Homeschool Organization: School Supplies

Friday afternoon I gathered all of the stuff that Leah had brought into the kitchen over the last few months as part of her office. Paper, coloring books, markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue, scissors, stickers, notebooks, journals and various other items filled a little end table beside my kitchen rocking chair. The overflow covered one end of our kitchen table, and many of her supplies were strewn on the kitchen floor.

So I put it all in one big laundry basket.

Leah's office

Saturday morning I took that basket downstairs to my schoolroom, and got to work on our school supplies. I began by noting that we had way too many!! In fact, I recently bought more school supplies during my monthly trip to Walmart.

sacks of school supplies

I love school supplies, and this time of year when they put everything on sale for such a low price, I have a hard time resisting! I did need glue, glue sticks, and pencils. I did not need markers, crayons, notebook paper, or folders (which I bought anyway because of the low, low price). I actually didn't realize that I didn't need those items until I began cleaning out and organizing my school supplies.

I think I found 1000 markers!

We had markers in the kitchen (Leah's office), markers on the kitchen table (in a silverware caddy), markers in individual boxes stored in the den for our daily Bible lessons, markers in individual boxes on the schoolroom shelves, markers in the children's work buckets, and unopened markers in my supply cabinet in the schoolroom.

I dumped all of the markers on my schoolroom table (except for the unopened boxes) and one by one I tried them. Yes I did. I threw the dried up ones and the ones with smashed tips away, and the rest I sorted. I made a set of one of each color for each child's work bucket (in a school supply box), I put two of each color in the silverware caddy on the schoolroom table, I put two of each color in a bag along with a couple of spiral notebooks and a word search book in a bag inside the van (for times when we have to wait somewhere), and the rest of the markers filled a shoe box sized plastic container! I plan to take that box of markers to Granmomma's house to be enjoyed by all of the grandchildren.

My schoolroom shelves...before I started cleaning out. Most of those clear boxes with green lids contained markers! The two pink lidded boxes contained markers and crayons too. I removed all of the books (curriculum for next year) from the top of the shorter shelf, and I took out the green crates. I plan to take down that poster, and use that wall (now without the green crates) for Sam to count the 100 days of school this year. We put up an index card with a number for each school day, up until 100.

This is my table where I sorted everything out.

I hadn't dumped out the markers yet!

I drank 3 cups of coffee (see my Starbucks mug) while I did this!

Next, I tackled the crayons.....I only kept the crayons that were in packages. I stored all crayons in my school supply cabinet. I plan to purchase a set of Twist Up crayons for Leah and Sam to use for their schoolwork. Leah has had a set of Twist Up crayons that she uses during our church service for 3 years now. Three years. Those are good crayons!

Colored pencils were gathered and sorted next. I made a set (one of each color) for each of the children to use during our daily Bible lesson. I stored them in boxes with their names on them in the kitchen--in the little end table that formerly was Leah's office. I also had enough colored pencils to make a set for the four older children for their school supply box inside their work buckets. The leftover colored pencils fit nicely inside one plastic cup in the school supply cabinet.

the top section of the school supply cabinet

The top shelf has rarely used items (gel pens, crayons, boxes of markers, foam stickers, and those wonderful Hamma beads.)

The middle shelf stores folders, spiral notebooks, notebook paper, composition books, stationery, and the children's art binders.

The bottom shelf has labeled cups that store two sizes of scissors, colored pencils, specialty markers, rulers, and extra pencils. The clear containers hold glue, jumbo poster markers, clothespins, erasers, compasses, index cards, etc.

The bottom section of this cabinet holds paper. I put one color of copy paper in each section along with notebook paper, one tray of construction paper, decorative copy paper, and stencils. Since taking this picture yesterday, I have purchased a few colors of paper that we were missing.

To finish the organization of the school supplies, I made a list of a few (really just a few) items that we were lacking, and then filled a school supply box for each child to keep in their work buckets. Each box contains scissors, markers, crayons or colored pencils, regular pencils, and a compass and protractor for the older children.

