Our Steedly School Room

Well, the 4 Moms are doing a home tour..and while they are at their entry way..I am being rebellious and showing you my school room! :)

With our school year starting in 10 days, I have been working on getting our school room together these past few weeks! I have been having a blast putting all the books in their places, storing school supplies, choosing our posters and making plans for our learning to begin!

I have loved every minute of it, and while we are getting closer to my ideal, I am sure there will still be some rearranging left to do before August 16th!

We have all our K12 books lined up and ready to go ...we are doing Phonics, Language Arts, Math, History, Science, Art and Music. I am little nervous at the amount of work we have, but looking at the lessons they arent too in depth all at once and we should be able to ease into it pretty well, since a good portion of it is review for Ty at first.

We will also be doing bible, scripture memorization and character quality education. We will be linking qualities of SUPER Bible Heroes of the bible to character qualities that these little daddies and men in training need to know. 

I am really excited to get to watch them learn all this stuff! Ty is especially excited about learning about space. He is pretty proud that he can name most of the planets, and is even getting good at telling you where they are on the solar system poster we have up. He is a smartie :)

Our preschooler, Canon will also be working with us when he is willing and able. He loves worksheets and such things. And, he is our little artist. The art program is going to let us work with lots of different media and doing our own version of alot of different styles of art. He will love that, probably more than Ty. I cant wait!

I am trying to heed some of my mothers words ...the ones she shares on her own blog here (you should especially appreciate the awesome pics on that post ;). To remember that teaching them all the most important lessons isnt about where the school supplies fit, or which school books they use. Its easy to get caught up in all of it ...because I LOVE the education store! :)

As you may, or may not know, I am a second-generation homeschooled kid and I am excited to head back into the schooling experience I know and love. My sisters have been schooling their own children for several years now, and its been fun to both watch and learn from them.

I know that teaching my kids at home is a lifestyle ..because they are going to be with me every minute of the day, and because our every day life will have to include while still compartmentalizing school AND home.  Because of that, I have been working on a plan to keep my stress level down as we head into this big shift in our Steedly life.

Some ways I have been doing that ... really clear out my schedule (I have given up alot of church and social responsibilities and with it the necessity to be so many places), prepare our home for the new tasks it will perform, work on better sleeping and eating habits, and working on managing some of my home tasks a bit better.

I am not sure how I am going to manage my home and my school ...we shall see! :)

I am looking forward to both the hard work and the challenge of it (that is my personality). I know alot of that is because I know that all of the work and sacrifice is worth it (this is guest post I wrote for Smockity Frocks)!

So...have you been organizing and getting things ready for the chaos of the upcoming fall? 

or have you used the summer to recover some area of your home?

Mommy Time Out

Dont forget to enter to win our ThirtyOne gift certificate  ...all you have to do is enter a comment on this post about what organizing you have planned for your home this fall and summer! 

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We all have our days when things just get to us easier than others. We all get to that point when we feel like one more thing will send us over the edge.  We all have those moments when we react to our kids or husband out of exhaustion, hormones, frustration or being overwhelmed.

We all do.

And, we all need a time out from time to time.  I have needed quite a few of those lately!  My little fella is 12 weeks old, and I can tell you I feel those good 'ol post baby hormones a ragin'!

I have been a mom for 5 and half years now, and I am just now learning how important it is for my kids to have times that we need to turn the tv off, decrease the stimulation, go to a quiet place and rest. When they start getting out of control,  getting defiant, bickering with their brother ..its it time for a TIME OUT. Not necessarily the discipline kind (nose in the corner) but just a time when the noise needs to STOP!

I have noticed lately, that there are times when I feel out of control, defiant and like bickering with my brother (or husband, or kids)!

I especially feel that way when I am on the computer longer than is healthy for me or my kids, have the tv on more than should be (for me or the kids, or both),  on the phone too much, havent eaten in awhile, am dehydrated or starting to feel generally YUCK!

I need to take my own time out.

If my kids get over-stimulated by all that input then so do I. I need to act accordingly.

Sometimes those feelings of overwhelming stress, is just a matter of needing a break from the stimulation around us. Make sure to take a time out when you need one!

Needs some TO ideas? ...

*Turn off the computer
*Turn off the tv
*Get off the phone, and then put it on vibrate
* Shut the bathroom door
*Set a "quiet" timer ...no talking or noise for 10 minutes
*Read a Psalm
*Drink some water, dehydration will make you feel awful!
* Eat some protein ..nuts, peanut butter, milk, yogurt
*Say a quick prayer

Most importantly ...breath.

What time out ideas do you have? What do you when you feel you are gonna lose it?! 

Yay for Me Wednesday!

We are LOVING celebrating those great times when we are on top of things instead of being too hard on ourselves! :)

YFMW is all about sharing those wonderful mommy moments we dont want to forget! This week, lets keep the idea of organizing our homes going and celebrate those times when we do a great job of ordering our environments!

