Wednesday, April 25, 2012
I Am, I Can, I Ought, I Will
Charlotte Mason's motto for students was, "I am, I can, I ought, I will." That statement really touched my heart from the very first time that I read anything about Charlotte Mason. Incidentally, when I pass to the next life, I hope that I get to meet Charlotte Mason, because I want to thank her for giving me so much to do and think about.
With my scattered thought process, I determined this morning, that "I am, I can, I ought, I will," is just as important to mothers as it is to students. Why? For starters, why do we get up in the morning and do anything? I, for one, am not only a housewife, but I'm self employed. Nobody sounds an alarm to get me up in the morning (except for the new Princess Ivana). I don't have an obligation to get dressed up to go to a job at a certain time of the day. As a homeschooler, I don't have to hurry and get my kids up and out the door before a school bell rings. My schedule gets to be somewhat hectic, but aside from doctor's appointments (and even THOSE can often be negotiated), everything on my calendar was consciously chosen to be added as something that we want to do, rather than anything that we have to do. It really is a wonderful life.
It would be all too easy to sleep in, play instead of having lessons, and surf the web instead of doing those activities that earn money. I AM a mother, housewife, Girl Scout leader, baton twirling teacher, small business owner, homeschooling mother, and wife. I CAN get up every day and make a conscious effort to do those things that need to be done for my health, my family and my business. I OUGHT to resist the urge to compare myself to other mothers and their seemingly greater accomplishments. I WILL do as much as I can possibly do, each and every day, for the benefit of all who are depending on me.
I AM a child of God, with four daughters of the king in my charge. I CAN rise up to the challenge that was given to me with each individual princess. I OUGHT to live as a creative person rather than a reactive person. I WILL appreciate the privilege of being a keeper at home, and make this a place of love and learning. I can't think of a better recipe for happiness than, "I am, I can, I ought, I will."
Love always,
Laurel
Friday, April 13, 2012
When is My Homeschooler Ready to Graduate?
As most of my followers can see, there is no real common denominator as to how I arrange my blog posts. I posts what and when I am led to post. This morning, I woke up sort of reliving a recent conversation with a friend who will start homeschooling her three princesses in a few weeks. She kept asking how I knew that Melody was ready to graduate.
Truly, the simple way to know when your homeschooler is ready to graduate, is if you are using a packaged curriculum that has a definite beginning and end. Sometimes, out of frustration, I have wished that we had used something like Abeka or Connections Academy, but economics and the varying needs of each princess made it impractical for us do to anything other than Charlotte Mason. I know this, because we've tried. Some families thrive on a packaged set that is complete with hard and fast rules. We are not one of those families.
At the beginning of the path to homeschool high school graduation with Melody, I was very inspired by Hacking High School. The early posts of this blog were about how one homeschooled girl made it through high school early in some creative ways, and then went on to do all sorts of awesome things with her life. By the way, I am glad to have found her blog again so that I could post it for you, and because it looks like she has some very interesting content posted that I will want to read later.
Armed with the ideas from Hacking High School, I started going through test prep study guides such as the SAT and GED. I did not intend for Melody to test to get a GED, but the point being that if she knew the material that was being presented in the book, then she might be ready to graduate. Right? WRONG! I urge you to get a GED study guide to look through and see for yourself. Nearly every subject is solely dependent on being able to read one or a few paragraphs, and then there are multiple choice questions to answer about the reading selection. This is how everything but math is set up. The math is pretty hard, and one must actually know how to do it in order to pass, but if a person can read and comprehend, then he or she can pass the rest of it. By the time that I started looking into this, Melody had already studied so many subjects so extensively, that it would have been a great injustice to use the GED or SAT, or any of those other tests as the deciding factor. That's not to say that no one should ever do these things or that none of my other children will, but it just didn't feel right for this particular child. What to do? What to do?
I looked into some online high school programs. Some promise a diploma based on life experience and a few hundred dollars. Others actually offered a full curriculum that would end with a transcript and diploma, which might actually be something that I do for the other girls. However, I was determined to give Melody credit for the things that she already had completed, rather than making her start over from square one, use only the new curriculum, and have a transcript issued to her that doesn't mention a great deal of her hard work before she started the program.
