I have decided to lift the requirement to log-in with a Google ID in order to leave a comment on this blog. I know there are several of you out there who have wanted to and tried to comment, but since you didn't have a Google ID, were not able to. I'm guessing that my blog is going to go under the radar of any kind of spam-bot. Let's face it: "Frantlings" already sounds like spam, right?
So comment away, my friends, if you feel like it. Thanks Rachel (Mrs. Phelps, if you will) for your sweet comment on my last post!!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Did We Actually Do School?
Today is the first day of homeschooling. And it was over in a flash. To be more precise, it took more like 30 minutes. But at the end, I was kind of wondering if we really did school. Could we really have done it that quickly! Why, yes. Yes we did.
We first read in Genesis 1 about the creation of light and dark on the first day. Then Jack colored and cut out a number "1" and we put it on a big piece of green paper. Each day (for the next 7 school days), we'll cut out the creation number of the day and put it on this paper. Then we went over the alphabet (which Jack was able to sing to me while pointing to each letter) and "introduced" briefly two letters (which he already knew). After that, we made a page to go in our creation book. Jack colored one side of a white paper dark and the other side light (he chose yellow). Each day (for the next 7 days) we'll color a picture of what God created that day and make our own creation book when we're all done. Last, we sang the B-I-B-L-E song.
And that was it!
No learning to stand in line. No learning how to walk quietly down a hall. No learning where the backpacks go. No learning how to raise your hand when you want to speak. All of which Jack already knows how to do. So when you get that stuff out of the way, I guess kindergarten doesn't take up too much time!
Looking forward to being with Jack this year. I'm really looking forward to him learning how to read. I can't wait to see the proverbial light bulb go off in his head when he gets reading.
Yea! We made it through our first day with no tears (from Mommy or Jack)!
We first read in Genesis 1 about the creation of light and dark on the first day. Then Jack colored and cut out a number "1" and we put it on a big piece of green paper. Each day (for the next 7 school days), we'll cut out the creation number of the day and put it on this paper. Then we went over the alphabet (which Jack was able to sing to me while pointing to each letter) and "introduced" briefly two letters (which he already knew). After that, we made a page to go in our creation book. Jack colored one side of a white paper dark and the other side light (he chose yellow). Each day (for the next 7 days) we'll color a picture of what God created that day and make our own creation book when we're all done. Last, we sang the B-I-B-L-E song.
And that was it!
No learning to stand in line. No learning how to walk quietly down a hall. No learning where the backpacks go. No learning how to raise your hand when you want to speak. All of which Jack already knows how to do. So when you get that stuff out of the way, I guess kindergarten doesn't take up too much time!
Looking forward to being with Jack this year. I'm really looking forward to him learning how to read. I can't wait to see the proverbial light bulb go off in his head when he gets reading.
Yea! We made it through our first day with no tears (from Mommy or Jack)!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Le Homeschool Room
I've been working the past few weeks on getting the homeschool room together. Jack and I start on Monday, and I wanted to have everything organized before we started so that I could concentrate on the job at hand rather than frantically trying to find stuff!
The room we chose for the school room is a little quirky. It's only 9.5' by 5.5'. We're not sure what the original purpose of this alcove-type room. The former owner (and builder of the house) mentioned that it was an optional wet bar area for upstairs. But then I heard a neighbor say that, in the model home with this same floor plan, there was a built in desk. So it was either supposed to be a wet bar or an office. Either way, it's an awkward room because there's not much you can do with it. The former owner had a treadmill in there, which was a pretty nice use of the space.
I started by painting the walls a dusty blue. The pictures make it look baby blue. But the color has quite a bit of gray in it. I decided to accessorize with a limey green, orange, and white.
After painting, I covered some wood letters with scrapbook paper and mounted those on the wall.
I also mounted a file folder holder from IKEA.
Next, I mounted what is essentially a curtain rod. But it's made of wire with a turnbuckle and has little clips for hanging. So I'll use it to display Jack & Claire's work.
Then I put together a desk from IKEA. It's long enough for the three of us to all sit together and work. I, of course, will be sitting between Jack & Claire so that it's harder for them to talk to each other, thus hopefully avoiding fights, bickering, and general tomfoolery. The chairs and lamp are from Target.
I also hung a few numbers over the light switch
My Mom had an armoire that my Dad had loved but that she wasn't a big fan of. Guess what colors are in it? Green and orange, thank you very much. So it sits right outside the room in the hallway (it's a wide hallway) and stores curriculum and manipulatives.
And voila. We now have a homeschool room that I won't be opposed to sitting in for an hour or two a day. I'm so pleased with it. It makes me happy to walk past it. So cute!
