Christmas School 🏫 Day 2

   I had to go grocery shopping so it was cut a bit short today. We did get a lot done though! I'm tired so not a long post for tonight. Hope you're all enjoying this time of year and drinking allllll the coffee and hot chocolate 🍫!!!

Day 1 Christmas School

    We are all so excited to start our Christmas school!!! Even though we usually don't start until December we wanted to start off the week right. While I always have it in my head the way things will go it never will go that way. With a 2 year old and a hard 8 year old it's just the way it is but...... we did it!!! 

I woke up and made them homemade hot chocolate!!! Then we started off with of course prayer and pledge and the days news for kids. If you'd like link to the news I use for them post below. It's only 10 minutes but keeps them in the loop while being kid friendly. After that it was reading and worksheets. Then we did this...https://youtu.be/u9kec_lZDMw

We read some more( I bought the winter bundle to do with them, we started with the baking unit) . Then we decorated cookies!!!!! All in all a great way to kick off Christmas school. I will post more of our traditions as we continue our Christmas school post. Post what you do to enjoy the season to the fullest! We will be doing math twice a week ( our set curriculum) but math is always mixed in everything we do. 

Christmas School

   Sooooo excited.... it's almost December and our start of Christmas 🎄 school. Stay tuned for Christmas homeschooling post.....

Busy, busy

 I had been meaning to blog alllll week and things were crazy. I'm adjusting to my oldest daughter still at home getting a job. So it's harder wrangling the 2 year old while homeschooling.  Whew, he's a handful!! 

 But in other news we had a wonderful start to the week with Charlie Brown Thanksgiving day.  That's the beauty of homeschooling, learning AND having fun! We read the book, watched the movie along with extra mayflower one, and did crafts! Oh and ate for lunch that Charlie Brown made in the movie. 😉 We went over the years they landed at Plymouth and when the first Thanksgiving was. 

Then the rest of the week was normal school schedule mixed in with fun read alouds I posted before. This week I plan to stop all other school and just read books. Focus on the Indians and pilgrims and how we all can work together even if we aren't exactly the same. And focus on gratitude this week. And of course eat some yummy food Thursday and soak up the day with family. 

I'd love to hear what your plans are for this week!! 

What's For Dinner?

 I get asked a lot what do you do about meals!!!! 😳

Well, that's all I think about,  😆! Groceries, cooking, cleaning up after meals butttttt.... Hello Fresh has made my life a tad bit easier! I cook Hello Fresh meals around 3 nights a week so at least I know hubby gets a few decent meals, lol. It has been a game changer. While I have exhausted all my free weeks I do have an excellent code to share with you! Click on it below!

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Just breathe

 So for some reason every since Fall began my kids have been crazy!!! Don't know if they thought fall meant falling off the deep end or what but goodness. Fighting, arguing, not wanting to get up, etc.... But I've just been pushing through. 

 Last night my husband said why don't you take them to the park tomorrow since it'll probably be the last day it'll be this warm and beautiful. All I could think of is the school we needed to do and the things I was behind on. 

 As I took them along for my Walmart pickup this morning and the arguing started I just told myself just breathe. And then I got to thinking, maybe that's what they also needed. So instead of coming home putting up groceries and doing school , we put up groceries and then went to the lake with fast food in tow. And ya know what?!? I feel so much better. 

 I also saw how really incredible my kids are because twin girls wanted to play in the game of tag they were in. They were only 2 years old and all the kids even up to my older ones were sooooooo sweet to them. It reminded me we might be doing an OK job with these kids after all. I mean one of the biggest things I want my kids to learn is to always be kind and never exclude others. So while there I thought wow, we just needed to breathe! So, homeschooling mama when things are chaotic and crazy maybe we just need to remember to take a breather.For our sake and our kids!!! 

( Brittani and Levi weren't with us because Brittani was working at her new job and Levi was working with his dad)

 

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Dealing with A Narcissist?

    

   I only write on things I feel led to so I am not sure why I am even writing on this. Maybe it is a huge epidemic in the country and I am not sure why. I am sure you are laughing going come on , Tiffany, an epidemic. But yes, I truly feel that way. I feel for the people that are manipulated daily by this type of person.  Also have been the one manipulated before and it is not fun. 

  A narcissist always brings the conversation back to themselves and almost always never takes any blame for things done wrong. Likely they will blame others and explain reasons why they are not wrong. They will very rarely apologize!

 They will think they are superior to others and sometimes talk down to people around them. They often try to make themselves look better than others and want everyone to be THEIR friend. They think they do no wrong and walk around shunning people they feel are lower than them. KWIM?!? They want people to constantly praise them and find value for always having the answer. They often envy others but show it in ways of rejection. They look for ways to be the center of attention.

 Narcissists often lack ways to empathize with others or understand their side. Only trying to rationalize what they do as right and you see it another way but it is wrong. They could really care less about another person's feelings , ONLY HOW THEY FEEL! They like it even better when they have others on their side or think they do.

  They seem very charming and friendly at first and some people still see them that way. That is when it is hard. When you see something for what it is but others do not. Also they will hold grudges and bring up those offenses every time there is a argument. 

  So I am sure you are wondering why this blog post and I am kind of asking myself that as well. BUT.... I think there is a biblical way to deal with people like this. First is pray. Pray that they can see the error of their ways.Still continue to pray. After that don't waste time trying to change them OR pleading your case. MOVE ON , let God do the work. You are not going to change them. 1 Cor. 5:5 is a good verse to look at.  Next , you do not have to live in fear if you are child of God. Philippians 1:28! Set boundaries and always speak truth with them. Lastly just live in peace. Let them go and live your live in peace. Prayerfully they will finally with God's help change their ways but YOU will not make someone change. Don't worry about how they make you look. You know the truth and God knows the truth and that is all that matters.

  I think these things are good to understand and steer our children from becoming anything like a narcissist. Only not only is that person hard to be around but also they are not happy inside. They lead a very miserable life and blow up the first chance they get. Having a good character building curriculum is good to combat some of this and honestly sometimes it is just something that needs to be worked through because that is a tendency in them. Big hugs out there mamas. I know this world is a hard place. Keep your chins up and do the very best you can and work super hard to keep peace in your life.

Balloons over Broadway

 

   Who loves the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade?!? 🙋‍♀️

    It was a tradition growing up and one I've continued with my kids. When I was gathering books for our fall/Thanksgiving reads I came across this book from a homeschooling YouTube mom and knew I had to get it. 

   We read it this morning and WOW! It's the story of how the parade got started which is fascinating in itself but the pictures and layout of the book are beautiful.  I knew I had to share!!!!

  Definitely one that will be read each year and will also be more fascinated by the Macy's parade!!! You've got to grab this one mamas! 

Teaching forgiveness

   Forgiveness is a hard thing. Especially if you come from the family I did. Lol!!! ( Some in the family may be a little hard headed). But, I want my kids to learn it. I want them to see it in our house. Forgiveness is forgiving someone sometimes even when they might see no wrong in what they did or feel no need to apologize. 

     But how can we NOT teach Forgiveness when God forgives us over and over again. He sent his only son to pay a price we couldn't and many times we don't say sorry. Sometimes we don't even acknowledge we've sinned. 

  Forgiveness,  humility, kindness, and love are at the top of my list of things I want to focus on the next few months with my children. Goodness knows we could use a little more humility in this world. Instead of I didn't do anything wrong , we may need to examine ourselves and say ok if I played a part in a situation that's caused hurt I'm sorry. 

  What are you working with in your kids or maybe yourself this month or upcoming months? 

Books we will read this month!