I finally started going through her paper work, to review what and how much she actually did throughout her high school career. It was a pretty overwhelming task, considering it was my first time to have to do such a thing. I made a list of courses that she had completed, and those that weren't quite completed to my satisfaction. I then got online and sent off for information from a couple of those online high school programs, knowing that I was not going to sign her up for them, but that I would get to see what their standards for graduation are. Once I started receiving brochures, I got out a pen, went through their course lists, and started checking off what she had already completed at home, and took note of how much credit that each course was worth. This gave me an idea of how much work we did and didn't need to do.
My readers are probably wondering what all of this really has to do with "hacking high school". Below is the list of courses that I checked off on one particular brochure, and how I determined that they had been completed, keeping in mind that this is not the complete course list, but only those courses that ended up on Melody's transcript.
Reading Skills: 1 credit: She reads VERY well, can do a wonderful job of narrating per Charlotte Mason's instructions, and knows all of the skills on the course description very well.
Basic English and Practical English (2 credits): All of this was covered via the Charlotte Mason method many times over.
General Math I and II (2 credits): We used a variety of resources for this.
Consumer Math (1 credit): This is my favorite type of course, and is pretty self explanatory. As an older teen with a job, she has had to spend time with her own money management, banking, setting goals, having insurance for her vehicle, etc. etc. We also took Financial Peace University together. LOVE THIS!
Earth Science (1 credit): This was learned via video course, nature study, field trips and library books.
Civics (1 credit): Several years of scouting and video courses as well as earning awards via youthpatriotism.org.
Written Communication (1 credit): The course list covers everything that the Charlotte Mason method embraces, so she has already completed this just through daily practice.
Biology (1 credit): Besides video courses and nature study, she has had a dog, ducks, fish, birds, and younger sisters. However, we did do our duty and go through quite a few subject specific books and the aforementioned video courses.
World History (1 credit): Melody is a history buff, and is so well read on the subject, that she could probably teach it to others. She actually deserves a lot more than one credit in this area.
Physical Science (1 credit): She did a couple of video courses, read some subject specific books, and we read biographies of some famous scientists.
Literature (1 credit): The course list has a puny list of required reading in comparison to all of the classic literature and Shakespeare plays that she has read independently. By the time I get to this part of the list, I am starting to feel really blessed.
Electives: Music appreciation for 4 years, Opera Study for 1 year, Church choir for 2 years, Music Literature, Music History, Artist Studies, Economics (video course), General Science (Charlotte Mason's nature studies), Spanish, Home Economics (she can cook, clean, wash her own clothes, budget, pay bills, hold down a job, take care of herself, take care of others, plan a meal, plan a party, and this list keeps getting bigger), Computers, Typing, Physical Education (four years of baton twirling, and earned the Presidential Active Lifestyle Challenge).
If you are still with me after this long post, I urge you eclectic homeschoolers and unschoolers to look into various course lists for various schools. It's very encouraging to see where you are, and to get a better idea of what direction you want to take your prospective homeschool graduates. If you have children that have graduated from homeschooling, I would love to receive comments about how you knew that they were ready.
Truly, the simple way to know when your homeschooler is ready to graduate, is if you are using a packaged curriculum that has a definite beginning and end. Sometimes, out of frustration, I have wished that we had used something like Abeka or Connections Academy, but economics and the varying needs of each princess made it impractical for us do to anything other than Charlotte Mason. I know this, because we've tried. Some families thrive on a packaged set that is complete with hard and fast rules. We are not one of those families.
At the beginning of the path to homeschool high school graduation with Melody, I was very inspired by Hacking High School. The early posts of this blog were about how one homeschooled girl made it through high school early in some creative ways, and then went on to do all sorts of awesome things with her life. By the way, I am glad to have found her blog again so that I could post it for you, and because it looks like she has some very interesting content posted that I will want to read later.
Armed with the ideas from Hacking High School, I started going through test prep study guides such as the SAT and GED. I did not intend for Melody to test to get a GED, but the point being that if she knew the material that was being presented in the book, then she might be ready to graduate. Right? WRONG! I urge you to get a GED study guide to look through and see for yourself. Nearly every subject is solely dependent on being able to read one or a few paragraphs, and then there are multiple choice questions to answer about the reading selection. This is how everything but math is set up. The math is pretty hard, and one must actually know how to do it in order to pass, but if a person can read and comprehend, then he or she can pass the rest of it. By the time that I started looking into this, Melody had already studied so many subjects so extensively, that it would have been a great injustice to use the GED or SAT, or any of those other tests as the deciding factor. That's not to say that no one should ever do these things or that none of my other children will, but it just didn't feel right for this particular child. What to do? What to do?
