New Era...

Well, it's been a few years since I've written on here.
A lot has happened in between then and now.

The oldest son is graduating High School this year.

The middle son just started High School this year.

The youngest just started Middle School this year.

How time flies... and OH SO PROUD OF THOSE BOYS I AM! 😃

P&Me is moving!

Hey all - Practicalities and me is moving!  Headed to a new site

Come say hello in the new digs!

Bread Baking

Today besides the sunshine needed, we also were in need of bread for sandwiches and things this weekend so I needed to make some bread.
Chris, my loving husband, asked me to teach him how to bake bread. Needless to say, he just followed directions in my cookbook and he made the bread while I was taking our two oldest to school this morning. The bread that he made is in the oven right now as i am typing this post.
We have more dough rising on the stove-top. I'm anxious to see how the bread turns out for him. I hope that it turns out better than my first loaf of bread did :-D! Needless to say, my first bread baking experience was not a good one, it turned out thin and could be used to bat a baseball :-/. 

SUNSHINE

Like many people, I thrive on having sunshine. It is really really nice to see sunshine after a day & half of dreary rain/sleet/and snow. Thanks God for a bright spot in the day!

April 2010

Hello world! It's been a long break from my last post...

I can't believe that we are already into month 4 of 2010 and it's gardening season again. I'm really excited about gardening this year with a friend of mine. We are going to try "gardening for real" this year in Virginia. Neither one of us are originally from here so we will see how it goes :-)

Pray for our success please!

Thanks!

August

To say the least, this month has been a bundle of activity.
I am really excited about what God is going to do and through The Ridge community this coming year. We have been getting ready for a new staff member at The Ridge and will be helping the them move-in to their new home this next week.

Oh, did I mention that we have also started our new home-school year. The boys are doing really great with their new studies! I'm so proud of them!

I know that it doesn't seem like much but these activities alone have kept us on our toes for sure.

Happy Spring

Well, all of us in the Bell family have been really enjoying the Spring time weather here in Virginia. It has been really wonderful to have the windows open and air out the house some.
The boys have been playing outside in the back yard a ton. Trying to imitate Survivor Man lately setting traps and checking them often. Also, playing with their toy guns and light sabers fighting imaginary bad guys. Jacob even found a stick that he could use to catapult himself a few feet, like they might use in the high jump events. It is so fun for me to watch and hear them play outside again.
We have been truly blessed here with great weather, awesome new friends for the boys to play with, new friends for Chris and I to get together with, and just be us.
THANK YOU LORD FOR THIS BLESSING!

Thanks God

The breeze is blowing, the trees are swaying telling the world hello
My heart lifted to heaven, thankful for the blessings God bestowed

Thank you Lord for all that you do and for all that you will do in my life!

A New Look

It's been a very busy year so far and it's only the end of February :-)
Thought that my blog could use a face lift. Hope y'all like it.

It's very rare that I come across a t-shirt that I really like what is said but I did find this one...
It definitely shares answers to peoples questions about home-schoolers now doesn't it ;-)

The New Year

So many times people make resolutions that they don't, can't or won't keep. I am one of those types of people - so, many years ago I stopped making them.

BUT...

There is one that Chris, my wonderful husband, and I did a few years ago that was really cool. It was to have 30 dates with in the year. I loved it, our time was planned out and baby-sitters were set up. Our special time together away from the children :-). This is one resolution that we are going to try to accomplish again this year. I am totally psyched and looking forward to it!
Having a regular date night was really good for us. This was a much needed break/escape for both of us from the mundane and added quality time with just for us.
The date didn't have to cost a lot, for example, we would grab a cup of coffee at the local "St. Arbucks" then walked around Barnes & Noble or took a walk and just talked. Those were some of our most favorite times together just walking, talking and laughing together.
I hope that you take this idea and apply it to your marriages too. God will bless your relationship and your time. Have a great year!

Thanksgiving

Well, for myself, I want to just say that I am very thankful for my family. I have such a loving and wonderful husband. He is such a great dad to our kids. We have three wonderful boys. Each of them learning what it is to be an individual yet work as a team to get things done. Team building is family building, isn't it? In an essence that is what God really wants our family to be is a team. We work together to grow, learn, love, pray, encourage, comfort, discipline, and respect one another. Now granted the boys aren't old enough to discipline but they receive it and learn from mistakes they've made.
I'm so proud of all of my guys, all four of them!
Thank you Lord for blessing me so much with my family.

