Today

Today is a.....

stay in out of the rain
clean the kitchen
force ourselves to do school work
ignore the fact that today is the last day of school for public school students
work on Christmas presents
laundry
attack piles of paper
make the kids do chores
cook supper at home
Bible study tonight with friends
be productive EVEN THOUGH it's Friday


...kind of day.

What kind of day do you have in store?

How You Found Me

Oh SiteReader, you are so entertaining.

Let's see how people have stumbled up on The Family Revised this week, shall we?

Searched: Star Wars Lapbook
This was a popular choice this week. Homeschool Share? You really could help some moms out and make one of these. I haven't ever made one, but I think Suzanne and I discussed it in the comments section of a post. Sorry you didn't find what you were looking for when you found me, Google searcher.

Searched: Feminine Househusband Apron
Someone is getting a special Christmas present!!!! (If they find one.)

Searched: Community Helpers Lapbook
This I can actually help with! We made a Dora lapbook with some community helper stuff in it. And by the way, that search was from Asia. How cool is that?

Searched: the family revised
Hey, you found me!

Searched: how can you say you trust God when
Ah. I've been asking myself the same thing. Hope I helped. He is worth trusting!

Searched: How to start becoming organized
coughcoughcough Sorry. I've recovered now. May I just apologize? I think you have not found the site you need. However, if you want companionship on your journey, we can be great friends!!! :)

Searched: How to be a homemaker
See above.

Catching Up Day

There was no school at our house today. I felt the need to catch up on some responsibilities. I made a frugal menu plan, grocery list, and shopped. We are ready for one week of meals now. I also caught up on the check book (which I am terrible at doing) since I forgot to pay some bills last month and paid them later and so they came out of THIS paycheck instead of LAST paycheck. That, on top of extra expenses for Little Bit's birthday and just general carelessness on my part as far as spending goes, means we need to be REALLY careful for the next two weeks. I hate that. I hate that I could have done better but just didn't.

Well, it's a new day.

So today I had to let school go while I did these things. I also plan to clean out the refrigerator instead of thinking, "man, I need to clean this thing out!" for the 475th time as I shut the door. Who knows? I may get really crazy and do some laundry! I'm just tired of feeling like all these things are half done.

You know that mental running list that women keep? It's exhausting, isn't it?

On a good note, I started my mom's Christmas present and it's going really well and fast too! I also have ideas for my sisters and sisters-in-law. Now.....if I could just decide what the girls are getting. I thought I had it figured out, but my idea hasn't worked out so I'm back to square one. I know there are people out there who have finished all of their Christmas shopping. I know because I am related to some of them. They make me sick. I just wanted you to know that.

Still, I've been thinking today a lot about the Compassion El Salvador trip and how 10 people live in one house in such poverty. We really are blessed beyond measure. I pray that the Lord would help me to be a better steward of it.

Character Education

It's part of our state homeschooling laws here in Texas--our curriculum is supposed to include character education. Any homeschooler, religious or not, can include character education in their schooling. But I want something more...

I stumbled on this chart of character quality definitions at the Duggar's website a few weeks ago and I was very interested. I poked around the internet a bit and discovered similar definitions at other websites, but not with a godly emphasis. Teaching good morals and character to your children is needed, but without the emphasis on Christ, its just another thing to teach.

I've been researching a bit more (only what can be found for free online) and have found some great resources! Today I bought 3 ring binders for each girl and we are going to make notebooks as we work on character ed. each day.

Here are printable posters to put in our notebooks. I will use these as dividers, I think.

There will definitely be illustrating going on towards the end of the week. Both girls like to draw, so after they have gained a good understanding of the character quality, they can illustrate it for their binder.

I found these great lesson plans also. From these I found Bible stories to go along with the quality of the week. I haven't looked at all of them, but today we began "Alertness." We read the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife as an illustration of alertness and sang "Oh Be Careful Little Eyes." It's nice that the resources are already gathered for me.

Also, when it applies, we will be reading from The Children's Book of Virtues.

I am SURE there are other resources out there, so if you know of any, please pass them on! I'd love to see other book lists to go along with each character quality.

Day 2 Flu

Is better than Day 1. Yesterday was mostly about taking temperature and wet rags on the head and giving Tylenol and soothing and comforting and cleaning up puke. Little Bit told me today that puke is another word for throw up. I gave her a few more synonyms and she said, "I like that cookie one." :)

Gah I've just turned into a mom blog.

Anyway, today she has felt good enough to sit up on the couch. She's watched TV and colored and talked. She's not hungry but she is. She's bored. I'm the entertainment.

The birthday plans are shot but exactly WHEN we will celebrate is still up in the air. I'd like to wait until she feels good enough to be excited about her gifts and good enough to play with them.

And good enough to not get cookies on them, you know?

Thanks, everyone, for the prayers.