Life updates...

Hello to all!
It's been awhile since I've blogged, so I thought I'd do just a general life update post for anyone who is interested.  
I feel like we've had a laid-back, event-filled season.
If that makes any sense!

Starting more recently, I decided to sign up to be an Usborne consultant.  
Feel free to skip this part if you don't care ;)
Because I LOVE and have collected many titles from this book company, and I needed them often for homeschool, I decided it would make more sense to just sell them and get a discount!
I didn't get into it to have a big business, but more to get a better deal on books for myself to grow our home library, and to be available for those who may want to do a party, but don't know anyone who sells.  
Next week will be busy, as I kick off with a home show on Tuesday (the 15th) evening.  If any locals are interested in coming, please let me know!
Then I'll be doing a Facebook party on Thursday (the 17th) for everyone else who can't make it there in person.  You don't have to be there live, or even have a FB account to participate.  There will be several fun giveaways, so let me know if you'd like to be added to that!  I'm also doing a local vendor fair on the 19th, so it will be a busy week.  They are estimating about another month of ordering for product to be shipped by Christmas.  Also, since I'm a new consultant, I get to give out DOUBLE free stuff to all those who host a party.  That's HUGE... and it's how I got hundreds of dollars worth of books at the party I hosted last year on FB.  Let me know if you'd like to give it a try... it's no expense to you, just free stuff :) 
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My FB business page is:
https://www.facebook.com/ubammolly/
and my site link to purchase books is:
​https://www.facebook.com/ubammolly/

In other news...
I'm into my 3rd trimester of pregnancy with little #5!
It really has gone quickly and I have been blessed with a pretty easy pregnancy so far. I had some fear in the beginning, since my emotions are sometimes difficult to manage when pregnant, and I didn't know how that would mesh with grief.  It's never an 'easy' journey, but thankfully it has been better than I expected so far.  Keep us in your prayers these next months as we prepare to meet another family member who won't know their biggest brother.
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We have still been really enjoying homeschooling!
We have been much more scheduled and in a regular routine this year than last year, but it seems to help a lot! 
We started our new curriculum about 6 weeks ago, and have been enjoying it so far.  The kids seem to want to just keep learning, and I have finally tell them that's enough school some days!  It's a blessing for sure, but it also makes it challenging at times.  Janae (2.5) is my biggest challenge since she HAS to be in the middle of everything too.  
Here's a few snapshots from some of our more recent activities, as well as the details of what we are using for curriculum this year...

Our core curriculum is still My Father's World.
Rystin finished 'God's Creation from A-Z' (K) and started 
'Learning God's Story' (1st).
Vayah is doing parts of K now that she didn't do with us last year, mostly the phonics, math, and handwriting. 
MFW includes most subjects, but we do add a lot in too, since the kids want to keep going! 
MFW includes:
Phonics, handwriting, history, Bible, science, art, music, and math. 
I'll break down each subject a little further and tell you what we add, or what we do typically for these subjects. 

Visit to Itasca State Park, the headwaters of the Mississippi River

Phonics:  
Rystin LOVES to read.  When doing K, he was itching to go more quickly, so we started doing Hooked On Phonics as a supplement.  He has flown through it, but I'm thankful that now in MFW 1st he'll be covering the rules again.
Vayah wants to read really badly, so it's been a struggle trying to work with her at the level she's at now, when she wants to be so much further.  MFW K is definitely a good speed for her at this age. She does try to do Hooked on Phonics often, but it just moves a bit too fast for her right now.

100 days of school/ Summer end fun

Handwriting:
Both kids have copy work and they also enjoy writing letters to family and friends, so they are getting plenty of that in.  They have both enjoyed an iPhone app called Letter School that teaches them letter formation by tracing.

Boggle Jr. They all love learning games so we play a lot!

History:
MFW 1st focuses on Bible history, by going over most of the key stories out of the Bible.  We made scrolls, set up a timeline on the wall, and have been learning about Thanksgiving lately.  The K program doesn't do much with history, but Vayah likes to follow along with Rystin when he does projects. 

Experimenting with color... this kept them all busy for hours!

Bible:
MFW heavily focuses on Bible for every grade.  Bible is the main thing for 1st especially, where they learn Bible history, study/memorize a weekly Proverb, and do daily devotional studies.  We do a lot with memory work, and the system we use has worked well with the kids.  It's so amazing how quickly they pick things up at this age!  Memory work isn't always their favorite thing, but it's neat to see them recite and learn. We do a few other randoms to add to it, but those are the main things. 