Preschool

We have started Preschool work with our youngest and he absolutely loves it. I've found a real treasure in this web-site. It has all of the worksheets or busy work that I might use with Charlie for his schoolwork. Check it out!

Play Time

Today we are getting ready for a play-date with a family from our new church home. We are really excited about it! Making chocolate cupcakes and trying a vanilla icing recipe that I found here.
*Note: The frosting that I found is very runny, even after following the directions...beware!
So since the frosting didn't work out, I sprinkled the chocolate cupcakes with some powdered sugar. Love that!

Charlie

Here is the conversation before this picture:
Charlie- Mommy can I take a bubble bath?
Me- I turn and look at him and just start laughing because in my mind he has just won a fight with an ice-cream sandwich...
Me- I say oh yes you can but first I want to get a picture of you...
Charlie- Ok mom, I'll go over here so you can take my picture. (such the ham!)

It is so fun to be a mother of a three year old...It's moments like these you just have to laugh! Thanks God for cute kids to brighten our days :-)

Space Chimps

I know that I am probably behind the times on this but the movie "Space Chimps" website is really cute. For a parent of boys I am always on the lookout for fun websites that the boys can play at and be safe. I like this one because it has a link on the main page for the movie to "chimp yourself". If you get a chance check it out here.

Prayers

Many things in life tend to take people by surprise and this was definitely one of them... I know that most of you if not all of you who read my blog know that Todd Mitchell passed away recently, you can read about it here.
Please be praying for Paula, their 3 boys and their extended families. They are a special family to us and we are grieving right along with them now for the loss of Todd.
Paula & boys, I just want to say that I love y'all dearly!

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

If you home school, I have GOT to turn you on to a new resource....The Old Schoolhouse Magazine! This periodical has cool insights, tips, and tricks for parents and homeschoolers alike. I love to read about how other homeschool families approach everyday life and homeschooling. It is fun for me to find new ways to introduce a concept in math, find a different outlook on how to parent all different types of learners, or just look for a particular subject/curriculum when reading this magazine. It is a company that I am growing to love more and more with each email of encouragement and magazine that I receive. There are so many great articles and the people who write these articles are just really down to earth. They have a real-life outlook that has captured my attention! Because my husband Chris is a pastor, I'm in a unique position to meet new people from many walks of life all the time! The Old Schoolhouse has given me some cool conversation starters several times as I relate an idea I read. It's authentic approach is very easy to connect with.

Of course, Old Schoolhouse is highly applicable to homeschooling as well. As all home-schoolers know, home-schooling is a way of life, not just a curriculum choice, that is both rewarding and a challenge. We use a variety of calendars to help keep everyone organized. I mean with all of the activities, play dates, church functions, field trips and not to mention all of your curriculum for each child. I think that I have been very fortunate to have stumbled upon a really awesome home-schooling calendar. When I find a treasure like The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, I just have to let the whole world know!

Tapestry of Grace

Today we started a new curriculum sample that we have downloaded from the Tapestry of Grace website. I am excited about starting this because it is a very history based curriculum with a biblical world-view. For someone like me coming from a traditional background starting something like this is a little intimidating. I am moving past this feeling of intimidation so that I can educate my boys and explore together with them a new way of learning.
I am very old fashioned in the way of traditional vs unit studies goes. I was brought up with the traditional style of schooling. Traditional studies is where you have a book for each subject that is being taught. Unit studies include all the students in a particular theme of study at different levels of learning.
This is my 3rd year of homeschooling so I am trying new curriculum, finding what works best for our family better.
My boys are doing great in their studies and are showing improvements in learning by leaps and bounds. I'm very proud of them. If they were in public school I'm sure that I would notice this then as well but it wouldn't be as easy to spot their learning styles and help them excel.

Please pray for us as we go through this 3 week trial period of the curriculum from Tapestry of Grace. Thanks!

Well, one week into the spelling power and the boys are doing awesomely! I love the 10 step process...it has really helped my spelling challenged children. I too am learning tons about remembering how to spell words. I love the fact that you are to incorporate the word shapes activity into the week for the students to remember the words easier. I have always wondered about word shapes, ie how successful that memory tool was. I'm convinced that it does really help in remembering how to spell certain words. In my book this book gets an A+!