The room we chose for the school room is a little quirky. It's only 9.5' by 5.5'. We're not sure what the original purpose of this alcove-type room. The former owner (and builder of the house) mentioned that it was an optional wet bar area for upstairs. But then I heard a neighbor say that, in the model home with this same floor plan, there was a built in desk. So it was either supposed to be a wet bar or an office. Either way, it's an awkward room because there's not much you can do with it. The former owner had a treadmill in there, which was a pretty nice use of the space.
I started by painting the walls a dusty blue. The pictures make it look baby blue. But the color has quite a bit of gray in it. I decided to accessorize with a limey green, orange, and white.
After painting, I covered some wood letters with scrapbook paper and mounted those on the wall.
I also mounted a file folder holder from IKEA.
Next, I mounted what is essentially a curtain rod. But it's made of wire with a turnbuckle and has little clips for hanging. So I'll use it to display Jack & Claire's work.
Then I put together a desk from IKEA. It's long enough for the three of us to all sit together and work. I, of course, will be sitting between Jack & Claire so that it's harder for them to talk to each other, thus hopefully avoiding fights, bickering, and general tomfoolery. The chairs and lamp are from Target.
I also hung a few numbers over the light switch
My Mom had an armoire that my Dad had loved but that she wasn't a big fan of. Guess what colors are in it? Green and orange, thank you very much. So it sits right outside the room in the hallway (it's a wide hallway) and stores curriculum and manipulatives.
And voila. We now have a homeschool room that I won't be opposed to sitting in for an hour or two a day. I'm so pleased with it. It makes me happy to walk past it. So cute!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
We made it. Through all three months. Alive. All of us. Summer is over. Can I hear a hallelujah?
Cade started his new school yesterday and loves it so far! What a blessing; I was worried that he would be worried about not knowing anyone or how to get around the school. Hmmm. Guess worrying runs in the family. But so far things are going well. And his teacher is a Christian (who incidentally visited our church this past Sunday when Scott did announcements at the beginning of the service!) . AND she is also a LONGHORN ! Thank you God for giving us Mrs McCunniff!
Jack and I will start homeschool next Monday. I wanted to get a week of Cade's school under our collective belt before I started on this new journey with Jack (and Claire in tow).
Claire will start back at Mother's Day Out in a few weeks. That will be lots of fun for her. She will also start a ballet class on Monday mornings which has her completely excited. She keeps talking about being a ballerina and being so excited. So cute to see her so excited about something!
I will post pics of the kids and the homeschool room (which is just as cute as it can be) when I get off my lazy rear and take pictures. The heat has me motivated to do nothing currently but sweat. And that's more of an involuntary reaction anyway. So basically I'm not motivated at all.
But that's another post.
Cade started his new school yesterday and loves it so far! What a blessing; I was worried that he would be worried about not knowing anyone or how to get around the school. Hmmm. Guess worrying runs in the family. But so far things are going well. And his teacher is a Christian (who incidentally visited our church this past Sunday when Scott did announcements at the beginning of the service!) . AND she is also a LONGHORN ! Thank you God for giving us Mrs McCunniff!
Jack and I will start homeschool next Monday. I wanted to get a week of Cade's school under our collective belt before I started on this new journey with Jack (and Claire in tow).
Claire will start back at Mother's Day Out in a few weeks. That will be lots of fun for her. She will also start a ballet class on Monday mornings which has her completely excited. She keeps talking about being a ballerina and being so excited. So cute to see her so excited about something!
I will post pics of the kids and the homeschool room (which is just as cute as it can be) when I get off my lazy rear and take pictures. The heat has me motivated to do nothing currently but sweat. And that's more of an involuntary reaction anyway. So basically I'm not motivated at all.
But that's another post.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Change
Hello to all 4 readers of my blog! Greetings and salutations. I apologize that it's been a couple of weeks since my last post. :)
There are some pretty big changes around the Stonehouse house. Most notably, Scott has a new job. Not only a new job, but a new career to boot!
Back at the beginning of June, the senior pastor at our church made breakfast plans with Scott. My intuition said that something was up, but Scott dismissed it as Bill just wanting to simply have breakfast with him. Later that morning, Scott called from work. I asked how his breakfast with Bill had gone. He said it was good. I asked if Bill had wanted to talk to him about anything in particular, and he said yes. Scott said, "Bill wants us to think about me going on staff at Woodcreek." "He WHAT???" was my response.
That started a month long conversation with Bill and the elders about a new position they were forming. And the more we thought about it (after the initial shock wore off), we recognized the ways that God had been training Scott for this position. We also saw the little changes that God allowed us to make in order to make this career move possible. Whoa!
And so we took the position. And as of August 1st, Scott was no longer an employee of AT&T. AT&T was wonderful to us, and we love the people Scott worked with. They (thanks to Amy Miller) gave Scott a wonderful sendoff.
