Bible Time

                                                                                             Bible Time

It is amazing what I have learned from teaching “simple” Bible stories in Bible class.

A lot of times when we read children’s stories from the Bible, I think we almost read them like we are reading “Good Night Moon” for the 100^th time.  I want to encourage you to focus on what you are reading and see what you can glean each time you read a Bible story.

The first story I want to talk about is “The Parable of the Five Talents”.

Mat 25:14  "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.

Mat 25:15  To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

Mat 25:16  He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.

Mat 25:17  So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.

Mat 25:18  But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

Mat 25:19  Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

Mat 25:20  And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.'

Mat 25:21  His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'

Mat 25:22  And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.'

Mat 25:23  His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'

Mat 25:24  He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,

Mat 25:25  so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.'

Mat 25:26  But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?

Mat 25:27  Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

Mat 25:28  So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.

Mat 25:29  For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

In Matthew 25:25, the servant with one talent admitted he was afraid.  It was at that point I realized there had been times I was afraid to use talents that I had. I was afraid that someone would not like how I was using it or complain and say they could do a better job. So I would talk myself out of using my talent. In essence I would hide it.

I then began to see that my talents are not about me. They are about doing things for God. I should not care if people complain. My job is to use the talents God gave me to the best of my ability and he will take care of the rest.

Taking Control of Your Time (Part 4)

(This article was previously published by me in Queenly Quest Magazine.)

                                                                     Finding Time

My husband and I realized one day that we were not doing activities that we wanted to be doing . This led me to take a different look at our week and see if we could find some time for these activities. I found this template.  I printed off seven copies, one for each day of the week. This template has four spots one for each member of my family. There are different templates at this link ,pick the one that will work best for you or make your own. 

The nice part about having a different column for each member of your family is that you will not always be doing the same things at the same time. With this template you will be able to see what each member of your family should be doing.

 To start, I filled in the activities that I know will always take place. Such as, we know the times every Sunday and Wednesday that we will be at church. 

 I then wrote down the days and times when I would like for other activities to take place.

 Then I wrote down the times when  I want school to be held, chores to be done, meal times, etc. Anything that usually takes place a certain day and time I filled those into the chart.

After doing that I set down with my husband and children, we made a list of things that we really want to be doing, but have not had the time for. Things such as exercise, letting my children ride their bicycles, having more time to read, visiting family, etc., anything that you really want to do.

 We found the blank times on the chart when we could schedule those in. Sometimes it is not feasible to do something every week so I would write more than one thing on a line and we can pick the one we want to do that week and leave the other one for the next week.

 Another great thing to add to your template is a morning and nightly routine. My morning routine consist of, praying, reading my Bible, exercising and showering. I try to do this all before the kids wake up. My nightly routine, consist of me stretching, washing my face and praying, reading something fun and checking my to do list for the next day. You can add anything you like to your morning and nightly routine. Make sure that you add what you really would like to do so you can have a great start and end to your day. It would also be a good idea to add a daily and nightly routine to your children’s schedule. This will give them a regular start and end to their day as well.

As an added bonus, all those blanks spots are free time.  This is the times you have nothing at all scheduled. It is nice to see those blank spots. And since you have everything already scheduled in your day that you need and want to be doing, you don’t have to feel guilty for not doing anything at these times.

 When I finished scheduling all my days, I put the templates in page protectors and keep them together with a clip. I keep the schedule out where I can see it at all times. Realize that this schedule is not perfect. Everything will not happen exactly as planned every day. This is just to be used as a guide and it will work most days. This not only helps us get to do things that we had previously not been doing but it helps keep us on schedule and makes our day run smoothly.

A Day In The Life

Have you ever wondered what a day in the life of a homeschooler is like?

No two days are ever quite the same; but this is what one of our days at home is typically like.

I like to wake up around 7:30, read my Bible, pray, and get prepared for the day ahead.

Usually around 8:00, the boys alarm clocks go off and they eagerly awake. Notice I said usually!

 8:15- The boys have a chart in the hall which reminds them of their morning routine.

 8:20-We made homemade breakfast cookies yesterday, so we had leftovers this morning.

Sometimes silliness ensues.

Since it is Friday, I am making a roast and it will last for three meals. I won't have to cook much this weekend!

If the boys can finish everything on their chart before 9:00, I let them choose to go outside or play WII Fit. It was chilly this morning so they chose WII Fit.

8:50- We gather to pray for the day before Daddy leaves for work.

9:00- Big Hobbit (what he wanted to be called on the blog. ) Works on his Bible studies. He is currently working on many activities for Leadership Training for Christ. We work a lot on these activities this time of year.