Trip to Storybook Land in Aberdeen, SD this summer. They loved it!

Science:
MFW K focuses a lot on 'science' type topics such as learning about the sun, specific animals, plants, etc.  We had a lot of fun with it last year, but Vayah went through all of it with us, so I'm not doing it again this year with her.  
MFW 1st doesn't have a lot for science.  They have a key topic each week, but it doesn't have much to go with it other than a page or two of reading and a few suggested projects.  We started to add in notebooking, and I'll do printables and cut and paste activities, or drawing things related to the topics.  We do a lot of reading from library books about each topic too.  

A visit to the zoo in Watertown, SD

Art/Music:
MFW for both K and 1st covers a little bit of these topics in them.  I'm funny when it comes to 'art' projects though.  I don't enjoy the ones that don't also teach them something, and will just end up in the garbage, like the cut and glue type projects.  They do lots of that in Sunday School and Mom's Group for me to need any more :)  Not to say they don't learn from those too.  We've started working through the art book that is part of MFW (Drawing with Children). Rystin hated to draw and went into it with resistance, but the few things we've done so far has really made him more interested and open to drawing/coloring.  Vayah likes art a little more, but Janae seems to be my biggest artist so far.  
We don't officially do a lot with music, other than occasionally listening to the suggested classical music songs.  I have done a few piano lessons with them, which we may pursue more in the future.  They love to sing, and play with our keyboard and the recorded songs on there often.  

Practicing Letters and sounds

Math:
This was another subject that Rystin really seemed to grasp onto easily in K.  We started Singapore 1A partway through last year, and have just continued it this year.  I haven't done any of the suggested math in MFW 1st for him other than occasional activities.  He still enjoys the Singapore program and we just do it a few times a week.  We also have the first book of the Life of Fred series.  We started that last year too, but he resisted.  He's enjoyed it a bit more this year, but we've only read a few chapters.  It's more of a 'story book' than a math book, but teaches all the concepts. 
Vayah does the math pages that are in the MFW K program, and we also have the Singapore K books for her.  I got most of them used at a sale, so we decided to try them.  I don't like the 'Earlybird' version we got for her, so I think if we ever get the K books again, I'll try the 'Essentials' instead.

Proud of his homemade bread! He wants to be a baker when he grows up. One of many things!

Janae is learning her colors and counting. 
She talks a ton and loves to sing and pretend.
She mostly just pretends to be studious while she's really just getting in the way while we do school.  The struggle is real! 
But she is a charmer and keeps us all laughing either way :)

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We typically like to travel in the summer, but this year we stuck close to home.
We made several trips last winter/spring, so decided we'd wait until next summer to do another vacation.
I took the kids on a weekend trip to SD, but otherwise we spent the summer swimming at the local lakes, meeting up with friends, and just relaxing!  I felt a little rough for about 6 weeks early in the pregnancy, so it was a
good time to just chill.​
We did school about once a week through the summer, which was good to keep up on what they had learned, then started in on a more daily schedule in early September.  

Life on the farm continues on.
We are praying for God's guidance as we look ahead for His plan.
We don't know what direction we will be going, so it's truly a day by day way to live.  I still feel a lot of anxiety when the kids are at the farm.
Rystin got a pretty bad burn on his back when we were at a Labor Day campout and he fell into the fire.  That affected me more than I thought it would as far as fear and worry.  It's a continuous struggle to remember that God is in control.  Same with the election.  So many things we have to just let go of and give to God.  But that's easier said than done!  
I was thrilled to get my scrapbook of Skyler's life completed not long ago.
In it is basically every picture we have of him, as well as many stories and memories, as well as links to videos.
It was a process to complete, but felt like a weight was lifted when I got it finished.  The journey of grief never really ends, it just changes.
Sometimes it can be a total disconnect, wondering if it really happened.
Other times it's deep in the trenches, reliving the trauma, and feeling the loss.
But God has given us strength, and will continue to do so.
We always appreciate your prayers as we each face different battles.

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So, as we begin the busy holiday season, I pray you keep your focus on the things that matter.  Remember to treasure each moment and memory with the people you love.  Stop and take the time to let them know you care.
Go out of your way to put a smile on their faces.
Go to God with each and every doubt and fear.
And thank Him for every blessing he has placed in your life, especially His own Son, who He allowed to die so that we can live.
Spread that message to the world, because that is why we're here! 
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