School Room

Oh how much fun I am having creating this little space! It is very much a work in progress and one that I LOVE to work on. Yard sale scores make up 90% of what you see and another 90% off what you can't. Hidden away in our cubbies are tons of great preschool supplies, thing-a-ma-giggers and just down right FUN STUFF, almost all of which came from garage sales! While we don't sit here for very much of our school days yet, the kids really like there classroom and so does their teacher :)

Since this picture was taken, school began and there is now about 5 weeks worth of preschool art and crafts by Joel and Avery hanging on the walls. Their eagerness to learn, and excitement for life inspires and encourages to keep teaching, showing, singing, reading, creating, etc.

There in the middle are Joel and Avery's little desks.
(I bought three of them at a garage sale for $5 total)

Here are our cubbies. Super awesome way to organize.
Inside the boxes that hold smaller items (manipulatives/blocks/puzzles/craft supplies),
 I use Zip Locks to keep things from being mixed up and dumped out easily (Ehhemm, Gracey)  

Not only does this door lead to all of our non refrigerated food, it also holds the
 "If- Then" chart and the "Brother Offended" check list.
Needless to say that this a very important door in the Poncy house!

The One You Need

It's as though they heard my prayers, or saw my journal. How could a song so perfectly encapsulate what my heart cries out? As surprised as I was to have heard such familiar words, I do know I'm not the only parent who is desperate for their children to find Jesus. This song touches a place deep within me. It's a place that aches with that desperation.

(kids waving goodbye to daddy)

His grace is sufficient for me, an imperfect parent who points her kids to Jesus.

Just a Quick Tip

A big THANK YOU is in order to my sweet friend Lisa. She told me the easiest way to make your own colored macaroni/rice etc. for kid crafts! It could be that I'm the last to find out this fun DIY trick, but whatev ;)  I'm just glad I could add it to my little bag tricks :) Hopefully you'll appreciate it too!

Ingredients:

    1gal  Zip lock bag

 Hand Sanitizer

Food coloring

   Uncooked Pasta 

Directions:

Pour pasta (1lb box) into Zip lock bag. Add a healthy squirt of food coloring, and a couple squirts of hand sanitizer. Then shake shake shake (fun for the kids to help with). After pasta is evenly covered and you like the color (add more food coloring for darker color), lay pasta on lined cookie sheet to dry.

And there you have it...  

Fun, Cheap and Easy! Some of my favorite words :)

***Toddler activity during "Red Week": 

Fill large bowl with RED macaroni. Mix in a bunch of small objects and have him/her spend as much time needed to find everything hidden. Talk to your child about each object as it's found (ex. did you find a blue ball, wow pretty pink bow, two round buttons...) After a few times, before they pull the object out, see if they can identify it by touch only. 

A little closer. A little longer.

Rainy day schedules... aaahhhhhhh :) Mommy's favorite.

Something I am so thankful for is that each of my kids would rather cozy up to mom and dad, than do just about anything else. Yes, they are young still, and I realize that they may not want to as much when they're older, but that's why I REFUSE to waist these moments I have now.

But have you noticed that even your naturally cuddly kids come a little closer and stay a little longer on rainy days? Yesterday my robe seemed to fit only me, yet magically today there is room for me and three more. Which of course gave me a great excuse to keep it on longer :)

If the clouds are sprinkling your house today, I hope you'll join me in ditching the "to do" list. 

Today calls for Books, Blankets, and Hot Coco. 

I would love to hear some the ways you like to enjoy your rainy days. Leave me a comment below sharing your family's secrets ;)

First task of the day... Light the fire :)

Second... Cuddle and cartoon :)

 Today God gives me rain. 

He knows my needs. He rains down His love on me. 

Thank you Lord, I love you too.

Here's what school looks like for our drizzly day: 

(lots of cozy couch learning today)

• Have the kids try to be really quiet so you can hear the rain drops. In a whispery voice tell them why it rains and how good rain is for the earth. Ask questions like: Who/What drinks rain water? Where does rain water go (after nap we'll put on raincoats and go look at the rain gutter outside)? If we had no roof over us, what would happen in the rain? Use books or computer a resource for information and pictures. 
• Teach and sing "The ants go marching two by two". (we march around and sing together)
• Look up weather forecast for tomorrow. Cut and Color in a cloud or glue cotton balls with Raindrops underneath. 
•  Teach them about Noah and the Ark. Read the story from your Bible or a book. Have them think of as many animals as they can but also talk about the reason God chose Noah and how Noah believed and obeyed God.
• For phonics today will go over "ai" words like: rain, trains, brain, snail, mail... incorporate rhyming sounds. (I only have preschoolers so I don't have goals for them mastering this stuff. Simply introduction and exposure for mine will do for now. 
• We are actually on the Letter D this week so I think I'll we'll the word Drain. You know... "the D says 'duh', and "dr" says 'durrr'... and then on to the 'ai' sound, and so on :) 
• For counting we will use 2 dice and twelve mini marshmallows (rain clouds) each. Each kids rolls and counts the black dots, then pulling from his pile for mallow, he counts out the same number. We do that over and over again (I say things like "two on this die PLUS two on this die equals four.")  Joel usually copies what I say. and of course we clap and cheer, celebrating addition, hahahaha.
• And then we read, and we read, and we read! 

*This list is in no particular order. Yes, I would love to accomplish all that's listed above today, but IT'S OK if we don't. Or maybe we can actually do MORE! That is the beauty of homeschooling... It can flex and adjust with our day. Especially in this season of mommy hood, I am grateful for the flexibility! 

Okay, so I'm ready...

After a loooong break from blog postings, I can officially say that I'M BACK! Some may be wondering why I stopped in the first place, and some of you have already asked me. The answer is that I really just needed some time to evaluate WHY exactly I was blogging in the first place. The truth is that I found myself questioning what the point was for someone like me to have a blog. I don't have any particularly special talents or hobbies to showcase. I don't have a heart warming/inspiring cause that I use my blog to support. And I don't have an intriguing topic of which I am well studied or versed in.

Can you see how this puzzled me a bit? I needed a break to determine where this desire to blog was stemming from. In fear of being another brainless fad follower, who ends up with a blog that is drenched in self promotion, dreadfully egotistical, and is an eye rolling false reality... I quickly closed down shop.

Before I go any further, I should be clear on one thing. I am, by no means, a blog hater! In fact it's quite the contrary. There are many blogs that I really enjoy reading. God has used people I don't even know to bless me and teach me things through their words and photos/videos. How fantastic is it that we can reach so many people so easily now.

It may seem to some that I've spent too much time fretting about all this, after all "it's just a blog." But I couldn't disagree with them more. I would rather error on the side off not blogging at all than to have carelessly painted a picture myself/my life that is oh so far from the truth. I say careless because so many people don't even realize the perception they are putting out there for others to see. Prettying up some of the ugly truth does no body any good. It's in the ugliness that we see the beauty of Grace. I can relate with imperfection. How about you? I need a savior for a reason. I don't want to be afraid of saying so. If I'm going to take the time to blog... than for me, it better be for more than just showing pictures of my (totally awesome) family ;)

Do you get what I'm saying?
Is this making any sense?

It does in my head, but how it comes out is bit rough around the edges. And how appropriate! That's one of the ways I describe myself. Saved by grace and rough around the edges. God is at work in me and I have lots more to learn. I hope with all my heart, that I can share with you what's on my heart, and that it points you the heart of Jesus.