Next project: sorting and storing last year's schoolwork, followed by planning for the upcoming year.

Megan Blogged For Me!

On Monday, we celebrated the 4th of July with Jimmy's family and some friends too. Since Megan and Russ were there taking lots of pictures, I have been waiting for Megan to blog about the day. I was tired on Monday (still recovering from our week long camp), and I did not take a single picture! I think Jimmy took some, but I have been too busy to look.

So I have been waiting for Megan to write a fabulous post about our fun day, and she did not disappoint!

My favorite pictures are the ones showing the improvised badminton net.

Click here to read all about the fun day.

Favorite Bible Verse

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thess. 5:16-18

For the first time ever, I am participating in Kelly's Korner blog carnival. She does a different theme each Friday, but usually I am so busy by Friday that I never make the time to participate. However, today's assignment was very simple: your favorite Bible verse.

Be sure to visit Kelly's Korner today to read everyone's favorite Bible verse.

The Green Street Mile

Each year on July 4th, the Tupelo Running Club hosts the Green Street Mile. It is a one mile race that is run on Green Street. Everyone parks at the finish line area and then jogs one mile to the starting line (as their warm-up). The race begins at 7:00 AM, and is over in a matter of minutes. This year the winner finished in 4:30! Wow! That is a fast mile!

Only Jimmy and Clay ran the Green Street Mile this year. Since July 4th was on a Sunday this year, I did not think I could run the race and still have enough time to get ready for our church service which begins at 9:30 AM. Of course the boys were able to do this easily!

Jimmy and Clay ran well. Jimmy finished in 5:43, winning 2nd place in his age group. Clay finished in 6:55, and he won 1st place in his age group. Way to go, boys!

Clay with his after race snack and his really nice trophy

Birthday Celebrations

Today over at The Homeschool Classroom, I posted about Celebrating Children's Birthdays. Back in the spring, I shared my ideas at our Homeschool Mothers' Brunch, and today I have put all of my ideas on paper (well on the keyboard).

I hope you will find some ideas for celebrating your children's birthdays when you read my post today. Julie's birthday is soon, and I have a really fun theme planned for her big day. It's a surprise for her, so I will blog all about it when the day is over.

Click here to read the birthday post at The Homeschool Classroom.

Rustic Youth Camp

We had a wonderful time at our first Rustic Youth Camp!

This camp is owned and run by Christians, and they have hosted RYC for over 30 years. Many of the campers that I met were second generation campers, and many of the teachers/counselors I met had attended RYC when they were growing up. After our experience, which was overall a good one, I think that my children will be annual camp goers now.

However, it was a learning experience for my children, and they all had some adjustments to make. First of all, it was the first time that they had been around so many young people in one setting. There were over 150 campers and around 100 teachers/counselors/camp workers. That's a lot of people! Especially when you are homeschooled. It took some of my children longer than others to make new friends, but by the end of the week everyone was happy, and they were sad to say good-by to their new friends.

Sam in his cowboy hat. His camp class had a "Cowboy" theme. All of their crafts were centered around the cowboy theme, and their "skit" for parent night was cowboy themed too.

Olivia was the only one of my children who stayed overnight in the bunkhouse at camp. Only children who have finished 7th grade and up are eligible for the bunkhouse. Julie thinks she may try the bunkhouse next year. This year, she stayed in the hotel room (20 minutes away from the campsite) with the rest of us. All of the other campers are considered Day Campers, which means they attend the camp for 8:00 AM-5:00PM

Those 9 hours of day camp were one of the adjustments for my children, especially for Clay and Sam. Sam is used to playing outside all day and coming in briefly for sitting in my lap and for naptime. He really just does what he wants all day. Clay too. Even during the school year, my children really have a great deal of freedom. They have chores and schoolwork to complete, but when their work is done, they are free to play. Sam grew tired of crafts; his favorite part of camp was playing outside! Sam did not even complete most of the crafts--he chose to "paint' his wooden birdhouse with a dry paintbrush (no paint!), and for other projects he simply didn't do. He wasn't disruptive or disrespectful, he either just sat and watched the other children or sat in my lap.

