My Jesus kiss with a flute!!!

My sweet Jesus has done it again!  After a crazy busy spring and summer I will confess I have not been enjoying precious quiet time with Him as much as I should have, in order to survive my crazy busy spring and summer!  So this past week I have made a concentrated effort to start back with my QT, focusing on the verse in Psalms to "restore to my the JOY of Your salvation."  I knew all along He has been here, because He promised not to leave me or forsake me, but I also knew I had to been seeking Him out.  So last week when more busyness and decisions needed to be made, I just really started pouring my heart out to Him and seeking His wisdom.  

One of the things this summer we have been trying to figure out is how to get a cell phone for Rebecca.  Now, that may be a no brainer for some of you, but we really had several variables that went into this.  No need to for all the details, but the money aspect was one of them.  We were trying to find the best deal that would work for us that wasn't going to cost an arm and a leg!  We had finally narrowed it down to two options, but had not made the final decision, because then we start thinking about all the other expenses we knew were coming up this fall.  Not necessarily big ones, but all that little nickel and dime stuff that adds up.  

So back to the flute.  Last week Rebecca had a birthday party and one of her friends was not able to come.  She saw her Sunday afternoon, and gave her her birthday present.  Can you guess what it was?!?  A flute!!!  A real, honest to goodness flute with all the accessories and she just gave it to her!  They hadn't used it in a long time and no one else was going to play it, so they just blessed us with it.  

What does this flute represent?  This flute represents $20 we don't have to pay anymore to rent one.  This flute represents a chunk of what her cell phone bill was going to be.  This flute represents God's provision for us.  This flute represents a sign to me that God is going to take care of us.  This flute represents God taking care of our details.  

And the icing on the cake?  On the case it said it is a "Hallelu Flute".  As in, Hallelujah.

It's Summertime....

and you know what that means!!  Summer School for the Campbell girls!  Luckily most of them do not mind it at all, in fact my brainiacs actually look forward to it and tell me what they want to learn.  And I enjoy playing teacher in my pretend world that I could actually be one.  I am again hopeful for positive results and no one quitting. 

After my years of doing this, I learn a few things every time so this year will hopefully be easier than the rest.  Which is a good thing, when you look at our summer calendar!  Between VBS, Beach trip, Louisville trip, lots of camps, and Rebecca starting marching band, our summer is already packed.  Poor SoloHombre just looks at our calendar and faints.  But I assure him it is not nearly as overwhelming as it looks, AND it's all fun stuff!!!

So, here are my goals for this summer, i.e. -- all the fun we are going to have!

1.  After doing a Sunday School study on Peacemaking for Families, I was inspired to do the kid version of this with my girls this summer.  It is called The Young Peacemakers and the book I ordered includes a teacher manual and a CD that has all 12 comic book style lessons for the kids.  Granted, it was quite a chore to download, print one copy, then take to Office Depot to make 2 more copies and bind them together (there are 10 pages in each lesson), but I am hopeful it will be an investment in peacemaking in our family!

2.  Since Katie loves math and is going into 3rd grade, we decided to work on learning multiplication this summer.  Found this great little sheet on Pinterest to help with that.  I also found this trick for learning the higher numbers, although when Leah tested it out she said it was too hard!  :)

3.  The brainiacs also love workbooks, so I always invest in the Summer Bridge Activities books for them.  They usually want to sit down and do all 500 pages the first day, but I am going to try to spread out the fun.

4.  Rebecca and I started the James study for teens during school but didn't get too far.  I am hoping we can work through that this summer since she showed a real interest in it earlier.

5.  Also on Pinterest I found this great little free "VBS" study on The Armor of God.  Again, crazy printables, but not as bad as the other.  I have thought about how to include more kids in this, but we are just doing one day a week and I really hate having to commit to a time on anything I don't have to.  Hhm...

6.  And, of course, our lovely Book Bingo!  If you saw my post on Facebook from 5/22, it is bigger and better than ever this year, at their request!!!  I debated even doing it this year, since my kids love to read so much, but they begged for it so they got it!  I do make them stretch their boundaries by making them read books they wouldn't normally choose, like non-fiction.  Also, since this year's bingo sheet has 66 squares on it, I included things like "read 50 verses in Proverbs and memorize one", "draw a picture from a book you read", "find a new recipe in a cookbook to cook", etc.  And of course all the good award books are on there too, like Notable Books, Volunteer State Book Awards, and Best Illustrated Books.  That part can also be a bear because I have to look up all the books and see which libraries they are at, but its a fun job for me and we like visiting the different libraries!  My big #1 rule about Book Bingo is that they cannot be books you have read before!