I looked into some online high school programs. Some promise a diploma based on life experience and a few hundred dollars. Others actually offered a full curriculum that would end with a transcript and diploma, which might actually be something that I do for the other girls. However, I was determined to give Melody credit for the things that she already had completed, rather than making her start over from square one, use only the new curriculum, and have a transcript issued to her that doesn't mention a great deal of her hard work before she started the program.
I finally started going through her paper work, to review what and how much she actually did throughout her high school career. It was a pretty overwhelming task, considering it was my first time to have to do such a thing. I made a list of courses that she had completed, and those that weren't quite completed to my satisfaction. I then got online and sent off for information from a couple of those online high school programs, knowing that I was not going to sign her up for them, but that I would get to see what their standards for graduation are. Once I started receiving brochures, I got out a pen, went through their course lists, and started checking off what she had already completed at home, and took note of how much credit that each course was worth. This gave me an idea of how much work we did and didn't need to do.
My readers are probably wondering what all of this really has to do with "hacking high school". Below is the list of courses that I checked off on one particular brochure, and how I determined that they had been completed, keeping in mind that this is not the complete course list, but only those courses that ended up on Melody's transcript.
Reading Skills: 1 credit: She reads VERY well, can do a wonderful job of narrating per Charlotte Mason's instructions, and knows all of the skills on the course description very well.
Basic English and Practical English (2 credits): All of this was covered via the Charlotte Mason method many times over.
General Math I and II (2 credits): We used a variety of resources for this.
Consumer Math (1 credit): This is my favorite type of course, and is pretty self explanatory. As an older teen with a job, she has had to spend time with her own money management, banking, setting goals, having insurance for her vehicle, etc. etc. We also took Financial Peace University together. LOVE THIS!
Earth Science (1 credit): This was learned via video course, nature study, field trips and library books.
Civics (1 credit): Several years of scouting and video courses as well as earning awards via youthpatriotism.org.
Written Communication (1 credit): The course list covers everything that the Charlotte Mason method embraces, so she has already completed this just through daily practice.
Biology (1 credit): Besides video courses and nature study, she has had a dog, ducks, fish, birds, and younger sisters. However, we did do our duty and go through quite a few subject specific books and the aforementioned video courses.
World History (1 credit): Melody is a history buff, and is so well read on the subject, that she could probably teach it to others. She actually deserves a lot more than one credit in this area.
Physical Science (1 credit): She did a couple of video courses, read some subject specific books, and we read biographies of some famous scientists.
Literature (1 credit): The course list has a puny list of required reading in comparison to all of the classic literature and Shakespeare plays that she has read independently. By the time I get to this part of the list, I am starting to feel really blessed.
Electives: Music appreciation for 4 years, Opera Study for 1 year, Church choir for 2 years, Music Literature, Music History, Artist Studies, Economics (video course), General Science (Charlotte Mason's nature studies), Spanish, Home Economics (she can cook, clean, wash her own clothes, budget, pay bills, hold down a job, take care of herself, take care of others, plan a meal, plan a party, and this list keeps getting bigger), Computers, Typing, Physical Education (four years of baton twirling, and earned the Presidential Active Lifestyle Challenge).
If you are still with me after this long post, I urge you eclectic homeschoolers and unschoolers to look into various course lists for various schools. It's very encouraging to see where you are, and to get a better idea of what direction you want to take your prospective homeschool graduates. If you have children that have graduated from homeschooling, I would love to receive comments about how you knew that they were ready.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Perfect Homeschooling
Bwahahahahahaha! Did you choke on your coffee when you read the title? There is no such thing as perfect anything. We can try to be perfect. We can do the best that we can to make things the very best that we can make them each and every day, but there is nothing and nobody that is perfect, except Jesus.
What inspired me to write this is that I read an article yesterday about how social networking, pinterest, and so forth is responsible for a lot of mothers feeling inadequate. They see posts from other mothers about all of the neat projects that they do throughout their days, and instantly feel like they are not doing enough for their own families. Homeschooling mothers are no exception.
As usual, I have an opinion. First of all, if you are even wondering if you are doing enough for your family, then you obviously do care, and are probably already going above and beyond the call of duty. We are a very busy, active family, and I am constantly posting my latest projects, recipes, and housekeeping adventures for my friends on facebook and pinterest.