Have you ordered yours lately? One space, small or large? A whole room? Schoolroom? Kids room? A closet? One shelf? Celebrate it!

Have you blogged about it? Even better! (I am thinking of you, Roan! :) Link yourself up and share with us your great accomplishments!  ..we will keep this Linky open all week so if you havent done it yet, do it this week and we will still celebrate it with you!

This theme is only a suggestion of ways to celebrate your "yay!" ...any "yay" is worth sharing!

If you are REALLY proud of yourself, or you want to get inspired, or you just want something AWESOME from Thirty-One ...then go leave a comment on this post and put your name in the hat to win a gift certificate that can help your future organizing endeavors. Have already left one? ...Kimmie left us an assignment in the comments that will earn you another chance to win ;)

Mom Based Business: Thirty-One

Our Mom-Based Business of the week is ....Thrity-One! 

Kimberlee is our Mom-Based Business of the week! She has two little ones, and one on the way. She has shared her MBB with me, and I have to say I love LOVE these products!  Thirty-One offers the cutest embroidered bags, packs, carry-alls, wallets, purses ...you name it. The fabrics are beautiful, the embroidery fonts are precious!

Kimberly says, "...When I started reading Courtney’s blog, the themes of organization and less stress immediately made me think of many of Thirty-One’s products... "  ...gotta love that :)

Kimberlee says about her business ...{my husband and I} decided that for $99 a start-up kit worth over $300 in product & supplies, I had nothing to lose. Here I am, almost a year later, with a team of 4 and growing, more confident, having a blast, bringing in extra income to pay those unexpected bills & working with a company that never fails to impress me.

 The fall catalog just came out this week, and I know I have really enjoyed checking out the new stuff! Its all so pretty and I love the personalization of the monogramming...which is $1 this month!

Kimberlee says, "... the product I use the most is the Organizing Wallet. As a busy mom of 2 (going on 3), I found it to be a pain to dig out my wallet, my checkbook, my coupons, etc out of my diaper bag every time I needed to change bags, or when I was going to the store alone. "

Kimberlee is offering LPLS readers a chance to win a $15 gift certificate to go towards the new fall catalog! 

To enter the drawing, which we will do next Tuesday leave a comment and tell us about 

what areas of your home you are (or would like to) organize your home for the fall!

Dont forget to leave contact info or a link back to your blog!  

(Oh..and there were some AWESOME potential Car Buckets in there ..I'm just sayin' :)

The Perfect Day

I am a ponderer ..which you may have picked on if you have spent any time with me or read anything I have ever written :)  I like to consider things while I am going about my day and doing things that dont require my brain to be fully engaged.

Lately, I have been considering what my perfect day would look like ..not a single, "perfect" day (like a walk on the beach, dinner at sunset, blah blah) but rathe a day that I wouldnt mind repeating over and over again. What would a day look like that I would want to be the template for every other day of my wonderfully chaotic life?

Here is where I am right now ...

* Get up around 0530 ..I love early mornings before the kids get up.
* Start the coffee pot, then do a 20 minute strength training workout (yoga or weights)
* Drink my coffee while doing my bible reading, and a days worth of bible study
* Pray and prioritize the day
* If time allows, do some writing on the blog or on my book

Kids should be up by then ....

* Eat a healthy breakfast with the kids
* Clean up the kitchen from breakfast
* Give the kids a quiet activity (and them cooperate) ..while I take a shower, get ready
* Learning/School time ..started off by memorizing scripture and a bible story
* Kids playtime with eachother and on their own while I do chores
* Lunch time ..a healthy lunch for all of us
* Quiet time for the kids, email/blog/chore catch up for mommy
* Playtime with the kids when everyone is awake and done being quiet :)

Then the crazy time ...

* Dinner ..healthy, at the table and while talking about good stuff
* Evening playtime and cleanup routines
* Kids to bed without me yelling, having their room and the playroom picked up
* Mommy's evening routine ..pickup the house and get school stuff ready for the next day
* Write blog posts for the next day
* Spend a few minutes each evening catching up Project Life, the Budget, etc.

Bed at a decent time, but awake for when our daddy comes home after midnight (he is working evenign shift right now)

In there I need time to spend with hubby, time to do deep cleaning, time to plan meals, grocery shop ..yadda, yadda ..

Thing is, my perfect day cant really be repeated indefinitely because our days and responsibilities are dynamic and fluid. I can have a general idea, though cant be too committed to it because then I wont be flexible enough to enjoy the sweet unplanned moments :)

Our "perfect day" scenarios give us a goal to work toward, and give us a clue into what is stress relieving for us, though. It helps us see what kind of schedule will give us the most calm ..at least it does me.

Clearly, I desire routine and being at HOME ..that says alot about the goals I should have, the priorities I should make for our home and family.

What does your perfect day look like? 

What does it say about what you would find the most StressLess for you?