!  A breakdown of our day.  Pretty simple.  I use the Well Planned Day planner to schedule out all assignments for the week and LOVE IT.  Watch for a follow up post to see which curriculum we use for each child and subject.

Homeschool Book Fair

Well, I can't believe it is that time again.  The Homeschool Book Fair in Arlington registration is now open!  It is scheduled for May 10 and 11.  This is a GREAT place to get more information about homeschooling if you are throwing around the idea for your family or if you are a veteran homeschooler.

A great friend invited me to this two years ago when I was thinking about homeschooling and I decided to check it out.  I decided that I only needed to go one day instead of two and got up at 5 am on that Saturday and drove to Arlington and stayed until it closed!  Definitely not enough time to see everything!  It was overwhelming, but WONDERFUL!  They have TONS of booths setup with different curriculum to look at for all ages.  Even some of the people that wrote the curriculum are there for you to visit with and ask questions and see if their curriculum might be a fit for your child.  They also have brief seminars going on all day, both days, from  anything about thinking about homeschooling to how to teach your kids how to write!  I knew that day that the next time I would definitely go BOTH days!  Should have listened to my friend :)

I highly recommend this book fair!  When I left last year, I was already looking forward to going back this year.  We are even taking the boys this year so they will have some input on what they will be learning and how.  They are SUPER excited about it.

Although I did a TON of research before we started homeschooling, including but not limited to, books and various websites, the Book Fair was by far the most informative.  It definitely helped me make up my mind to homeschool.  It was very helpful seeing the 100's, if not more, people there that were homeschooling.  I found out I would not be in this alone and that all homeschoolers are not WEIRD :)

Please let me know if you are considering homeschooling your children.  I would LOVE to talk to you about it and give you some general direction.  Start with checking out the Homeschool Book Fair and giving it lots of PRAYER!  Homeschooling has drastically changed our lives and I am so thankful that we jumped in and listened to His calling for our family.  A true blessing in so many ways!

 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Starting Back

Well, I did not get to post very much in the last month or so.  We were SUPER busy with field trips, ELO, Scentsy sales and Christmas.  But it was WONDERFUL to relax, visit with family and plan for the new year!  Last week I started working on the boys' schedules for the rest of the semester and realized we only have 18 weeks of our school left!

Yep, that's right.  May 16th should be our last day of school, if all goes well :)  So excited that we will have some extra time off before it gets too terribly hot and the garden starts coming in.  Another reason we LOVE homeschooling!  The first day back this semester, after the boys finished their school work, it was outside to start tilling up the garden spot.  Jamison drove and tilled and Edison added up how many seeds would be needed per row and how much of each veggie we would plant and what the total price would be.  Gardens are GREAT for school!

On another note... I am reading this wonderful book that I just picked up by chance!  I got it at church the other day with a lot of other books that someone was giving away for free(I think I could literally start my own library, sheesh!).  I love it so far.  It basically tells you how anyone can stay home and homeschool if that is what God is calling your family to do.  It tells about their hardships and different ideas and tactics of how it is possible for anyone that is willing.  Definitely recommend it!

Last but not least, I am teaching Jamison how to write a personal narrative this week with his BJU English curriculum.  Lot harder than it sounds!! Trust me!  He chose to write about Christmas Break and some of the funs things that we did.  This is how he summed it up:

Wow!  This really touched my heart.  Maybe my kids are learning something after all.  Academics are great but isn't this what homeschooling is really all about?!  I think I am doing a lot of learning here myself...

Turn my eyes away from worthless things; renew my life according to your word. Psalm 119:37

Week 10: Field Trips and more!

Who says homeschoolers can't have fun?!  We had an awesome field trip to the Dixie Corn Maze in Shreveport on Tuesday.  We met several other families there and enjoyed zip lining,  the corn maze, pig races, water races, barn swing and so much more.  We really enjoyed it and will go back next year!  Here are some of the pics:

 A little competitive fun!  Edison won :)

So brave to go first!

