Waiting For Dates Now

I've been working on our school plans for next year most of the week. I haven't had much interruption beings my children are at my M-I-L's for Bible School this week. The plans are done and we are just waiting for the date to start them. We don't officially begin school until August 6.
  We have plans to go to IYC (International Youth Camp) at Jimmy Swaggart ministries next week. We will not be back home until July 30 so I figured we'd just take the other few days off beings we are going on a field trip on that Friday any way. I like to have full weeks if I can.
    This about sums up my week, other than me getting to have my dear sweet hubby to MYSELF all week. It has been great! Our anniversary is next Tuesday so this week was like a honeymoon. 14 years and we are still in love. He's still my best friend and the love of my life, and the one that I like to spend all my time with. If he's not there, I'm lost.
    Hope everyone is having a great summer.

Another Week Down

    In My Life This Week: I began the week by giving my Sweetheart a small gift for Valentine each day. I had read an article about being a marriage warrior, one who is for marriage so I decided to take the week to show my children that you have to work at a marriage to keep it. Each day I just gave my husband a little small gift as a token of my love, 
Monday: a monkey balloon that said I love you with a small bag of chocolate peanut butter hearts,
Tuesday: a Valentine pig with a top hat on (piggy bank) with some chocolate coins to let him know that I considered him a treasure to me,
Wednesday: a little book with love poems & quotes in it with a heart with the little candy hearts in it that said "Be Mine" on it,
Thursday: I give him a card expressing my feelings of how he has been my best friend with a small cardboard heart that had a few pieces of chocolate in it that said "Friends Forever" on the front of it, today he is getting a little set of love birds that are kissing with some more chocolate hearts with a note that tells him "I'm saving all my kisses just for him." I found all of these cute little gifts at our local Dollar Tree, very inexpensive, but enough of thought behind it to get the point across that after 13 1/2 years I am still in love with him.
    To my amazement, on Wednesday I began receiving gifts, not that I was looking for them, but I did. The love still remains on both sides. I told my children that is the way a marriage is suppose to be, love coming from both spouses. Love is not a one sided relationship.
    In Our Home Schooling: we had a great week in math, yes, in math. We have done a math lesson every day this week, hurray! Only a bit in our Government study, but almost an entire Module in our Apologia: Exploring Creation With Physical Science. We have been learning about the Lithosphere & the earth's magnetic field this week. We did our experiments for the Module & will be watching some videos today.
    We have not been doing any formal grammar so we decided to pull out our Simply Grammar book this week & did a couple of exercises in it. Most of the time, we do this verbally.
     I would have to say though that Literature has been the hot subject around here. We have been reading "Little Men" & the entire family is enjoying it. I am loving the way that lots of character traits are being brought out in this book.
    What I'm Thankful For This Week: that I serve a God that is big enough to handle any situation. Praise be to my God!
    On Another Note: my daughter has had the privilege to be one of the mail Valentine birds that delivers gifts to our Senior citizens in our church. It has been a tremendous treat for her. She has come home every day with a new story to tell about what one of them did or something they said when she delivered. I'm not sure who's having more fun this week, the Seniors who are receiving their gift each day, or my daughter who is having a blast watching them receive their gift. She has made some new friends this week. Some friends where she can gain much wisdom should she desire.
    Question For The Week: What did your 7th & 8th grader's school year look like? Curriculum?
Places We're Going/People we are seeing: we finished up our week with a youth service tonight. We had 45 there, that's good. It was a wonderful time of fellowship.
    I think this will about sum up our week. Until next time, Traci
Linking up with the HMJ & Weekly Wrap Up.

The Value of Marriage

    Valentine's Day is next week. What is Valentine's Day? Who is Valentine's Day for? Most people connect Valentine's Day with the four letter word, "LOVE." Then they say it is for sweethearts. I say this year let's us homeschool moms say it is for married couples, showing that marriage is a good thing. Let's promote making marriage stronger & showing that it is a commitment by making a special week for your spouse, showinbg your children that marriage is a commitment & you have to keep working at it on a daily basis to keep true to the vows that we've taken. I intend on doing this by doing something special for my husband every day this week. I want my children to know that marriage is a special thing between two people that love each other, a role that is not to be taken lightly, that marriage vows are made for the good times & the bad times. I also want my children to know that spouses should always consider the other spouse special and hold them in high respect.
    Today most people revolve their family life around the children. Everything has to be planned/scheduled around the children's lives/schedules. That was not God's plan. He put marriage first & that is what should come first in a home. As I home school my children I plan to instill this in my children, "Your marriage relationship is the most important thing in keeping your family running in the right direction."
    I read this over in an article about marriage & I like it, "What I tell couples is simple: put your marriage first, and your children second. Make your marriage the sun, and think of your children as the planets that revolve around you, benefiting from your love and the solidity and strength of your relationship." This was written by Marty Friedman. To read his full article click on the title: Becoming Marriage Warriors. I think more couples should get back to God's original plan of a family & line up with God's plan, God, marriage, & then children.
    If we take the time to put some effort in to our marriage all it can do is strengthen it & in the mean time show our children the importance of making marriage work in a world that makes it too easy to let your marriage go.
    Let your children see this week how special daddy is to mommy this week. Do some little gestures/gifts in honor of your love & devotion to him.
Go for it!