These are the bags the children decorated. They were used for storing and transporting home all of the crafts and papers they completed during the week.

Can you pick out Sam's? His is "natural"!

Each night after camp Lynn and I either took the kids out to eat somewhere or ate sandwiches in our hotel room. We ran on two of the nights at a local park, and spent the rest of our nights washing clothes and preparing our lessons (she and I were both assistant teachers) for camp.

Carson, John Parker, and Clay at Pizza Hut

Julie and Jared

Leah and Avery

We ate at Pizza Hut two different nights!

Sam in the sandbox

Sam coloring a page after our daily Bible lesson

The camp schedule went something like this:

After the overnight campers finished breakfast, they gathered to sing hymns. The day campers joined them by 8:00 AM. The singing was absolutely beautiful! The singing was followed by a morning devotional, prayer, camp announcements, silly songs, and various games and pranks. We quickly learned that this morning gathering time provided the camp leaders a chance to pick on various teachers.....Lynn and I laid low and hoped no one would notice us. It worked. We were never embarrassed!

Bible Class Time--the children broke into their various groups for their first Bible class time. Each of my children was in a different group. I assisted with the 3 and 4 year old class. The older classes had an additional Bible class time after lunch. Our class reviewed our daily lesson throughout the day.

Craft and Activity Time--the older students rotated through a variety of craft and other activities. Some of these were woodburning, trap shooting, archery, quilling, beading, and various wooden crafts (boxes, windchimes, bowls, etc.) The younger students (3 and 4 year olds and 5 and 6 year olds) stayed with their class all day. Their teachers conducted crafts and other activities in their classroom.

Snack Time, Free Time, Lunch, Rest (for the younger ones), Snack Time again.

Game Time--Each afternoon at 3:00 the various classes received their game assignment. The classes were divided into two teams, Red and Blue, and these teams competed all week. Each morning the scores between Red and Blue were announced. Our family was on the victorious Blue team.

On Thursday, the 7th graders and older went on a Field Trip to Crow's Neck. Mississippi.

On Friday, there were Red and Blue team competitions in the afternoon followed by Parent and Family Night. The campers welcomed many, many visitors who joined them for supper followed by the presentation of each class's skit. Jimmy and Kelly (Lynn's husband) arrived in the early afternoon. They enjoyed touring the campground and visiting with all of our children.

Leah and Avery performing their class skit

another favorite part of camp for Sam--snack time!

Kelly posing in front of Fort Gary Dickerson, named for the late Gary Dickerson, who was a member of our local church.

Julie with two new friends

Clay playing some sort of relay game

Clay and Olivia--showing her wood burning project

Clay

Carson and Clay waiting for the singing to begin

Olivia during her class skit---she threw the pie in this young man's face!

The week actually went by faster than I thought! The children and I were very, very tired, but it was a great week. I made some new friends too! The ladies that I taught with were all so sweet. One lady was an "email friend" that now I know in person. Fun!

We are looking forward to next year's camp.

How's Your Summer List Going?

I hope it's going better than mine!

I have done nothing, and I mean not one thing on my summer list, and we have followed the summer schedule maybe two days this whole summer---the two days that we were actually home all day!

This has been the craziest and busiest summer that we have ever had. I guess it's because the children are getting older and have more activities. We have been out of town so much, and on the days that we are in town, I have had to go to town so much!

Like today--I took the children to the park to run at 7:20 this morning. We were home by 8:30. I showered and got ready to go to town. Sam went with me. We began with his dental appointment at 10:o0. This was followed by Party City, Chick-Fil-A (he was hungry), Walmart (my monthly shopping trip), Kroger #1 (looking for a birthday gift for Julie), Kroger #2 (because Kroger #1 was out of what I was looking for), and the eye doctor (just to pick up some contact lenses). We arrived back home at 2:30! Sam fell asleep in the car on the way home. I put him in his bed, and he slept a total of 7 minutes. I had not even begun to unload the car!