He was SO scared!

I am 36 years old and decided to have a little fun even though they almost had to PUSH me off!

This fireman is a pro.  All too easy for him.  He RAN and jumped off!  Crazy sucker :)

Barn swing!!  Had to go back for round 2 on this one.

Just a little friendly war between friends!

 First corn maze experience was a BLAST!

Edison also had a great week at ELO; however, Jamison had to stay home with 104 temp :(  That was his only symptom but the poor little fellow felt horrible.  Edison was selected to do the ELO experiment on mechanical advantage and I think he liked it!

Then to end the week, I had my Scentsy booth at the famous Western Days in Hallsville, TX.  I setup for Friday and Saturday with the boys help.

We had a great turnout and sale even though we froze our tooshes off on Saturday!  My mom even came out to help on Saturday.  She is such a trooper and the boys were WONDERFUL to help me.  Saturday morning while I was at Western Days with Edison, Jamison had his first flag football game with our homeschool group and he made the ONE and ONLY touchdown for his team.  He was ecstatic and I think that is all he talked about all weekend :)

We had a wonderful but tiring week with all that was on our calendars.  We got all of our school work done plus one extra chapter on our read aloud, made a little money and had a LOT of fun!  Homeschool has so many wonderful perks!  I hope we were a blessing to all that we came in contact with this week.  Can't wait to see what next week has in store for the Sutton's!

It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth. (Matthew 15:11)

Week 9: Why I Love Homeschooling

The day after day monotony of the same ole’ , same ole’ gets SO OLD!  We sure don’t have that problem around here!  Each day this week was totally different with something  new and exciting each day.  Well, some of the school work was the same and the boys pretty much know the routine, but it is all the other wonderful things that we get to customize into our plan.  The possibilities are endless!

Monday we doubled up some work so the boys could finish early Tuesday and squirrel hunt with their daddy.  I don’t think I have ever seen them read and write so fast!  They knew when they finished their work what was in store.  We had positive attitudes and good work for both of them.  They killed two squirrels and also missed A LOT!  They had so much fun though.  Wednesday was ELO but then we added in a picnic at Lois Jackson park with the ripsticks and great friends.  What a BLAST!  They hated to leave and go to violin practice.  Then we rushed to get them a quick haircut before we went home.

You just never know who you will see in the Barber Shop :)  We just happened to see a friend that still works in the public school system.  Of course he wanted to know how school was going and my husband proudly said, “We are homeschooling!”  I wish you could have seen the look on his face.  It was priceless.  Then people started asking questions and saying why it might be good and why it might not be good.  I just silently sat there, listened, and smiled waiting for a chance to talk and then...wait for it...I got to tell them how WONDERFUL homeschooling is.  I didn’t even mind that they thought I was crazy.  It felt great to brag on my kids and feel proud of our decision, with my husband right by my side to support me.  So glad the boys needed a haircut :) 

Then Wednesday evening after dropping the boys at church we got to have a great visit with our friends.  I didn’t even worry about it being late because we didn’t have to wake the kids up at the booty crack of dawn to get them ready to fight school traffic.  Nope, they got to sleep til’ eight o’clock and then start their school work.  It was a GREAT day, even though we had to do some extra work for ELO and so that we could be off on Friday to set up for my Western Days Scentsy booth.  So excited that they boys get to help me with my business.  They get to see first hand what it takes to run a successful business and also how to handle money!  Wonderful life lessons that they would not be getting if we did not homeschool. 

Jamison made his first 100 on his spelling test and for those of you who know Jamison, know how much of an accomplishment that is.  Edison really enjoyed getting to work on the computer to customize a book report he is doing for me on a “Wrinkle In Time”. PE was the best on Thursday.  I LOVE watching them do PE.  They never complain and it is always so fun and sometimes funny.  The program we are using is great.  It is Family Time Fitness and they have us doing something different everyday with items we have at home.  Pretty creative.  Loved watching the boys give a high five as they shuffled past each other on the way to the finish line.  Loved watching them giggle at each other and themselves as they “walked like monsters” or tried to jump like their skiing.  So MUCH FUN!

