What's New and Exciting for September 2018

A post to update folks is long overdue.

We got a family photo taken (above) the day my youngest celebrated high school graduation. I'm on the far left, then Dad, then my youngest, then my oldest, then my son-in-law, then my middle "child". (I don't use names -- want to protect some privacy." Then there are the dogs -- Cody on the left, and the yellow blur on the right is my oldest's dog named Coda.

My high school graduate was not able to find summer work. He spent his summer promoting his home business - Eagle Whips (you can find him on Instagram). And he built up his inventory of whips so they could continue to sell even while he is away at college! (He's not allowed to make them at college. They are considered to be a weapon. Go figure.)

He also finished his requirements to be promoted to Cadet Senior Master Sgt.

 
August arrived. The college freshman packed his bags, and we flew to Arizona.

 We landed in Phoenix to a temperature of 108, then we drove to Flagstaff.

Getting moved into the dorm was such a small part of that week. He had to get his new ID card first...

 There was an expo, where he met the Lumberjack...

There were days of orientation. The lad plans to participate in CAP in AZ, working to achieve rank of 1st Lt. He also plans to participate in AF ROTC, but that has been postponed til the Spring semester.

Since launching the lad I've been working to stay motivated. I've got loads to do -- I just need to stay on track. I'm making maternity clothes for the momma of my first grandchild...

I'm quilting...

I'm trying to sell off 27-years-worth of homeschool books...

And there is plenty of decluttering and cleaning to catch up on now that I am done home schooling.

But... I still love reviewing home school products... So right now I have in the hopper:

Teach Sunday School Bible-At-A-Glance

Brinkman Adventures Season 6

and Heirloom Audio Adventures St. Bartholomew's Eve

Can't wait to tell you more! 

I will try to give a new update in mid-October. So what is new in your world?

Organizing for Year End

As each school year draws to a close, home school mommas everywhere scurry to get themselves organized.

• Is my school year on track? Will we be done as planned so we can take the summer off?
• For those who get an annual review, it is time to get those portfolios ready and schedule that portfolio review.
• Form those home schooling high school, it is time to calculate grades and update that transcript.
• What are we doing next school year? What materials do I need to purchase?
• Are there items I will never use again? Is it time to declutter? Do I sell them, give them away, or throw them away?
•  Is there a Homeschool Convention in my near future? What will my focus be? What do I want to buy? How much money do I have to spend?

This year my focus changes.

• Celebrate graduation: party, cake, photos, diploma
• What are the next steps for college?
• When is the next college bill due?
• Help son get a dorm room selected;
• Will my son be able to get a summer job this year?
• Declutter, declutter, declutter: Sell, give, toss.
• Home maintenance tasks/renovations/repairs
• Declutter, declutter, declutter
• Get caught up on neglected house cleaning
• Declutter, declutter, declutter...

Beyond the fact that my son is graduating, are you seeing a theme here? 

In May I leave home schooling behind. I started home schooling in January of 1992. For all practical purposes we might as well say Fall of 1991. That means I've home schooled 27 years.

So this year the topic of "Organization" no longer means scurry to plan and purchase for next year. My first order of business, at this point, is purge most evidence of home schooling from my household.

I recently boxed more than 15 boxes of school materials and headed to a home school used curriculum fair. It was only one hour long. I sold $130 worth of stuff and came home with ONE BOX LESS than I left with.

So now I'm working to figure out if I take the time to sell, or do I just find a quick way to get rid of stuff. Hubby wants me to just be done with all this stuff. On the other hand, I know there is money there to apply towards college text books, and I want to take the time to try to sell. We'll see.

So this week includes:

• Tub man comes to resurface tub tomorrow;
  
• Adjuster comes to see what damage the recent wind storm did to our exterior;
• Tomorrow is the day my son gets to select his dorm room/room mate;
• Make an appointment for my son's physical;
• Make a date to get my annual portfolio review done, and
• My son needs to fill out the Air Force ROTC Application

 Next week will include:

• Having tub man resurface tub #2 
  
• Listing some of the books for sale;
• Senior photos being taken;
• I can't even think what else right now...

So that's what "Organization" plans look like in my life right now. What do your spring organization plans look like this year?

Summer Update

So, normally I would have posted a Menu Monday yesterday. Hmmm.... Okay, I just couldn't keep up the facade this week. Fact is, I'm not cooking this week.

