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Just taking time to SLOW down.  We decorated our gingerbread houses. Of course mine was a Coffee House. I'll share more soon. One of my SLOW goals is to stay off the computer during the holidays. And I'm so proud of myself. Through the Thanksgiving week I've been very careful NOT to jump on the computer. Which means we actually decorated our gingerbread houses early this year. Normally we don't get to them until New Years Eve.  When I pulled out all the gingerbread houses Lance said, "But it's our tradition to decorate them when we stay up all night", which translates to New Years Eve, hah, He made me laugh. I guess I might have to buy some more for our "tradition" (me laughing and smiling).

I'm so excited my daughter Annette is flipping to Fun-Schooling using the Thinking Tree journals and books. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure. She has picked some of the more supplemental journals to use with Heart of Dakota. Right now she's still finishing some subjects from Hearts Through Him High School: World History . Once done which she estimates around CHRISTmas time she'll move onto U.S. History 1 also from Heart of Dakota. Annette has picked out several but for this post I'll concentrate with the one she's using most right now. Once she starts U.S. History 1 she might not use the 10 Subject Portfolio very much. The reason she picked it for now is she LOVES the history pages. We are praying that Sarah will create the History Handbook and Portfolio which will be similar to the Science Handbook and Portfolio by the time she starts U.S. History 1 . What she is doing is loosely using the Heart of Dakota schedule. She reads the

Blast of to Reading by Reading Specialist of Long Island uses 50 Orton-Gillingham based lessons for struggling readers and those with dyslexia. The recommended age is 7-13. This is in full color. If you have an older child you may want to try this one . It has less color for a more "mature" look. I have a video at the bottom of this review comparing the two. This phonics program is meant for the parent to be involved and work with the child. It is not a hand-to-your child to complete on their own type workbook. Blast of to Reading lessons consist of 2-4 pages sometimes 5 depending on the lesson. Each lesson usually consist of a new topic. Your child will review a list of words and sentences and then complete some exercises. Starting with lesson three at the end of the lesson you are instructed to do dictation. All the dictation passages can be downloaded and printed at the Reading Specialist of Long Island website. What's neat is it's all on audio as well, so you

My sister MaryEllen came for a visit. It was totally a God thing because she was here on business and it so happened that she normally would have worked Friday but didn't because it was Memorial Day. Meaning she could come with us to see Josh on Advancement Day  from ALERT Academy. We were all so excited. She arrived Saturday and was able to stay the weekend with us. Monday Lupe and I dropped her and Annette off in Fort Work at the Hilton. Annette stayed with her from Monday-Thursday. Thursday night we picked them both up. Friday-Sunday she stayed with us. Friday going to the ALERT campus to see Josh. We stayed overnight renting three dorm rooms (wish I would have taken pics). We came home Saturday and dropped MaryEllen off at the airport on Sunday. It was sad to see her go. BUT, we made the most of her stay. Since she was here for a quick visit, we had to hit all the coffee shops in one day! Our first stop was Shoemaker & Heardt Coffee Shop. A place that sells antiques, gag gi

Look who made it through the nine weeks of ALERT Academy!!! Lupe and I are so very proud of Joshua. This was not easy. He had to learn to rely on his squad and they on him. Learning to work together was key or else they could or would be dropped (50+ push-ups) or worse what they called 'smoked' and you didn't want to be smoked with all the intense exercises and drills that come with it. Josh even showed us a log that a team/squad would have to carry around to learn teamwork. Thankfully Joshua had an awesome team where all the guys worked together.  Week 3 ~Honor Squad. His squad worked so well together that they were the Honor Squad for the whole time. I thought that was huge and it says a lot about their character. When we first got there we could see Josh but not talk to him. I cried. It was so good to see him. I just stared at him because it was all I could do. I couldn't call out to him. I'd have loved to run up to him and give him a hug but that would not be a

I'm enjoying my morning cup of java made with butter, MCT Oil, and gelatin powder. It taste so yummy. I am finally at the point where I don't need to sweeten it at all. Yay! It took long enough, haha. It was so hard chasing after that real sugar sweetened taste. As much as I love Stevia it just wasn't the same. I tried exylitol and xylitol too but again it just wasn't there. I got this really good quality mug free when I took the kids to downtown trick-or-treating. I love it! It's not a cheap one but heavy duty. Nicer than some mugs I paid for. And actually it was only Lance I took this year. He dressed as an Army guy. Annette, Caleb, and Brent went with out church AWANA youth leader to pass out tracts. I love seeing them grow up and do things like this. Joshua is completing his 8th week at ALERT. I'm so excited to know I'll be seeing him. As much as I loved my two scheduled phone calls and once a week letters it's not the same as being 'free' to