Those are just some of the reasons I love homeschooling.  However, I do have a top pick for the week.  I sit and read books aloud each day with Sonlight(our history curriculum) to the boys on the couch or outside in the swing.  This week as I was reading, Jamison sat there quietly and started running his fingers through my hair, petting me and then just leaned his little head over on my shoulder and put his arm through mine.  My heart melted!  And then when I thought it could not get any better, Edison leaned his little head over on my other shoulder.  I could have read for hours!!!  This is why I love homeschooling.

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.  Isaiah 54:13

Week 8: Sink or Swim

WOW!  What an awesome, tiring, fun, exhausting, exciting, overwhelming week.  God is SO good!  Last week has been our busiest week yet, but so much fun at the same time.  It would probably have been much more relaxed if I was not so OCD!!!!  We had several things going on last week, but I was not going to get behind schedule with our school work, by golly!!  I was determined to read every chapter, dot every i and cross every t even if it killed me.  Guess what...WE MADE IT!

Our week started out with the normal, “Do I have to write ALL the words and do I really have to read EVERY page?”  Kids!! SHEESH!  I never complained about My schoolwork...YEAH RIGHT!  After a quick kick, uh, I mean reminder, everything was great :)  The kids knew we had a tight schedule with our schoolwork to be able to get everything done and they were real troopers(Uncle Brandon would be proud, lol).  We doubled up school work on Monday and Thursday so that we could enjoy our field trip to Perfect Catering, ELO and go to band.

Tuesday we took a field trip to Perfect Catering and the kids got to see a commercial kitchen in action, make cookies that are distributed at the coffee shops in the hospital, get the inside scoop at the coffee shop and enjoy a picnic lunch outside the hospital.  It was a lot of fun and the kids learned a lot about how to run a successful business and what goes into making food for SO many people.

Wednesday was filled with our ELO classes, friends, a picnic at Lois Jackson park and violin lessons.  ELO is going great and the boys love going to class with all of their friends.  Jamison got to study a live bird in his science class and Edison got to test gravity in his class.  I got to hold and love babies in the nursery since we had some moms gone.  Wouldn’t you know that I would get the poopy diaper!!!

Thursday was a very busy day with extra schoolwork and I had a ton of Scentsy to work on plus go to the store.  So daddy got to sub for part of the day and he did awesome!  He got to read a chapter of The Witch of Blackbird Pond and do their Bible lesson with them.  He really enjoyed it and so did the boys.  So glad he is willing to step in when I need him!

Friday was best of all and busiest of all.  I had a TON of Scentsy deliveries to make and the boys were so good to run all over town with me.  My mom met us at Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then we headed to the Akin’s garage sale.  We found some great treasures and then I was off to take Edison to band practice.  Jamison stayed and helped with the sale and waited on us to return.  After practice we made it back to the sale and helped clean up.  It was exhausting but SO MUCH FUN being with our wonderful friends.

All in all it was a fabulous week and we even got all of our school work done!  I was so stressed out on Monday just thinking about everything we had to do.  God pulled us through it and the week was better than I could have ever hoped for.  I even made a new friend!  What a blessing.  When things seem to overwhelm you or you are feeling bombarded, remember Who is in charge.  Step back and let Him take the wheel and the ride will be so much smoother.

God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 

Homeschooling Week 7: We’re Still Alive!

I can’t believe we are into our 7th week of homeschooling!  That means only 29 weeks left.  Woohoo!  The time is passing so quickly.  The past seven weeks have been GREAT overall.  Here is a quick recap of what we have done so far...

