Homeschooling...

Warning...this one might be offensive to some of you...and there isn't anything thrifty...or sparkly for that matter.  Brace yourselves, this blog post is about HOMESCHOOLING (gasp).  If you are surprised I typed that word, trust me, it's nothing compared to how surprised I am that I am considering this.  I have a lot of great friends that homeschool their kids and do a really great job of it.  My attitude has always been, "I love that for your family, but never for mine."  I have always had this thought block about homeschooling...like it might ruin my life.

Jesus has such a way of turning all of that upside down. 

I want to be so clear about a few things.  The first is that MC is in 1st grade in public school and our experience has been WONDERFUL.  I don't mean we've had a good experience, I mean that we have had a great experience.  She has had stellar teachers and a caring principal and staff.  We love our school.  Me considering homeschooling has NOTHING to do with a personal negative experience at our public school.

Right now, my number one motivation is schedule.  I want to be free to take my girls where I want to, when I want to.  We have family that live in another state and I would love to go see them, but more often than not, Hubby's vaca time does not line up with MC's break time, so more often than not, we end up stuck at home with nothing to do because someone is always working.  

My girls are getting easier EVERY DAY.  I really mean that.  I have so much hope that I will soon be able to start taking road trips with them and it won't be a major headache (just a minor one), and soon even that won't happen.  I want to take them places so that they can have great experiences.  This also appeals to me on a daily schedule level...if I did not have to wake my 6 year old up at 6:30 every morning, I wouldn't.  

Another reason is safety.  Without giving into the fear and panic that I think every parent felt after the Newtown shootings, I would have to say I would feel 100% better about her being at home with me.  Again, let me underline that I love the school she attends and I know that they protect her and keep her safe, but they really can only do so much.

I'm also really crazy about the idea that I get to have the best hours of her days.  Greedy of me?...Maybe.  I want to spend this time with her, because it is never coming back around...

Just a few quick thoughts that are rambling around in my brain.  I would so love your thoughts and comments on this....Please be nice though!  Any suggestions on curriculum or co-ops would also be helpful! 

For those of you who read this, I want to clarify that we haven't made any decisions about this.  This is just me exploring the option, and I'm thankful to you guys for the freedom to do that :) 

I'm back...

Hi friends!
I'm back after more than a year hiatus. I have to have the bug to blog, and the bug has bitten me again :)
I wanted to do a quick post to show off my teacher gifts that I made at Christmas this year. Super easy, super cheap, and super cute!!!
I bought plates from the Dollar Tree. I free-handed designs with regular Sharpies, and then I baked in my oven at 175 for 30 minutes. The last step was tying a ribbon into a knot and hot gluing onto the plate. Give it a try! I was soooo pleased with how great (in my opinion) these came out :)