The fact of the matter is that while I am helping Tarja learn how to use her roller skates, or am walking next to her while she rides her bike, I might have a sink full of dishes that need washing, or a dryer full of clothes that need to be put away. It's just that at that particular moment, paying attention to Tarja was more important.
If I spend all day running around getting the Princesses to their respective activities, or have to run errands and grocery shop, we might have to run through a fast food place to get dinner.
When I have orders to fill for our business, we might skimp on a lesson. When I want to move on to something new, we might overdo it on that same lesson. If a book that we are reading turns into snoresville, I don't always finish it. There are thousands of other worthwhile books to read. If one child is having a terrible time reading a lesson, and I really want her to know the story anyway, I am not above finding a movie to replace the book.
There are days that we are lazy, that I don't feel well, or that the baby has kept me up all night so that I barely understand which child is on which lesson on which day/week/month, etc. Some days, we all wake up early and get a good head start on things, and other days, we have a straggler that tries to sleep until noon. There are days when getting us all out the door for an appointment or activity could be the makings of a good reality TV show. Other days, everybody get up, gets dressed to shoes, hair, helps a sister princess, and all that I have to do is grab my purse and go.
We don't live in a dream world. We throw temper tantrums, forget things, eat junk food and watch too much TV. I would like to be a "crunchy" mama who makes all of our clothes and is raising a bunch of free range chickens, but don't feel that my family would agree with the lifestyle upheaval. Therefore, I'll stick to my favorite hobbies of crochet and couponing. That's not to say that some of my crochet projects don't end up in the trash, and that I don't sometimes show up at a cash register with a handful of expired coupons and an attitude. It happens.
Love,
Laurel
What inspired me to write this is that I read an article yesterday about how social networking, pinterest, and so forth is responsible for a lot of mothers feeling inadequate. They see posts from other mothers about all of the neat projects that they do throughout their days, and instantly feel like they are not doing enough for their own families. Homeschooling mothers are no exception.
As usual, I have an opinion. First of all, if you are even wondering if you are doing enough for your family, then you obviously do care, and are probably already going above and beyond the call of duty. We are a very busy, active family, and I am constantly posting my latest projects, recipes, and housekeeping adventures for my friends on facebook and pinterest.
The fact of the matter is that while I am helping Tarja learn how to use her roller skates, or am walking next to her while she rides her bike, I might have a sink full of dishes that need washing, or a dryer full of clothes that need to be put away. It's just that at that particular moment, paying attention to Tarja was more important.
If I spend all day running around getting the Princesses to their respective activities, or have to run errands and grocery shop, we might have to run through a fast food place to get dinner.
When I have orders to fill for our business, we might skimp on a lesson. When I want to move on to something new, we might overdo it on that same lesson. If a book that we are reading turns into snoresville, I don't always finish it. There are thousands of other worthwhile books to read. If one child is having a terrible time reading a lesson, and I really want her to know the story anyway, I am not above finding a movie to replace the book.
There are days that we are lazy, that I don't feel well, or that the baby has kept me up all night so that I barely understand which child is on which lesson on which day/week/month, etc. Some days, we all wake up early and get a good head start on things, and other days, we have a straggler that tries to sleep until noon. There are days when getting us all out the door for an appointment or activity could be the makings of a good reality TV show. Other days, everybody get up, gets dressed to shoes, hair, helps a sister princess, and all that I have to do is grab my purse and go.
We don't live in a dream world. We throw temper tantrums, forget things, eat junk food and watch too much TV. I would like to be a "crunchy" mama who makes all of our clothes and is raising a bunch of free range chickens, but don't feel that my family would agree with the lifestyle upheaval. Therefore, I'll stick to my favorite hobbies of crochet and couponing. That's not to say that some of my crochet projects don't end up in the trash, and that I don't sometimes show up at a cash register with a handful of expired coupons and an attitude. It happens.
Love,
Laurel
Saturday, March 31, 2012
A Little Bit of Rambling
I've been so busy making Easter baskets, that I haven't been posting about Charlotte Mason stuff, but you know that I will jump back on that very soon. Instead, there are a few things that I want to get off of my chest, and my personal blog is a good place to do it.