Scott is now the Director of Adult Ministries at our church. He oversees all the ministries related to adults: small groups, 20s, men's and eventually women's ministires, etc. He will eventually go to seminary (DTS) part time to get his Masters degree (which he is so excited about). He will then be considered the Pastor of Adult Ministries. And Scott couldn't be happier. He loves the people he works with, which isn't too much of a change since he loved the AT&T co-workers too. But now his work has significance. Eternal significance. And he's leading, training, and inspiring people, which is what he LOVES to do and is good at. He looks forward to work and has had an excellent first two weeks.
There are some pretty big changes around the Stonehouse house. Most notably, Scott has a new job. Not only a new job, but a new career to boot!
Back at the beginning of June, the senior pastor at our church made breakfast plans with Scott. My intuition said that something was up, but Scott dismissed it as Bill just wanting to simply have breakfast with him. Later that morning, Scott called from work. I asked how his breakfast with Bill had gone. He said it was good. I asked if Bill had wanted to talk to him about anything in particular, and he said yes. Scott said, "Bill wants us to think about me going on staff at Woodcreek." "He WHAT???" was my response.
That started a month long conversation with Bill and the elders about a new position they were forming. And the more we thought about it (after the initial shock wore off), we recognized the ways that God had been training Scott for this position. We also saw the little changes that God allowed us to make in order to make this career move possible. Whoa!
And so we took the position. And as of August 1st, Scott was no longer an employee of AT&T. AT&T was wonderful to us, and we love the people Scott worked with. They (thanks to Amy Miller) gave Scott a wonderful sendoff.
Scott is now the Director of Adult Ministries at our church. He oversees all the ministries related to adults: small groups, 20s, men's and eventually women's ministires, etc. He will eventually go to seminary (DTS) part time to get his Masters degree (which he is so excited about). He will then be considered the Pastor of Adult Ministries. And Scott couldn't be happier. He loves the people he works with, which isn't too much of a change since he loved the AT&T co-workers too. But now his work has significance. Eternal significance. And he's leading, training, and inspiring people, which is what he LOVES to do and is good at. He looks forward to work and has had an excellent first two weeks.
Monday, August 02, 2010
P90X
You may have seen an infomercial for it on TV. You may have heard co-workers talking about it. It's P90X. Also know as the biggest butt kickin' in the world.
I've really let myself go over the years. I used to be very trim and athletic. And then I had kids. But it wasn't the pregnancies that packed on the pounds. Oh noooo. I usually lost most of my baby weight pretty quickly and easily. It was the stressed-induced eating that did me in. If I was anxious, I'd head to the pantry. Nervous? I'd head to the fridge. So I now find myself waaaaay overweight, out of shape, and fairly miserable.
Scott and I decided a couple of months ago to go to the gym 30 days in a row. We figured that we'd start a habit by doing that. We did it (OK fine. So I didn't go a few times. But I went a lot!). But it didn't stick. AND, the little I was working out while I was there wasn't enough to encourage me to keep going. It would have been a LONG time before I saw any results. And I needed to see results to continue.
And then I started hearing about P90X. Friends were mentioning it on Facebook. And it seemed pretty intense. Intense is what I needed. Focused intensity that would allow me to see results quicker.
So I scoured Craig's List and found P90X for half the retail price. And I purchased it. And then it sat for a month in my living room. But wait! Before you judge... I have a good reason. I knew that we were going to Austin, and I didn't want to do P90X on my vacation, and I didn't want to skip a week. So I delayed my training so that I could go full steam ahead and not look back.
I did the first day of P90X this evening. It was a back/chest and abs work out.
My prediction is that I will not have the use of my upper body tomorrow.
I've really let myself go over the years. I used to be very trim and athletic. And then I had kids. But it wasn't the pregnancies that packed on the pounds. Oh noooo. I usually lost most of my baby weight pretty quickly and easily. It was the stressed-induced eating that did me in. If I was anxious, I'd head to the pantry. Nervous? I'd head to the fridge. So I now find myself waaaaay overweight, out of shape, and fairly miserable.
Scott and I decided a couple of months ago to go to the gym 30 days in a row. We figured that we'd start a habit by doing that. We did it (OK fine. So I didn't go a few times. But I went a lot!). But it didn't stick. AND, the little I was working out while I was there wasn't enough to encourage me to keep going. It would have been a LONG time before I saw any results. And I needed to see results to continue.
And then I started hearing about P90X. Friends were mentioning it on Facebook. And it seemed pretty intense. Intense is what I needed. Focused intensity that would allow me to see results quicker.
So I scoured Craig's List and found P90X for half the retail price. And I purchased it. And then it sat for a month in my living room. But wait! Before you judge... I have a good reason. I knew that we were going to Austin, and I didn't want to do P90X on my vacation, and I didn't want to skip a week. So I delayed my training so that I could go full steam ahead and not look back.
I did the first day of P90X this evening. It was a back/chest and abs work out.
My prediction is that I will not have the use of my upper body tomorrow.
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