Thankfully, my children at home completed all of their morning chores, fed themselves lunch, and even cleaned up the kitchen while I was gone. After getting the car unloaded and all of the items put away, and working on laundry for a little while it was almost 4:00. Where does the time go? I have not even done my daily cleaning chore yet!

So, this whole post leads me to what has been on my mind for a couple of days. I realized this weekend that my summer list was just not going to be completed this year. I discussed July and early August's calendars with Jimmy, and that is when I realized that the list was too overwhelming. I decided that I needed to prioritize. I am going to spend any spare minute I have preparing for the upcoming school year, and that is all that I am going to try to accomplish for the rest of the summer. Period. As much as I dislike leaving my pantry looking like something exploded inside, and leaving the boys' room looking like a train wreck, plus the many closets and storage areas that I wanted to tackle.....I am going to focus my time and energy (both mental and physical) on school. If there is any time left in the summer after I am completely ready for school, I will try to do some of those other things, but I am not going to stress about it. I am not!

Which leads me to another reason I am posting right now instead of cleaning the boys' bathroom--I stumbled on a fabulous blog this morning while Sam was getting his cavity filled--Living Peacefully Less Stressed. Isn't that a wonderful title? I have only looked around Courtney's blog a little bit, but I like what I am seeing. I plan to spend some time over the next few days reading all of her destressing tips. If you click on the Highlights tab at the top of her blog, it will take you to where all of the stress posts are located.

Here is a picture from Father's Day morning. Just wanted to share!

The wonderful father of my children and all of our blessings!

Home Again!

Well, we're home from Rustic Youth Camp (RYC)! Lynn and I left with our children (her four, my five) around 1:00 PM on Sunday afternoon, and my family finally arrived home at 11:00 PM last night! We were exhausted and as dirty as you can imagine, but we had a fabulous time!

I plan to blog all about the week, complete with photos, but first I have to wash a mountain of laundry, unpack a ton of clothes and various other things, buy groceries, and just spend a moment or two simply enjoying being at my own lovely home!

Like I said on Facebook earlier this week, they don't call it Rustic Youth Camp for nothing! The children and I made many, many new friends, and we all benefited from being in the company of other sweet Christians for the week.

My July List

Well, June has just flown by! Between two week long camps, Vacation Bible School, and our family vacation, I have accomplished about zero on my Summer List! I have got to get busy in July, or I will not be ready to start school on August 8th. The children have one last running camp the first week in August, so that does give me a little extra time to prepare for school.

Here is the minimum I hope to complete in July:

1. Completely prepare for the upcoming school year (big, big to-do item)

2. Visit my parents for a few days

3. Can tomatoes (never done this before, but my friend down the road is going to teach me)

4. Read Matthew 1-10 thirty times (I am trying the inductive Bible study method)

5. Visit an elderly couple that lives about 2 miles from us at least two times

6. Clean off the train table in the boys' room

7. Clean out Julie's closet and drawers (taking out all clothes that no longer fit)

8. Clean out Olivia's closet and drawers (same as in Julie's)

9. Clean out the secret room (another big, big to-do item--this is an unfinished area off of Olivia's closet in her room. It has become a catch-all for all sorts of toys, stuffed animals, unplayed with toys, all kinds of craft projects, etc. I may even take pictures of the before and after. It will be scary!)

10. Clean out and decorate Olivia's and Julie's classrooms at our church building.

11. Help my sister in law pack up her house and move to a new town.

Wow! What a list. I sure hope that July will prove to be more productive for me than June. June has been a ton of fun, but now I am going to have to work extra hard in July.

Our Memorial Day

I know this is about a month late, but this summer has really gotten away from me! We finished school the week before Memorial Day, and we were ready to celebrate the beginning of summer!

I spent most of the morning preparing our Memorial Day meal. The menu: grilled chicken breasts, steak, pork, and vegetable shish-ka-bobs, boiled new potatoes, salad, rice krispie treats, banana cake and homemade vanilla ice cream.

