Alaska living, home education, gardening, hunting, fishing, trapping and preserving the harvest
We had our first snow fall of the season. It was a very wet snow which we do not have here very often. It is also blessing #3's birthday today. She got to go out and play in the snow after her cake and ice cream tonight!!
May the Lord find us faithful.
Now ususally I am content to be home, and I have been out twice this week already. But, I have errands to run that need to be taken care of alone and our van needs a new part. I guess it is the alternator, my sweetie is out there putting a new one on. He is such a hard worker, and always has something to do. So, hopefully, he will get it finished or I will call a friend to come get me.
May the Lord find us faithful.
We started back to violin lessons today. We were supposed to begin piano but the teacher has sick children. So, lessons went well, we were a little rusty as I have a difficult time practicing with the lessons to keep me accountable. School work is progressing well with each child moving at a good pace. The piano tuner came this morning so we only had time to get Bible finished before he came, so when he left we had to get to it to get finished before violin. Then, we grocery shopped. Yuck!! But I feel better now that we have food in the house.
May the Lord find us faithful.
We had a wonderful week this week. We accomplished our goals and got some things settled for as to where to end review and move forward. I got back into our reading curriculum with blessing #1 and I will probably move that way with number #2 next week. I feel as though she needs a little more review but she is doing well with her reading. We are really liking Mystery of History, #1 is looking forward to tomorrow: The Ice Age!!! I still let #3 come as go as she gets the urge. Some days she will do 5-6 pages in math then the next she will do only 2 and be finished (she is still preschool age). We will buckle down with reading soon though, probably after the snow falls and we have more time indoors. Right now we are still enjoying unusually warm temps for our area, so we have been taking walks and bike rides daily. We found a great place to cross country ski this winter! I am really excited about that. I do not mind the treadmill but I really enjoy exercising out of doors. BTW, I have lost five pounds!!! I have really been trying to exercise about 4 times a week for the past few weeks. I have been walking a mile when I walk on the treadmill, I am not sure how far I am walking when I walk outside.
May the Lord find us faithful.
I feel like we have no schedule, BUT we do, it just isn't the one I think we should have.
Number 1 - I do not get up early enough. I set the alarm and then just snooze and snooze, I think I should get a new alarm clock.
Number 2 - The weather is still soooooo nice here which is rare that we are staying out in the evenings later, thus getting in to bed later. I do have the reassurance that this will end within a month as we usually have snow on the ground by the 20th of October(usually some time in the teens of the month of October). This does not keep us inside all winter but we go out less as there is the gear to be doned before going out.
Number 3- we have not started music lessons yet, this starts next week, therefore we have not practiced in a while. I have a difficult time practicing without the lessons for accountability!
Number 4- We have not been doing afternoons as I would like. I have planned afternoons for music practice, read alouds and art/handiwork projects. We have had art once!!!
Number 5- I feel as though I still have home projects to take care of and I need to make time for them.
Number 6- All the outside "things" that need to be accomplished.
May the Lord find us faithful.
As we were pulling into the driveway last night after church my husband said did you feel that? The van would not turn left!! We were so thankful that we were home and not out on the road. He got up into the drive way and troubleshot the problem. He surprised us by coming home at lunch time. He had taken the rest of the day off. He got the part and fixed the van!!! Yeah, it actually was in the budget, not by much but we will squeak by.
It was good to get back into the weekday routine. We are making progress and I am feeling as though the blessings are learning more.
May the Lord find us faithful.
My husband and blessing #1 went hunting today so it has been a girl day. The girls have played a couple of games, played outside and played in their rooms. All is girl time is good for them as the oldest two blessings usually play together and the youngest either tags along or doesn't want to play what they are playing. So, I have had a quiet day. Slowly going about my tasks. We did not do any school work since #1 was not here today. They have enjoyed some fun time together and so have I. We have church tonight as we have a guest speaker in town, so I have prepped all the clothing for that and switched my closet from summer to winter clothing. That needed to be done desperately. Now I have to attack my husbands side in the next few weeks.
May the Lord find us faithful.
My husband came home tonight, when he is hunting I am never sure when he will come home. Fortunately for him, I had dinner ready and in the crock pot keeping it warm in case he came home as I had received a scratchy phone call from him this afternoon.
School work is going well, all of the blessing are progressing nicely and I am convinced that we should school year around with breaks here and there. So, I will be planning and working on that.
I have not accomplished everything on my plans but we are doing 95% so we will march on.