The lad got back from his Civil Air Patrol trip to Space Command Familiarization Course on Sunday night... with a puppet!

I, meanwhile, have been recovering from foot surgery, which is why I am not cooking and not meal planning.

Hubby just put together a very loose idea of what the guys would eat (Chinese, hot dogs, chili from the freezer, etc.). Rather than be stressed trying to put together a Menu Monday blog entry about it, I decided to just skip it.

While recuperating I finished a knitted baby hat to donate to my favorite charity, Online Angels (in Pottsville, PA).

 
So son and I are working this week on his college applications. He's going to do the IEW SAT Essay Intensive (from High School Essay Intensive), and he's working on math review.

In the product review arena, currently using in our home:
No Nonsense Algebra,

Reign of Terror, 

and The Everyday Family Chore System.

So that's about it for my current update. What's going on in your home this summer?

Friday Wrap-up for 2017 Week 9

Just for fun, I thought I'd start with an old photo. The above photo is from 2002. Now my "baby" is 17, has his license, is in Civil Air Patrol, and a week ago he completed his Eagle Project in Boy Scouts.

My oldest lives 2000 miles away now, so no complete family photo to show the passage of time.
Busy days we have during Junior Year. My student is taking Spanish I and Sociology at the community college. We've been working on Geometry at home, and ACT preparation, as well as Accuplacer preparation. We've been looking at colleges and scheduling visits.
In less than two weeks my boy and I will visit Patrick Henry College.
One week later my boy and my husband will visit University of Arizona. One week later the lad and I will visit University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Five days later we hit a college fair. Two days later he takes his ACT.
So many possible colleges. Need to determine priorities -- is a Christian college more important, or one with AF ROTC (and why are there no colleges that fit both requirements). One hour from home? Or two? Or 2000 miles? BS or BA? Computers or Government? So many things to decide.
So we are busy here, wading through spring of junior year. How is your school year going?

Farewell to February

I have to admit, I'm a little confused. Don't get me wrong -- I'm loving it, but I remember year's past. I was looking for February photos, but March 3, 2014 was close enough. Winter. Snow. I'm so glad there has been so little this year.

But it's the last day of February and my snow drops are in bloom. But wait! There are pansies (a hardy cold-weather flower), but there are flowering trees in full bloom (crab apple I think). What's more, forsythia is blooming, the maple tips are red and spreading pollen, and the willow trees are GREENING! Allergies in full bloom. Pauxatauny Phil was wrong. Spring is here.

Goals for 2017

As this new year begins, I have decided to post my 2017 goals rather that proclaiming "resolutions". In Boy Scouts we teach goals should be "SMART":
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Relevant and
T - Timely 

I don't have all my goals honed adequately that they are stated in a "measurable" format, but here are goals I have for 2017:

• Weight loss goal: lose 20 (more) pounds.
• Menu-planning goals: plan and prepare six to seven healthy meals per week for my family and post these plans to my blog each week;
• Spiritual: this year I'll be working to regularly read, pray, journal and worship privately and corporately;
• Exercise: I am planning to try to get exercise 3-5 days per week;
• Nature study: I'll be continuing my bird watching. I think I should start a nature study journal of the birds I see starting this year.
• Homeschool: the plan this year is to finish 11th  with a credit in Geometry, to take Spanish 1 and Sociology 100 at the community college in the Spring 2017 semester, and to take Spanish 2 and ENGL 210 in the Fall 2017 semester. I'd like the student to take a summer computer course, but I don't know if that will happen. As he rolls into 12th Grade, the student will be taking a Bible course at home, as required by our umbrella school (with which he'd like to participate in graduation) 

• Boy Scouts: encourage my son to do his Eagle project, paperwork, Scoutmaster Conference and Board of Review to achieve Eagle rank (he has to finish this as he is "aging out" this year (old photo below);
  
• CAP: I'll be encouraging the cadet to get some flights in and to continue to work on advancement;
  
• Decluttering: not stated measurably, but it is my goal to declutter this year as if we were moving in one year (which we're not, but that's the goal);
• Sewing: make pajama pants I promised to my adult daughter (long overdue);
• Quilting: finish the quilt I've been working on for 18 months and start a new quilt.