Our guests included Jimmy's parents (Granmomma and Pop) and his sister's children (Will and his friend Ellie, Seth, and Gracie). As soon as Pop arrived, he began grilling for me.

Doesn't that look good?

The cousins had a super time visiting and laughing! They played in the schoolroom and all through the house. They played basketball and hung around outside. The younger children swam, and before everyone left, Sam took Granmomma on a walk in our woods.

Seth and Clay enjoying their meal.

Sam, Gracie, and Leah on the right

Will and his friend Ellie

Sam leading Granmomma through the woods.

Sam beginning to cross the bridge

Almost across!

It scares me every time the children cross this bridge. I don't even like to cross it myself.

Spending Memorial Day with part of our family was a memorable day.

Running With the King

Our family with "The King", Elvis!

Almost a month ago our family ran (for the 5th time) the Running With the King 5K. Since Tupelo is the birthplace of Elvis, several events are held in this area each year to commemorate his birth and death. Each year the Elvis Festival is held the first weekend in June.

The 5K route runs right past Elvis's birthplace, and the post-race refreshments include homemade peanut butter and banana sandwiches (supposedly one of Elvis's favorites). A prize is awarded for the best Elvis impersonator runner (yes, some people run a 5K race in June, in Mississippi, in full Elvis attire), and another Elvis impersonator always provides pre and post race entertainment. He also tirelessly poses for photos! This year the "Elvis" was an actual friend of ours. We took a lot of pictures with him.

I ran with my friend Dorothy, and I had a goal, again, of trying to run the race in less than 25 minutes. I would be happy with a race time of 24:59. Even though the race began at 7:30 AM, it was still very HOT, and very HUMID! We did our first mile a little too fast (right at 8:00), and then our second mile around 8:16.....we were slowing, and we even walked for 10-20 seconds after mile 2. I have never walked in a 5K race before, but Dorothy and I were both completely exhausted. Dorothy was suffering from side stitches, and I was pushing myself as hard as I could. We rarely talked during this race (another first for us....we usually gab the entire time....I bet we shared only two or three sentences).

The end of this race course includes a steep uphill followed by refreshing downhill. We picked up speed again at the end, but we did not meet my goal. Our finish time was 25:24. I absolutely ran as hard as I could, and after I crossed the finish line, I couldn't catch my breath! I stumbled to the side and went behind a tree, trying to inhale. Thankfully Jimmy found me and stayed with me until I was out of danger of having to call 911! He said it must be exercise-induced asthma. It has happened a couple of times before (always when I push myself too hard), and it is frightening. When I finally determined that I would survive, I decided that was the last time that I am going to push myself that hard. I am too old to be setting such high goals, and then risking injury and making myself so miserable trying to meet the goal. I am done!

The rest of the morning proved to be pleasant. We visited with all of our friends while waiting for the race results. Sweet Julie was the overall female winner, and we were so proud of her! I am always amazed by her speed. We were also proud of Olivia who won her division, and also of Clay who ran a great race too! Jimmy placed too....but I can't remember if he won 2nd or 3rd in his age group.

In the running world, when you turn 40, there is an additional award for the fastest runners aged 40 and over (called Masters Division), and for the fastest runners aged 50 and over (called Grand Masters Division). In the Running With the King 5K, for the first time since I turned 40, I won first place in the Masters Division! I felt old! Since Dorothy let me cross the finish line one second ahead of her, I won Masters, and she won first place in our age group. All of the winners were awarded Elvis Festival beach towels, and Julie also won a stadium chair.

After the race festivities, we joined the Mims Family for breakfast at Atlanta Bread Company.

All of the children outside the restaurant

notice Julie and Olivia--always crocheting!

Seaside

The Beautiful Beach!