I made it on the treadmill yesterday but not today. I still have not gotten my morning routine where it should be but I am getting there. Once hunting season is over I will be more on a routine as my husband will be back to work and our daily routine will be more routine. I just love routine.
May the Lord find us faithful.
Tonight's message was very eye opening. It follows right along with what I wrote in my previous blog today. The pastor spoke about David and how he sinned when he had no more worlds to conquer, he had taken a time of rest, he stayed home from battle and had idle time on his hands, he took his eyes off of God. So, I am glad that I have a full plate. It is a blessing to have so much on my plate. But not too much that I do not have time for what is important. A relationship with God and teaching my children. I have purposed to keep our outside activities to a minimum to keep us from being frazzled. I think we have maintained a balance that keeps our family balanced.
May the Lord find us faithful.
Have you ever thought about all the work you do on any given day? Have you ever thought if anyone else notices the work you do on any given day? We do a job that often makes others think that since we are not working, we just sit around and watch TV. I would like for some one who things my job as wife, mother, house cleaner, etc., is a job filled with slacking to come in a spend a day doing my job, as I do my job. Not just keeping things going and entertaining the blessings. But to cook the meals, clean the house, clean the blessings, do the laundry, walk the dog, teach the blessings. Whew!!! They would be tired. Now, not to even mention training and teaching our children to be useful, selfless servants of God! This is just what is going on in my mind today. No wonder I have not found time to get on the treadmill lately. I plan to get on there in about an hour and read my Bible while I walk. Maybe some little task will go undone today but that will be okay as my body needs the walk!!
May the Lord find us faithful.
Schooling last week was very basic as some curriculums were not here yet. Today was our first day with all subjects. It went quite well as we do alot of work orally. Hope all is well in other corners of the world.
May the Lord find us faithful.
My husband left for moose hunting this morning so I am taking a very slow approach to the day. I have done a little work outside and washed some laundry. But other than that I think that today will be a day of only making meals and cleaning up after them until I have to get the prep for Sunday out of the way.
May the Lord find us faithful.
The first week of school went well, even with Dad home. I am used to it being just the blessings and myself at home during the day and Dad is on vacation for hunting season. So, next week we will be alone again as Dad will be out moose hunting. I know have all the curriculum as some filtered in at the end of the week. So, next week will be more to the grind stone. I still have such time with music practice and read alouds, but Dad has been home also, next week will be more "normal" if there is any such thing.
We did a lot of assessing this week to see where we need to dive in for the year. I must be off to make some hunting food and goodies. I am make breakfast burritos, cookies and zucchini bread for husband's trip.
May the Lord find us faithful.
We have been back to formal school for two days. Dad has been home both days. So, we have accomplished the basics. I love him being home but I enjoy our "normal" days. I am still waiting for a couple of items to arrive for school that are in route. There is so much that I want to do and then there is the need to do list and then the dreaded have to do list. So, I must find a happy medium there some where. Well, blessing # 3 and I are off to the post office while the others take in a little duck hunting before church tonight!
May the Lord find us faithful.
Greetings from the north land!
The fall colors are abounding here in Alaska. Our family takes a day in September and drives north into the mountains and enjoy the spectacular mountain views. The colors are not as plentiful as in other areas of the country but there is that beautiful Alaska scenery that can be found no where else! Our dog has retrieved her first two ducks out of the water, this is a major thing as she failed to retrieve the first duck that fell before her on Saturday night. My sweetheart spent Sunday afternoon between church services working on that with her. His efforts were not in vain.
Tomorrow is our first day of formal school. I feel they are always being schooled regardless of sitting in front of school "work" or in the school of life and exploration. The girls are ready, my son is not. He is going duck hunting in the morning but that is early in the morning, so he will be back in time to get to work.
May the Lord find us faithful.
School starts on Tuesday!! Most of the first week ready and I am ready. I have my plan book going together. I make my own and I am still tweeking a few things and working on what needs to be in there and what doesn't. I am off to bed, it has been a long day.
May the Lord find us faithful.
I had a very blah day, spent most of it on the couch. But it occurred at the right time. I have accomplished much in the past few weeks and most of what needed to be finished before school starts is finished. So, the day did not leave us in chaos. A little extra work today will ensure a good day tomorrow. I am off to do a little observation at our church's school. I have a degree in education/ special education so they call on me when they have questions about a student. Then I am off to paint the trim at a friend's house that I should have done a month ago. But we have both been busy.
Dh and blessing # 1 are off hunting for a moose today!!! Blessing #1 is excited!
May the Lord find us faithful.