• Crafting: I plan to continue crafting for my favorite charity, Online Angels, out of Pottsville, PA (I usually make baby hats, booties, and various other items like slippers and totes).

I think I'll be reading more this year as well, but I'm not going to set a goal. I've just started a book my father-in-law loaned me.

What are your goals this year?

Christmas 2016

This year Christmas was a little subdued in our household. My sister has been battling breast cancer for almost four years. In June she broke her ankle, and recovery from that injury has been slow.

We were delighted to be able to be a little generous with our adult and almost-adult kids. We sent gifts, via Amazon, to one in Colorado.

We surprised our local daughter and her husband with various nice things.

                          

We gave the student a lot of this and that.

One of the gifts for our youngest was an item we had been saving, keeping a secret, since we received the product as part of a home school review. It was a really nice item, and we had paid extra to upgrade the item over what we would have received if we'd gone with what the review was offering (we got a bigger size). But as Christmas approached, my husband and I were having doubts. Our son wanted knives and paracord for making braided whips. We began to lower our expectations of his reaction over the gift, because we were giving our 17-year-old son something he hadn't asked for. We'd decided he wasn't going to appreciate the item, or the effort the company had taken to create the gift. It was a personalized gift from CrossTimber, so we went ahead and gave it to him.

To our surprise and delight, our son loved the personalized name plaque!  He loves the jets! He loves the Bible verses! He loves knowing what his name means!

He now has his name plaque proudly displayed on his computer desk where his friends see it when they visit. His love of this gift was my biggest surprise this Christmas! Thank you, CrossTimber!

2016 Resolutions Review

I did not actually post my 2016 resolutions, but I did have some. Specific resolutions? Or general ones? I had some general ones like exercise more, eat healthier, do better at getting things done...

But hovering over all my general thoughts was a specific thought that I was overweight, and this was the year to get a handle on it. There was a serious sugar addiction as part of it, and a diet high in acidic foods that was harmful. My diet was also causing inflamation (arthritis, among other things).

I don't have a complete grip on all of this yet, but I've come a long way. So this is my reveal post to show you where I started and where I ended at the end of the year.

I spent 21 days following The Bone Broth Diet and lost (I think) 14 pounds. Before and after:

        

This diet was a good start, kicked the sugar cravings and shed weight, but was a lot of work. For my situation it was not sustainable.

After a bit I had gained back at least six pounds and it was time to get serious again. So next I worked on following The Total Wellness Cleanse by Yuri Elkaim. I lost some weight, but I was never as successful with this program. A lot of these programs are very difficult for one individual in a family to follow. I had to prepare one meal for the family and another meal for myself. Just preparing the meals for myself would have been exhausting even if it had been all I was doing. I burned out on this one.

I joined a gym in March and started working on strengthening, which I really needed. Unfortunately while I focused on this my weight was creeping up again.

October arrived and I weighed 160 or so. Ten pounds lost, but not good enough--I hadn't reached my goal. Hubby agreed to let me join Jenny Craig. For several weeks I followed their plan exactly, eating their food, to the cost of about $160-$170/week! The weight was coming off 1 to 2 pounds per week, but I really didn't like all their processed food.

After talking to my counselor, I weaned my way off their food to a more paleo diet. I still eat some of their treats, but my meals and some snacks are my own preparations. I'm following a mostly whole-foods plan that is gluten free, grain free, high in vegetables with a healthy amount of protein. I'm not sugar free yet, but I will probably get there.

So as I approached Christmas I had lost over 20 pounds for 2016. Unfortunately I lost momentum in the last two weeks and gained some of the weight back. So, for the final one year statistic, 

My goal weight loss for 2016 was: 20 pounds. I reached my goal and then some, but then gained some back.

My starting weight for 1/1/16 was 170, and my end weight is 152.2. Before (left) and after (right) photos below:

                                

          

                   

If it is difficult to see the weight loss, look at the neck, the chin!

My weight still needs to be less, so I am going to work on losing 20 pounds in 2017. I'm getting to a size where a lot of people think I'm fine and shouldn't be trying to lose weight. Seriously? I'm 5'3" and 152 pounds. I should probably be 120. I guess I'll figure out what weight I am comfortable at when I get to that weight. In the meantime I'll keep my blog readers updated as I reach milestones.

Hopefully you find these posts encouraging!

My weight still needs to be less, so I am going to work on losing 20 pounds in 2017.