One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing adults that I know for a fact to have been high school dropouts, teen moms, and just trouble makers in general, turn around and act like they know something about education and how kids today ought to live. Really???? I'm not talking about the ones that are trying to help and encourage kids to not make the same mistakes they made. I'm talking about the ones that act like they are better than everybody else, because they, themselves.....have done......absolutely NOTHING! These same people will also pooh pooh you when they see you trying to help somebody, because you can't possibly know as much about living in this world as they do. Do they think that everybody that knows them has forgotten about their history? Whatever. I just keep thanking God that he gives me one day at a time with the Four Princesses, because it's a challenge that I happily accepted. Also, I give thanks that I can rest in the fact that I finished high school, got as many college credits and other types of training as possible before the eagerness to make money took over, and I didn't get pregnant while I was still in high school. Education was and has always been important to me. I have a definite opinion about standardized testing, because I have taken and passed those tests. I have an opinion about classroom structure, because I have taken many classes in many classrooms. I have an opinion about how children should be raised, because I remember what it was like to be a little child, and a teenager, besides the fact that I have children currently in every stage of childhood. It doesn't take a degree in child development to know that everyone can learn, even if his or her learning style doesn't fit the mold of what the powers that be think is right. One of my flaws is that I offer unsolicited advice. When I see a child struggling, especially if it's another kingdom's princess, I want to help. God has given me some gifts that I want badly to use, and then I usually end up having to remind myself that if Jesus was so poorly appreciated, why should I expect to be treated any better? The fact of the matter is that some families only send their children to public school to get them out of their hair. This is not the majority, I'm sure, because they stick out like a sore thumb. They see their children struggling, but they don't care. As long as the teachers can keep them out of the house for 8 hours a day, then they are satisfied. When the children get old enough to drop out because they are either pregnant or just don't care anymore, it's of no consequence to the parents. After all, they are old enough now to entertain themselves, so the school has outlived its usefulness. They aren't worried about the children having futures, because the taxpayers will take care of them. Why should they train for a career at any age, when they will never be made to stand on their own two feet? I will be more careful about offering to help where I am not needed. I need to learn that. My blog is hopefully a blessing to those that choose to follow it, and that's where I need to keep my thoughts. My first homeschool graduate chose to take her college courses online, through a correspondence course. She decided on her own, that she would prefer to do things this way, because it costs many thousands less, and she can more easily have a job while she studies. I talked to her many times about this, and told her that if she wants to go to a college or university in person, that we could work hard to make it happen. She did not change her mind, yet has been very successful with her decision. An adult, much like the type mentioned above, scoffed at her and said, "THAT's not real college. You need to go to a REAL college." In true Princess fashion, she said, "Oh....well.....where did YOU go to college?" Also, this person's children area true testimony to the fact that the institution of school is a great, tax funded babysitter. Yeee Haw! A fellow homeschool friend and blogger posted today about how people have criticized her choices to homeschool, because her children have been misbehaving at home. We all know that public schooled children would NEVER misbehave at home. What planet do we live on? The idea that homeschooled children never misbehave is equally as absurd. Here, in my house, we had a huge issue about Princess Tarja destroying the property of her sister Princesses. Don't you know that PreK in the homeschool has caused this behavior? By all means, we should send her to school so that she can splatter graffiti on government property and enjoy getting into some REAL trouble in the artificial world!.
Love Always,
Laurel
One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing adults that I know for a fact to have been high school dropouts, teen moms, and just trouble makers in general, turn around and act like they know something about education and how kids today ought to live. Really???? I'm not talking about the ones that are trying to help and encourage kids to not make the same mistakes they made. I'm talking about the ones that act like they are better than everybody else, because they, themselves.....have done......absolutely NOTHING! These same people will also pooh pooh you when they see you trying to help somebody, because you can't possibly know as much about living in this world as they do. Do they think that everybody that knows them has forgotten about their history? Whatever. I just keep thanking God that he gives me one day at a time with the Four Princesses, because it's a challenge that I happily accepted. Also, I give thanks that I can rest in the fact that I finished high school, got as many college credits and other types of training as possible before the eagerness to make money took over, and I didn't get pregnant while I was still in high school. Education was and has always been important to me. I have a definite opinion about standardized testing, because