9:30- Big Hobbit is reading to Little Hobbit.

9:45- Big Hobbit is working on a Spanish App I found. Little Hobbit likes to listen too.

10:00- Snack Time. Big Hobbit had noticed earlier that the cereal was made of X's and O's. He asked if at snack time they could play tic-tac-toe with the cereal.

10:30- Big Hobbit gets to work on his math. This one that he is working on is from Simply Charlotte Mason. He gets to pretend that he owns and runs a sports store.

11:00- That usually gets them excited about playing store.

   

12:00- is usually when Daddy gets home for lunch. So we    take a break with him.

1:00- We all take this time to rest and read.

2:00-5:00- Creating time. The boys will spend this whole time with Legos. I will usually take this time to write or work on any activities I need to do for any clubs or organizations I belong to. I also use this time to handle anything I am working on for church.

We will eat supper when Daddy gets home. Lately, we have enjoyed eating by candlelight and listening to classical music. Since it is Friday we will watch a family movie and eat a fun snack. Tonight it will be milkshakes!!

Before bed, Daddy will lead us in a devotional and prayer.

               Wondering where I fit subjects in that I did not go over today. I will do a post on that soon.

CONTEST!!!

I have been working for a couple of weeks on decluttering and rearranging furniture. I am really excited with the outcome! My home seems so much bigger and it is so much more efficient. I have one more room that I want to work on this week, so let’s use this week to try to finish what we are currently working on.

In February I will start my post on deep cleaning and how I do it in as little time as possible.

While we are catching up and taking a break, let’s start a contest!!! The post I had with “Ain't nobody got time for that!” was one of the most read posts on my blog! I thought it would be great for everyone to share a time saving tip. So pick your most creative short cut for cooking, cleaning, homeschooling, etc. 

You will have two weeks to post your tips. Get your friends to “like” my Facebook page and “like” your tip. At the end of two weeks, February 13, I will pick the three tips with the most “likes”.

Those 3 tips will be voted on and the person with the most likes will win a $10 Amazon gift card. The lucky winner will also be featured on my blog. 

I am linking with Hip Homeschool Moms Give Away Day!!!

Taking Control of Your Time (Part 3)

Taking Control of Your Time (Part 3)

Now the third thing you need to do is create your daily routine. It may take a few weeks to figure out what works for you. Again, don’t stress. You have a whole year to get it figured out. J You will need to tweak it here and there, but eventually this will be a great anchor for your whole day. I know that by having this daily routine, my house will always be clean.

Your routine will help you keep your house clean with very little time or effort. You just decide when a task will be most convenient to do and in 10 minutes or less it is done! Eventually this will become a habit!

This is easy to do even if you have a baby or have a job outside your home. I am going to give you an example of my daily routine so you can get an idea of how this works.

7:00- Wake up and take dirty laundry to laundry room, sort and start a load.

8:00- After fixing my hair and brushing my teeth I wipe down the mirror and counter.

8:15- I unload dishwasher and put clothes in the dryer.

8:30- After breakfast, I clear the dishes from table, rinse then put them in the dishwasher and wipe the table. (This is a good job for kids.)

10:00- During a school break the kids and I get clothes out of dryer, fold them and put them up. * I try to only do one load a day if possible and I don’t do laundry on Mondays or weekends.

12:00- Following lunch, the kids and I clear dishes from the table, wipe table, rinse dishes and load.

4:00- 10 minute quick clean, At this time we run around the house (this makes it fun, ) to make sure everything is where it is supposed to be and we quickly vacuum with a rechargeable vacuum. (Kids beg to vacuum with this.)

6:30- We clear the dishes and wipe the table and counters. I have the kids vacuum the kitchen floor with the rechargeable vacuum and I start the dishwasher.

7:30- During little brother's bath, I wipe down the kids’ bathroom counters, floor and mirror. (Never leave little ones unattended in the bath.)

8:00-During the kids’ bedtime snack , I clean out the sink and get the coffee ready for the next morning.

The best way to set up your routine is to figure out what you want to get done in a day and place it where you can most logically get it accomplished with little effort. Even though my list may look like a lot, it is really not. You get to the point where you don’t even realize you are doing anything. Remember it is okay if something does not get done one day because you are sick or busy. Just continue the next day. Another great thing about this routine is that my children know it, so they will take it over when I need them to. Make sure that you try really hard to do each thing on your list, because they build on each other. Example: Taking a few minutes to clean the kitchen after lunch means a clean start when you make supper.

  

 Don’t forget- if you are still trying to declutter add in a few minutes a day to accomplish that.