We have finished a total of nine books in our history curriculum so far.  We started ELO the first week in September, which is our homeschool co-op group and I am teaching General Science for 7th and 8th grade.  We are into our fourth core lesson of Spanish.  Both boys memorized ALL of Psalm 8 and recited it for their grandparents!!!  Jamison gave his first speech and presentation on John Adams in his President’s class at ELO, he got to study a real pet bird in his Science class at ELO and he is learning to play the recorder in music class.  Edison learned how to make a chemical reaction with vinegar and baking soda in his Science class at ELO, he learned how to solve Critical Thinking mysteries and he has excelled tremendously in ALL of his academics.

Schoolwork is great and all, but can’t we have any fun???  Of course we can!  We went to Kids Station for our kick off school party, then Splash Kingdom with daddy and Nana to celebrate the start of a new school year and we also made great friends on swim Wednesday’s at the Curfman’s.  I enjoyed a back to school Mother’s Tea with our homeschool group.  Edison has enjoyed Teens @ the ROC in Longview and has also started playing percussion with the homeschool band.  Jamison will be starting flag football with our homeschool group in October.  The boys enjoyed a huge air soft gun war today at the Hill’s home and Edison will be getting a behind the scenes tour and free lunch at Olive Garden tomorrow.  We are also taking the boys to the Flight Museum in Shreveport on Friday.  Whew, I am tired just thinking about all that we have done!!!

This journey began with a lot of unanswered questions, anxiety, excitement and lots of prayer.  God has definitely shown Himself very evidently in all that has happened so far.  He provided an opportunity for Edison to still play in the band, which was one of our big holdups about public school.  We had no idea that a former band director would volunteer his time to put together a brass/woodwind/percussion ensemble when we decided to do this.  And Jamison is going to be able to play flag football, which was one of his holdups.  However, we still haven’t figured out our Corbin problem (his best friend from school).  He misses him dearly but good news, he is spending the night on Saturday!!!!  God is good!

So, I say all this to say...homeschooling has been an adventure these last seven weeks.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds.  But I do know Who holds the future and I am relying fully on Him to guide my footsteps.

Top 10 great memories from last six weeks:

1) Watching Jamison carry his legos from our house to Grandmama’s in his pj’s and realizing these days are numbered but I am here to share them with him.

2) My boys snuggling next to me while I read, “The Sign of the Beaver”.

3) Seeing the excitement on my boys faces their first day of ELO.

4) Lunch at the Akin’s after ELO and all the laughs.

5) Finishing school by early afternoon and having Jamison set hog traps with me.

6) Hearing my boys recite Psalm 8.

7) Jamison cooking his brother breakfast.

8) My boys being able to help me deliver Scentsy.

9) Jason reading and teaching Bible to the boys.

Last but not least,

10) Having my mom finally say, “I think I like this homeschool thing because I get to watch my grandsons do PE”!

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.

It's Official! We are Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers!

Well, it's official.  We are now unsocialized, weird, homeschoolers or so some would say.  I officially turned in my letter of resignation at the bus barn and we have completed week one of our homeschool curriculum.  This week has been overwhelming...AWESOME!  I did not think it would go this well but God surprised and put all my fears to rest!  The boys did their work, I got my chores done and we even had time to swim at a friend's house.  And of course, no school on Friday's :)

This is basically how our days go until the end of August when we add the remainder of the curriculum in:  Rise and shine for mama at 6:15, exercise, breakfast and shower.  Kiddos up by 8 and school starts at nine.  We get to do Bible first and learn about our Savior together and about others in the world that may not know him.  We even get to pray in our school!  Then we move onto history and learn about Christopher Columbus.  I read some really cool books to them and they read some by themselves.  After we map out everything that we have just read, the boys and I move onto Spanish.  Yes, I am learning too!!  Then if we have time, we play a game or do a simple Science experiment before lunch.

This will be the routine until the end of August and then we will add in Math, English, PE, music and art.  ELO (our Wednesday school where the boys meet with their grade) starts in September.  So the week went overwhelming great, but was a little on the easy side, compared to what we will be doing.  We will see how it goes when all the other subjects come into play.  I have high expectations and hopes that it will be even better!