I have taken and passed those tests. I have an opinion about classroom structure, because I have taken many classes in many classrooms. I have an opinion about how children should be raised, because I remember what it was like to be a little child, and a teenager, besides the fact that I have children currently in every stage of childhood. It doesn't take a degree in child development to know that everyone can learn, even if his or her learning style doesn't fit the mold of what the powers that be think is right. One of my flaws is that I offer unsolicited advice. When I see a child struggling, especially if it's another kingdom's princess, I want to help. God has given me some gifts that I want badly to use, and then I usually end up having to remind myself that if Jesus was so poorly appreciated, why should I expect to be treated any better? The fact of the matter is that some families only send their children to public school to get them out of their hair. This is not the majority, I'm sure, because they stick out like a sore thumb. They see their children struggling, but they don't care. As long as the teachers can keep them out of the house for 8 hours a day, then they are satisfied. When the children get old enough to drop out because they are either pregnant or just don't care anymore, it's of no consequence to the parents. After all, they are old enough now to entertain themselves, so the school has outlived its usefulness. They aren't worried about the children having futures, because the taxpayers will take care of them. Why should they train for a career at any age, when they will never be made to stand on their own two feet? I will be more careful about offering to help where I am not needed. I need to learn that. My blog is hopefully a blessing to those that choose to follow it, and that's where I need to keep my thoughts. My first homeschool graduate chose to take her college courses online, through a correspondence course. She decided on her own, that she would prefer to do things this way, because it costs many thousands less, and she can more easily have a job while she studies. I talked to her many times about this, and told her that if she wants to go to a college or university in person, that we could work hard to make it happen. She did not change her mind, yet has been very successful with her decision. An adult, much like the type mentioned above, scoffed at her and said, "THAT's not real college. You need to go to a REAL college." In true Princess fashion, she said, "Oh....well.....where did YOU go to college?" Also, this person's children area true testimony to the fact that the institution of school is a great, tax funded babysitter. Yeee Haw! A fellow homeschool friend and blogger posted today about how people have criticized her choices to homeschool, because her children have been misbehaving at home. We all know that public schooled children would NEVER misbehave at home. What planet do we live on? The idea that homeschooled children never misbehave is equally as absurd. Here, in my house, we had a huge issue about Princess Tarja destroying the property of her sister Princesses. Don't you know that PreK in the homeschool has caused this behavior? By all means, we should send her to school so that she can splatter graffiti on government property and enjoy getting into some REAL trouble in the artificial world!.
Love Always,
Laurel
Monday, March 12, 2012
Abbey's Nature Notebook
One of the fun things about Charlotte Mason is the nature notebook. Children should keep a notebook of animals, plants, rocks etc. that they find while spending time out doors, taking nature walks, or doing anything else that gets them outside. In Charlotte Mason's time, there were no such things as blogs, but I thought that it would be fun for Abbey to be able to share her studies with the world, via her very own blog. One great place to start her nature notebook was by giving details about her very own pet, Molly.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
36 Birthday Blessings
I turned 36 years old today, or is it 25? I always say that it's my 25th birthday, just for fun. To celebrate my birthday on my blog, I decided to count 36 of my blessings and share them with all of you in no particular order.
1. King Augustine (my husband)
2. Princess Melody
3. Princess Abbey
4. Princess Tarja
5. Princess Ivana
6. Books
7. Getting my nails done
8. working from home
9. homeschooling
10.hot showers
11. android phones
12. streaming video on both televisions
13. two televisions
14. my laptop
15. online education
16. lots of good friends
17. those family members that act more like friends than family
18. art
19. music
20. Saturday and Sunday morning rides around the neighborhood.
21. Having three vehicles when we used to have none.
22. my knee length hair.
23. finally having a baby that got my hazel eyes.
24. wifi
25. dollar stores
26. happy, upbeat music
27. wii
28. low carb diets
29. better blood sugar control
30. coupons
31. etsy
32. Spring time
33. Text messaging
34. glittery makeup
35. black liquid eyeliner
36. blogs
1. King Augustine (my husband)
2. Princess Melody
3. Princess Abbey
4. Princess Tarja
5. Princess Ivana
6. Books
7. Getting my nails done
8. working from home
9. homeschooling
10.hot showers
11. android phones
12. streaming video on both televisions
13. two televisions
14. my laptop
15. online education
16. lots of good friends
17. those family members that act more like friends than family
18. art
19. music
20. Saturday and Sunday morning rides around the neighborhood.
21. Having three vehicles when we used to have none.
22. my knee length hair.
23. finally having a baby that got my hazel eyes.
24. wifi
25. dollar stores
26. happy, upbeat music
27. wii
28. low carb diets
29. better blood sugar control
30. coupons
31. etsy
32. Spring time
33. Text messaging
34. glittery makeup
35. black liquid eyeliner
36. blogs
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)