Cloth Diapering

Here is a little sneak peak at a little project I'm working on. I love cloth diapering, but it can be expensive. I've been blessed with hand-me-down diapers, diapers as gifts, and some good deals that I have run across on ebay. But my little man is growing so fast and has out grown some of his smaller diapers and diaper covers. For frugalness(not sure if that's a word, but I'm going with it) sake I've been trying to find some more creative ways of cloth diapering. I'll post pics of the finished product. And for those of you who are interested in making your own cloth diapers on a budget(don't all of you jump at once!), here is another good sight.

First Week of School Update

Day 1: Started out great and went exceptionally smooth. The schedule that I spent hours laboring over worked like a charm, and shockingly, even the baby cooperated. Uncharacteristically good attitude from my eldest during the entire school day, and beginning of the year review went much better than expected. Luke is a rather unpredictable student. Some times his knowledge and ability surprises me. Other times it is like he can barely recognize the alphabet. I know that part of it is a food issue. I am pretty sure that he has some sort of food allergy that really messes with his concentration, focus and attitude, but I haven't been able to fully target what triggers him yet. He definitely has a little bit of ADD going on, but I R.E.F.U.S.E. to put him on any kind of medication at this point. I have some natural supplements prescribed by our chiropractor(Go ahead and roll your eyes at that one. I don't care.), that seem to really help him focus, so we will continue to use that for now.


Day 2: Also went very well. The second-day-of-school excitement wasn't quite as much as day 1, but overall attitutes were good and the little folks were cooperative. Aside from little aggitating her big brother out of boredom while he was trying to do his math, things went off without a hitch. The afternoon even consisted of some Charlotte Masonish outdoor plant studying. Schedule still seems to be working wonderfully, much to my shock and amazement.

Day 3: Things are still going very well. I keep wondering when the bottom is going to fall out...

Day 4: Days 1-3 I was the good homeschool mom, getting up early(by an alarm clock, no less) before any of the kids were up. By the time the kiddos were up I was dressed up, made up, and prayed up.
Day 4 was different. In all my "beginning of the school year" ambition, I chose to start P90X on the first school day. I don't know if you are familier with P90X or not. For those of you who aren't, it is an intense 90 day work out. And I use the word "intense" because it sounds a little nicer than calling it "death by exercise". I borrowed all the dvd's and workbook from my mom and was super excited to start it. While I consider myself to be a pretty fit person, I don't think that anything, short of the Marines, can prepare you for P90X. Choosing the first day of school to start a workout routine was probably not my brightest idea ever. By Thursday I was completely exhausted. When the alarm went off I turned it off and slept in until the first little one woke up at 7:30. (Incase you were wondering who it was, it was Ray. Ray is always the first of the kiddos to get up everyday.)
Inspite of the late start, school went really well on this day to. It is at this point that I begin to wonder if what is going on, because things are just going too good.

Day 5: Thurday evening I got a call from one of my best friends. She was one of my roommates in college. Her husband is a lawyer and was coming to Beaumont for the day for work and she and her girls were going to come with him to visit! Needless to say, we did really do school on Friday. Luke did some seatwork, but that was pretty much it for school that day.

Over all we had a great first week of school. Even with taking Friday off, we still ended up two days ahead in phonics and one day ahead in math. I don't expect every week to go this smooth, but it sure was a nice was to start the school year. Now, if I could only wash my hair without excruciating pain from my very sore arms. P90X, you have not been good to me....

A Question for Vetran Homeschool Moms...

My 3 1/2 year old insists on learning how to write her letters, yet refuses to hold her pencil/dry erase marker correctly. Should I let it go, or correct the bad habit now? I'm afraid if I push her too hard to hold it correctly that she will just give up on trying to write altogether. Any advice?

School is back in session!

Well, summer is over. Not technically, season wise, but summer break is over for the Carlin kiddos. Tomorrow is our first official day of the school year. Luke will be starting 2nd grade, Ray will be doing some light preschool work, and Kale will be doing his normal baby stuff. ;) I am very much looking forward to getting back in to some sort of routine. I have spent hours getting together a schedule for us to follow. Coordinating trying to school two, with a baby in the mix has proved to be a challenge....and that's just the scheduling part. I am sure it will take us a week or two to work out all the kinks in the schedule, but I'm looking forward to giving it a go tomorrow. I'll be sure to post how it all goes.

Oh, and here is another good post for homeschooling moms to read. For those of you who don't already follow her blog, well you should. She's witting and honest, and I can't think of a better combination than that. Check out her latest homeschool post here.

Go Carlin Christian Academy!!
(That isn't really the name of our school, but it seemed fitting to end with some sort of school spirit cheer. )

Homeschooling Advice

We are in the midst of getting ready to start a new year of homeschooling on Monday. Luke will be in 2nd grade and Ray will be doing some laid back pre-k. I've learned so much in my first few years of homeschooling. I've had to give myself permission to let go of the expectations that I had for my children and go at their pace. A fellow homeschool mom and personal friend summed this up excellently on her blog in this post. If you are a homeschool mom of younger kids, or thinking about homeschooling when your kids are older, or if you just like to read blogs this is a great post to read. Thanks for the great advice, Mel!

Don't ya just love it when you dedicate a day to fasting and praying, and then when you wake up in the morning realize that you are holding last night's tiff against someone? Therefore, you have to go and apologize to said husband, er, I mean, person, in order to be able to petition your requests to the Lord with a clean conscience? Kinda puts a kink in the whole cold shoulder thing I had going.

A Grumbling Church

*This is from my devotional out of my Women's Study Bible yesterday. The title of the post was the title of my quiet time.*

"If we don't submit to and respect our leaders, in essence we are saying, 'God, I don't believe you are in control.' Often we are part of the problem that we are complaining about. We point fingers at pastors and leaders instead of recognizing that our own actions or inactions might have been part of the problem.

Problems occur in every church and ministry. After all, God uses fallible human beings to accomplish his work. But it is God's church and he is in control. We may not always agree with all of our spiritual leaders' decisions, but we can pray that God will lead them and guard their hearts and minds. We can examine our own actions and attitudes to make sure we're not causing more problems. And we can trust God to finish the work he has started--especially the work he has called us to do."