We usually do not do the library reading clubs, because they are just too crazy and the junk they get for "winning" is just that, junk.  I'd rather give something nice or useful, even if it takes longer to get it.  I'm thinking about just money this year, simply because that is their favorite motivator!  I have not completely decided yet, but it's probably about time for me to do that!

I'm also hoping to tie in a Reading Timeline in their journals this year, but that is still in the making it up stage.  We won't start that until after we get back from the beach.

7.  Other fun things up my sleeve are implementing a Complaining Jar, which will be tied into chores. We have three short lists of Ways I Can Help My Family that rotate amongst the girls weekly.  SoloHombre's big idea this year to potentially cut down on not doing what we ask them to do is to take money away if they don't do it when told/asked/reminded.  Oh boy I can't wait to pull that one out!  I also plan to pull out the Reporting vs. Tattling poster, and we are going to learn the proper way to set a table, so that the table setter of the week can do it right and we can all learn to not just throw napkins and utensils in the general direction of where people are sitting.  (I'm sure this never happens at your house!)  It would be great if we have time to make a Gratitude Notebook too. Oh yes!  And I want to finally take my kids to Cheekwood and looks for some alphabet art. 

We shall also have at least 2-3 weeks of break & catch up time, which is new this year.  Hopefully that will help us not feel like we can't get back on track if we have a rough or lazy or fussy week.  Then the last week before school starts I hope to do some serious menu planning and freezer meal packing for the fall.  I know my girls, being the cooks they are, will LOVE helping me with this!!

By know you probably think I am totally crazy, but really when you break it all down week by week it is not nearly so overwhelming.  The overwhelming part is in mid-April when I realize I need to start thinking about this and trying to get it all together before the end of May!!  Luckily Pinterest has saved me here, as I started sticking stuff in a Summer folder once I got addicted, so it was just a matter of putting it all together in lesson plan form.  

I am happy to send you whatever stuff I have that I made up, just remembering in this technological age that all the hard work I did is copyrighted by me. 

I have:  

Summer Fun Camp, which is an excel sheet with overview and materials needed for the week.

Book Bingo sheet

For Nashville folks I have an excel sheet that lists which library all the award book are located

How I Can Help my Family chore sheets

Everything else is downloadable from the links, and you can also check out here for TONS for graphic organizers and a plethora of FREE school worksheets!

Ok, now I have to get my kids up and feed them breakfast!  Have fun!

O:)
Melissa

The Three Room ReDo

Coming soon to a blog near you ... (as in, this one!) ... the unveiling of the Three Room ReDo ...

Luckily it does not involve one of these ....

O:)

Melissa

Want to win an Ipad for Christmas?

A sweet friend is having a contest to give you a chance to win an Ipad to help them bring their sweet Kylie home from China.  Click on the link below for you chance to win!!


http://taylor-family-blog.blogspot.com/


O:)
Melissa

Summer School Wrap Up

Well since I haven't posted since May 24 I decided to give a brief overview of what we learned this summer.  After last year's catastrophe (remember, the students were bad so the teacher quit after the first week?) I decided to go about it with a little less fervor this year.  Still have some things to do to keep them off the TV/computer, but not totally bored and picking on each other to death.  Of course, for the record, with at least $1000 worth of toys in this house I can hardly see how anyone would be bored, but that is beside the point.

In between the many trips we took this summer, our main goal was to learn the 50 state capitals (since TCAP is apparently not concerned about that!) and read as many books as possible and complete book bingos.  By reading books they earned popsicle sticks which would equal screen time.   Also, Leah got started on her Bible Drill verses for the fall. 

I'm happy to report that Leah and Katie both mastered the state capitals with lots of practice.  We learned about 5-6 each week, reviewing as we went.  They found them on the US map, learned the capital, and we made a treat from one of the states each week.  Some recipes bombed, some were "the" bomb.  We tried homemade ice cream (Missouri), Caramel Corn (Nebraska), Dragon Cookies (California), Pumpkin Chunkin' Cheesecake (somewhere northeast) and the TOTAL bomb was learning to make funnel cakes (PA).  Oh my gracious stars those tasted JUST like the fair!!!  And so easy to make!

On to the Book Bingo and reading.  I don't think anyone actually completed their sheets just yet, although Leah and Katie have only one book left.  We had fun again reading all kinds of new books we never read before and award winners.  It is getting difficult, however, to find Caldecotts we haven't read yet.  I might need to take it off the list for next year.  The rule is you can't count on your bingo sheet a book you have read before.  Rebecca did not finish hers either, but she took on Harry Potter this summer and conquered!  That girl is NUTS!  She would read one of the first ones in a day and a half!!!  The total pages read for the summer were:

Katie - 2066
Leah - 2224
Rebecca - 5476 (HP, remember?)

