For about the past month, my husband and I have both been debating over something, trying to make a decision….and we haven’t fought over it at all….it’s not like that.  It’s nothing huge either, not a major, life-changing decision.  Just something little that will affect our everyday lives in small ways.  For me, maybe it’s a tad bigger, but not really that much…..

We’ve been debating over moving his computer in from the garage (where he has a little office set up, since he closed his local shop here in the town where we live; he still has his other shop) and putting it in what is now the office/craft room/school room.  The hard part is that it means giving up my schoolroom….and for some, that might be a piece of cake.  But it’s been a tough decision.  I’m not upset over it; I see the need for Dan to bring his computer in.  It would definitely give us so much more working room in the garage, and he’d be in the house, out of the heat, now that summer’s here.  So, it’s time….

It’s time for me to say goodbye to my schoolroom, which on the one hand is kinda sad, but on the other hand, it’s like a new beginning of sorts.  For one thing, we’ll be clearing out all the school clutter, which will be re-organized and sorted onto shelves and cupboards in our dining room.  Everything will have a place, so it doesn’t clutter up our dining room.  The dining room will probably be a much better place for school anyway, as it will be much more interactive for both my boys.  We’ll have so much more room for projects and things.  Plus, our map covers our entire kitchen table underneath a piece of clear vinyl I picked up in the fabric section (I got this idea from another homeschool blogger, but I can’t remember who; I’m so sorry I can’t give due credit).  Not sure where all our posters and things will go, but we’ll figure it out….

I’m actually excited for this new beginning.  It may seem small, yet it’s not for me.  You see, in marriage there are all kinds of sacrifices that have to be made.  There just are; it’s a given, especially if your ultimate goal is to grow old together and still be in love, to honor and cherish the one you vowed to be with for the rest of your life.  I’m excited for Dan to get in out of the heat, and I’m excited to have a newly reorganized school space.  There’s a twinge of sadness at giving up this space, yet there’s so much more happiness at providing a space that Dan truly needs.  In the winter, there was heat in the garage, and it worked out great….but now that summer’s here, it’s just not working, and if I can give to him, then why shouldn’t I?  Please don’t get me wrong here; I’m not trying to toot my own horn AT ALL.  I’m simply trying to make the point that if we, as wives, can give something of value to our husbands, then why shouldn’t we?  What’s stopping us from sacrificing and giving to them, in love?  As wives, we need to provide for their needs, as well, which could include giving up a school room or even something as small as a closet or cupboard.  Hey, and I look at it this way….I’ll get to spend even more time with him because when I’m working on my blog or on MamaBuzz or on school plans or crafting, or whatever….he’ll be right behind me. For Dan and I, we’ve had to really think about it; he didn’t want to infringe upon the schoolroom, and we both weren’t sure if we wanted it in the dining room….but after the last week of just on and off talking it over, it’s time….

Is there something you’re hanging onto….something that could ultimately bless both you and your honey if you were to just let go?

For more Motivate Me Monday, visit Sarah at The Fifth Street Palace.

Whew! This week has been a busy one for sure! Some days, I feel like we barely have time to breathe. LOL Soccer started up this week for Jacob, so he was very excited about that, and, of course, Jaden just enjoys getting out in the grass with the soccer ball while he waits for Jacob to get done. Anyway, we did some fun little projects this week. Jaden didn’t act like he was feeling too hot for a couple days, so we had a couple of slower days, but we still did some fun stuff.

He sorted popsicle sticks by color, which was a lot of fun; he’s really starting to grasp what different colors are; he definitely has blue and yellow down for sure.We made a very busy “B” bee, and then we went around buzzing Jacob and Daddy later on after he got home. You can find more ideas like this on Totally Tots.

We did some beading with beads and pipe cleaners, an idea retrieved from TotSchool.

We cut pictures of flowers and berries out of a gardening magazine (I did more of the cutting, as he still is learning how to handle scissors), and then he glued them into a collage on construction paper.These chicks were sent to me for a review from ImagiPlay, and they are puzzle chicks, which he has to learn how to maneuver, as they’re not like a normal puzzle. They are a lot of fun. They’re called the 3 Chicks.Lastly, today we painted on cardboard canvas that Jacob had cut apart from boxes this week in his attempt to make a play shack. The boys love to paint, so this is always fun; messy but fun!

We read books, including some of Eric Carle’s books, and we did other fun matching games and even watched a movie, etc. For more TotSchool ideas, visit the TotSchool weekly post.

We started using workboxes this week, and I decided to start involving Jaden in our school day…..it was becoming a crazy frenzy with school because I had to somehow figure out ways to keep him entertained, and on the spur of the moment, that is hard with a toddler.  Anyway, a lot of the stuff we did, I got from ideas on the TotSchool website, but we did a few other things, as well, so just thought I’d share a little bit about our week….I’m including some of what Jacob did in this too, so he’s not left out.:)  With Easter this week, we did some extra, fun stuff too.  Happy Easter!

At the beginning of the week, we put this cute little puppy together on construction paper.  I had to help cut it out, as Jaden’s not quite there yet on cutting shapes out, but he did the gluing with just a little help….this was a lot of fun and really cute too.Then I found this animal puzzle, as well.  I cut it out and laminated it, and he’s able to match the baby animal with the mama.  He did really well, until we got to the ostrich and the moose….I don’t think he’s seen either yet.:)We made the letter A into an alligator, which he now carries around the house, roaring at everyone.:)LOLHe made the most beautiful watercolor pictures, which are now hanging proudly on the fridge.