Our vacation at Seaside, Florida, was one of the most relaxing vacations I have ever had! The weather was beautiful! The water was green with slimy seaweed at times, but it was still the fabulous beach. I could sit in a chair on the water's edge with the waves lapping at my feet for days! I did just that for two whole days! The sound of the ocean, the feel of the warm sand, the smell of the salt water---it all adds up to relaxation for me. It also helped that I did not have a 2 year old or younger to chase around! Sam spent hours at the beach, happily digging in the sand or playing in the ocean. He is fearless!

Sam and Leah playing around while Jimmy took family pictures.

Clay--he looks more like Jimmy (to me) the older he gets.

Leah and Julie sitting on the porch of The Seaside Store, waiting while I purchased our matching Seaside shirts. We bought Seaside shirts on our trip here two years ago, but Leah and Sam have grown!

Leah, posing while giving Jimmy a tour of our wonderful beach house. Leah slept on the 3rd story. This is the view from the porch outside her room.

Olivia spent a good bit of her vacation time either reading or putting together a puzzle at the beach house.

Julie

Julie and Clay spent a good bit of time in the ocean. They played on their boogie boards and also in the float in the background of this picture. Everyone built sand castles.

I think the children called this a "drip castle".

Sam in the ocean

Sam in the sand

Julie and Clay on their boogie boards

Leah, buried in the sand!

I truly relaxed for three days. I read two complete books and started a third. I did wash loads and loads of clothes, but I did not cook a single meal! We stayed up late, and slept in as well. I had planned to run a couple of days, but I forgot to pack my running shoes! Jimmy did remember his, so he ran two or three times. We enjoyed fresh shrimp, tried frog legs (well, they did, I didn't!), and ate delicious brick oven pizza and some sort of fancy ice cream (can't remember the name of it).

I love the beach!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is the big day! Our 19th wedding anniversary.

Yes, these are the same pictures I post every year! They are the only two that I have on my computer.

getting ready to cut the cake

walking to the reception

Jimmy and I are planning to go out to dinner alone tonight if he gets off work in time. As always (ever since the beginning of our marriage), I have a plan B (leftovers and frozen pizza with the kids at home) if he has to work late.

I am so happy to be married to my best friend. I am very blessed, and I thank God every day for my husband!

Our Vacation is Over!

We began a long, relaxing vacation on June 11th. We began by traveling to Jackson, which is where Jimmy and I lived the first 9 years of our marriage. He started medical school one year prior, so he actually lived in Jackson for 10 years.

When we arrived in Jackson, I dropped off Jimmy at the hospital where he spent most of his waking hours during those 10 years! While he visited, I took the children to a bookstore. Next we went to the expo for the race that Jimmy and Julie ran on June 12, and then we met Jimmy's brother, Russ for supper.

Saturday after the race, we all rested and then attended a wedding. The daughter of some of our friends from our church in Jackson was the bride. It was a lovely wedding, and we really enjoyed visiting with our old church family. They couldn't believe how big our oldest children were (they were almost 1, 2, and 4 when we moved), and they enjoyed visiting with Leah and Sam too. Sam talked to everyone at the reception, and managed to embarrass me more than once!

Sunday morning we attended the church service at our old church. Afterwards, we changed clothes, picked up some lunch for the road and then made the 6.5 hour drive

TO THE BEACH!!!

As soon as we arrived in the lovely town of Seaside, Jimmy let us out at the beach while he drove to the rental agency and checked us in. The water was beautiful! Not a hint of oil!

After running around and wading for a while, we walked to our rented beach house.

the house we stayed in!

The kids (and me too!) were up bright and early Monday morning, ready to spend the day on the beach. We left our house for the short walk to the beach at 7:45 AM! The water was clear, the breeze kept us cool, and I sat in a chair on the water's edge until lunch time.

Sam, ready for a day at the beach!

We had an absolutely fabulous time at Seaside! I have lots of blogging to do to record my wonderful memories, but I am so behind at everything after taking over a week's vacation from my normal life! We also have VBS this week, and I am planning for Rustic Youth Camp that is coming up soon too.

Here are a couple of more pictures from the beach.......more to come later!