So I'd still count it a successful summer over all.  Not sure what I may have up my sleeve for next year, but there is a chance its going to have to do with out west or US Presidents.  I'm sure knowing all the US Presidents is not TCAP worthy either. 

In other "educational" news, check out my new blog, "The Year of the Great Homework Project" to see what is shaking at our house this school year!

O:)
Melissa

What's on my nightstand ....

I have always gotten a kick out of my sweet friend Alicia's side bar "on our nightstands". She usually has one or two books listed that she and Derek are reading at the time. I can just imagine her nice, neat, orderly, uncluttered room with these few books resting on her nightstand with probably one lamp and nary a dust bunny in sight. And they are always deep, heavy, thoughtful, life-changing non-fiction books.

Mine, on the other hand, does not fit that description at all.


What's on my nightstand?

Serendipity by Cathy Marie Hake (current book club book I just finished tonight)
AAA Mexico book (dreaming of Mazatlan for our 20 year anniversary next year)
Royal Wedding People magazine
A journal Rebecca and I try to keep going back and forth (last entry, before EAsia, and it is apparently my turn since it is on my nightstand)
Jesus Calling by Sara Young (yes, He is calling from way down stack one)
More Joy for the Journey : a Woman's book of Joyful Promises (would probably be more joyful if it moved closer up)
Family of Value by John Rosemond (a library donation that sounded good...)
Who is my Shelter? by Neta Jackson (Yada Yada House of Hope Book 4 that I couldn't hardly want for, arrived late February)
Things Pondered by Beth Moore (Mom gave it to me and I know if it moves to my bookshelf who knows when I will read it .... no comment)
Simple Deceit by Nancy Mehl (Harmony Series Book 2 I couldn't wait to read, probably arrived in January ... apparently there is another one coming out next month ...)
The Missional Mom by Helen Lee (heard her on the radio and knew I had to get her book as soon as it came out .... January)
5 Conversations You Must Have with your Daughter by Vicki Courtney (I have 3 daughters and I love Vicki so figured this was a must have ...)
8 Great Dates for Moms and Daughters by Dannah Gresh ( see above ... Christmas gift I couldn't wait to get my hands on ... )

.... and other miscellaneous items like pens, post it notes, my book light, ponytail holders and clips, bookmarks, lotion, picture frame (of one daughter), clock, phone, but no lamp. Luckily it is on the wall since there is no room for it. And yes, a fair amount of dust bunnies.

Although I did just finish reading Serendipity tonight, the other books are often not touched because I want to read them all NOW!!! How can I decide which one to read now??? And heaven forbid I move them to the bookcases (see Things Pondered above).

What's a crazy bibliomaniac like me to do??? Well, go to BAM!! (my fav store, next to Kohl's and Target) and buy some more that are on sale!!!

O:)
Melissa

EAsia, the beginning

EAsia, oh EAsia, where do I begin? You were a dark, cloudy, rainy, yucky place at first to me. All I could see and feel was uncertainty, headache pain, nervousness, excitedness, sleepiness!, dampness and dreariness. I was advised about what EAsia would be like, but my ears did not listen. I’d been to Thailand and it is Asia and I loved Thailand so I’d love EAsia, right? I could handle EAsia, right? No. Thailand is not EAsia. Not by a long stretch except that it takes 100 years on an airplane to get to either place. And the people have the same skin coloring. Other than that, nothing is the same.

My ears heard there would be squatty potties, and I giggled at the thought. I did not understand that would be my only option for the most part when we were out. My ears heard it would be hot, or maybe cold, but dress in layers, and all I heard was hot. I did not understand that it would be cold. I saw the weather say it would rain at least the first three days. I did not understand it was a cold, drizzly rain. Or that it would last all week. I heard the beds would be hard, but that ended up being the least of my worries. I did not hear about the lack of toilet paper or paper towels or napkins.

BUT! What my ears and my heart heard was that there were mkids who never get to see and talk English with other white kids (besides their siblings) who needed childcare so that their parents (who hardly see or talk English with white people themselves!) could “conference” together. My ears and my heart heard there were villages that the O family worked in and they needed help with checking the health of the children. I could do that! I could go to the other side of the planet and love on kids. That is a specialty of mine. And I could take my daughter, who also loves to help others. God graciously provided the money, so we boarded the many planes to get there and headed to the other side of the planet.