Jacob learned how to use a compass this week, and he actually made this very cool Viking longboat for history.  He was very excited to use it to play with all his little knights and action figures.  Jaden did a little puffball transferring, using tweezers.  He did this for quite a while; it actually kept his attention for more than 2 minutes.  I guess it required great concentration.  At first, he would pick up the puffball and put it on the tweezers himself.  He finally got the hang of using the tweezers to pick up the puffballs.  This was fun for him.  (This idea came from here.)We dyed eggs for Easter and decorated them, as well as watched the Easter Story Keepers movie.

We made these yummy Resurrection Rolls for breakfast and talked about Easter and what it means.  I think that Jaden enjoyed licking the cinnamon/sugar off his marshmallow more than anything.:)  It was a hoot!I decided to cut out shapes from construction paper in different colors.  He likes to glue stuff, so he had fun gluing these shapes onto another piece of construction paper.

As for other activities, we did some stamping, we played little matching games, used the Lite Brite, sorted jelly beans by color, did some lacing activities, worked puzzles, they played outside, etc.  I do have to say that every night this week, there was not a single problem getting him to sleep; he was tuckered out every night.  We are loving TotSchool!:)

For more ideas for your own TotSchool, visit the TotSchool weekly post.

I’ve been reading so much lately about the latest in homeschooling, workboxes. Workboxes began with Sue Patrick’s Workbox System.  Even though I don’t own the book, I’ve been really doing a lot of research online and have found some great resources for this, which I’ll share with you after showing you our system.  Also, if you don’t want to read all the way down through here, you can watch the video I shared below.:)

So, in setting up the workboxes, there was quite a bit of work, but don’t let that stop you because it is worth it.  I printed, cut out, and laminated schedule strips, workbox numbers, Help cards, and activity cards, which I then attached velcro to.  I still have yet to find a pocket chart to help organize all my little cards, and I still want to make a few more cards to adapt to our needs.  I also laminated post-it notes for instructions that go with the activities in the boxes….this saves both money and post-its.:)Here is a peek at our system.  Dan made this beautiful shelf; I’m so thankful for him!  He was able to make this for right around $14!  Also, the boxes I bought at Walmart for $.94, which is even cheaper than the dollar store.  Laminating sheets, I bought on Amazon, as they were much cheaper than the store.I have 10 boxes for Jacob right now and 8 for Jaden.  We originally started with 5 for Jaden, but I quickly figured out we needed just a few more to keep him occupied, so we have a few stragglers for now.He loved it!  I fill Jaden’s boxes with all kinds of ideas that I’ve researched on other blogs, like TotSchool, or with other activities or things that he loves.  They are educational activities.  Most of the stuff I use, I already had, or I was able to get at the dollar store.  Dollar Tree is a wonderful homeschooling resource, let me tell you!:)  Seriously, though, his boxes have things like foam puzzles, wooden puzzles, beans with a pitcher and container/funnel, coloring pages, craft activities, number games, magnetic alphabet letters, stickers, toys, etc.  We work together for the most part, with more independent activities done while I’m helping Jacob.  There are a ton of ideas out there; all you have to do is google workboxes.:) The nice thing about this system is that you put every single thing you’ll need for that day in the boxes, including all the little things, like glue, scissors, etc. That way, you’re not searching, and it really does save time.

Jacob’s boxes are filled with his text/workbook activities, as well as extra fun stuff like games, puzzles, computer time cards, craft activities, manipulatives, etc.  I don’t fill every single box every day because we don’t do every single subject every day, plus he has more than one activity in certain boxes.  I actually heard him say yesterday, “I can’t wait to do school again tomorrow!”  I about fell over….I think using the workboxes has really brought a refreshing, more independent tone to our homeschool for him….it’s different, and he’s more in control.  Now, we also use the Help tags, and he has 4 help tags he can use every day.  This challenges him quite a bit and makes him think more before asking for help.  He’s not quite used to that yet.

Anyway, I thought I’d share a short video here of how our system works, for those who don’t want to read my novel.  The video is a little shaky; my excuse is that it was way early, and I was still waking up.:) Here’s to successful workboxing!:)

Here are just a few sites where I found great resources….in the blur of things, I may miss somebody, but this is a general idea of where I’ve found most of my help/resources:

• Carissa at TotSchool has wonderful posts on both Tot Trays and Workboxes.  I’m taking the Tot Trays idea and adapting it into workboxes for Jaden….he loved it yesterday, which was our first day.
• Homeschool Creations has a very informative post, with printables for your workboxes.
• There are tons of other links and printables for your workboxes on this post, A Comprehensive Review of Sue Patrick’s Workbox System.
• The Heart of Wisdom Blog has a wealth of information and printables to share, as well as a Workbox Directory, with 50+ links to other blogs where mamas are using workboxes and sharing about them.  Also, Heart of Wisdom has shared a couple of videos here; the second one really was a help to understanding how they’re used.
• What’s in the Box? is a blog totally dedicated to workboxes.
• This article on Squidoo is wonderful, Working the Workboxes.
• Last but not least, you can find a ton of reviews on workboxes from the TOS Crew.