Memories from the first week:
1) Got to pray with my boys each morning.
2) Got to read to my boys while they laid against me.
3) Got to laugh with my boys as we checked our first science experiment that didn't turn out as planned.
4) Made new friends on swim day.
5) Watched my boys enjoy learning Spanish.
But best of all was...
6) Got to hold my son's hand while going to get the mail today!

So recap of first week...lessons complete, chores done, mama sane!  Kids normal...that is yet to be determined! LOL!

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.  Jeremiah 29:11

From Bibles on the Bus to Homeschool or Bust!

Homeschooling has been on our hearts and minds since our first son was four.  We lived out of the school district where we wanted him to attend and homeschooling crossed our minds.  However, we got jobs in the school district and our son was allowed to go to school there.  After a year of working there as the High School Registrar, I felt an overwhelming calling and urge to stay at home with our youngest son that had just one year before he started school.  This is a whole other story in itself and I will write more about that later.  I continued working part time at the school so our children could continue to go to school there.  Working in the public school system opened my eyes to more than I care to talk about here.  Let’s just say that homeschooling became more and more of an attractive way to educate our children.  We briefly tried homeschooling when our boys started second and fifth grade.  We kind of just jumped right in without putting much thought into it and I quickly became overwhelmed.  My husband changed jobs and we moved all at the same time.  Needless to say, the journey stopped there or so we thought...

Ever since we put the kids back in school my heart has longed to have them home with me.  I did not see how that was going to be possible with some of the decisions that we had made and one of those was me going to nursing school.  Day after day at school it became clearer to me that God had already called me to another job.  It had been there all along but I was not listening.  I was trying to control my destiny and future without letting God have a say so in what I was doing.  I made every excuse in the book to make it look like I was doing what God had called me to do.  But in reality, He had already called me to something more amazing, more rewarding, more ambitious, more courageous and definitely more challenging than anything I could have ever come up with myself….a mother.  Yep, that’s right.  Being a mom has been my one and only calling since the birth of my first child.  How did I miss it all these years?  Why couldn’t I see past the things of this world and realize everything I have ever wanted has been right down the hall from my bedroom.

As mothers we are called to the highest ranking, most influential and certainly the best job any woman could ever have.  I am a nurse, maid, chef, teacher, taxi driver, counselor, financial advisor, accountant, organizational expert, manager, referee, basketball/football/soccer/baseball player, artist, freelance writer, police officer, and judge just to name a few.  How many people can go to school four years or more and be all of the above?  Mom’s have all their dreams jobs wrapped into one 24 hour day.  Being an expert at all of these can be tiresome but SO worth it.  I am here for every tear, laugh, award, bad day, good day, learned something new day, sick day, lost a tooth day, game day, hugs, fits, field trip, knock down drag out fights, and the best of all…"I love you mom", day!  How could I have wasted so many years chasing what the world has to offer, when all along the best was waiting for me at home?

I say all that to say that my children are my most prized possession and God has entrusted them to me for only a short time.  What I do with that time is totally up to me.  Will I use it to glorify God and seek His will for their lives or will I use this time to send them out into the world forty hours or more a week without using those precious hours to train them up in the way that God intended?  We have decided to start listening to God and obeying His word and His plan for our children.  It is clearly laid out in scripture of how we are to do this and we intend on starting to follow Him and never look back.  No matter the financial sacrifice, “me” time sacrifice or what the world has to say, will ever change my mind about the decision we have made.  It is what God has called our family to do and we will do it to the best of our ability.

I do realize that this option is not for every family and that all mom's can not stay at home or that God has called them to a job that requires them to be away from home.  This is what God has called OUR family to do and we are very excited to see what He has in store for us.  I encourage the mom's reading this to truly seek God and His will for your family.  You never know where He may be leading you in the next season of your life.  Listen up and follow where He leads.  I am ready for the journey!!

So goodbye Bibles on the Bus.  It has been an adventure to say the least.  Ready or not, it's homeschool or bust!!!!

Train a child up in the way he should go and even when he is old he will not depart from it.  Proverbs 22:6