Back to Homeschool Blog Hop-Day 5: The Hubby's Take on Traditions

I needed the hubby's help to get our internet working the other morning. While he was sitting there, after getting the internet going again,  I noticed he was "writing" my "First Day of School Traditions" post. I had not planned to share what he wrote, however, after sharing it with my fellow crew mates, I had a change of heart. Not only did this make me laugh, it was hugely approved of by the other crew members who read it. They insisted that I share what he wrote, so I decided to devote the last post of the week to his take on our traditions. 

Read at your own risk. 

The Hubby's Take on Traditions

(The following was written by my husband; however, it was written as if I was writing it.)

I love traditions, don't you?  We have lots of traditions for our first day of home school each year.

First, Hubby comes home from work.  It never seems to fail.  Our first day of school seems to always fall on the Monday after he works.  I do it to him on purpose.  Actually, we tend to schedule it for the Monday after the Bills first home preseason game, but don't tell him that.

The kids all get dressed in a new outfit which they have picked out earlier in the summer.  This is something they really look forward to as usually we dress them in rags and burlap sacks.
Then, Daddy gets them all excited for their first day of school and drags them out of the house to go out for breakfast.  Sometimes he even lets them eat breakfast with him if the mood strikes him just right.  The kids sure do like McDonald's.  It must be the cocaine in the food.  I won't say they are addicted, but they've been looking forward to the first day of school breakfast since BEFORE WE LEFT THE PARKING LOT LAST TIME!  Give me a break...OH, and can I have a Bacon, egg, and cheese Bagel this year???

While they are out, I make a huge banner that says "Welcome to our Homeschool" or words to that effect.  Harold used to help me decorate it (scribble scribble) but I think this year he's going to be out with Daddy as well so I'm stuck doing all the work.

I also enlist the hubby for help blowing up the 27,000 balloons that I plan on using to decorate.  I line the entire driveway with them so that I can get an early warning when they come home and have time to lock the door and pretend I'm not home.  I also fill the ENTIRE DOWNSTAIRS with balloons.  Forget oxygen.  If there's any oxygen left in the downstairs, then there's room for more balloons.  One year, I tried this with Helium filled balloons and Daddy came home to a house floating 6 inches off the foundation.  Since then we use traditional balloons and daddy just blows them all up instead of sleeping before he goes into work.  Who needs sleep anyway?

I also get the kids new pencils, pens, crayons, colored pencils and all that other stuff.  That's not so amazing, but what is amazing is that they manage to lose it before coming into the house after breakfast.  What do these kids do with their stuff???  I bet I'll find it right next to the socks the dryer eats.

Once they get home, I make sure to get their "school picture" next to our chalkboard.  It's nice to see how much they grow year by year and it's something they can look back on when they graduate and I kick them out of the house.

I also have the kids fill out a questionnaire.  It includes things like "Mommy is my favorite because...", "I like it when Mommy does...", "and "Daddy is no good at..."  They really get a kick out of it.  Hubby not so much.


The kids are then told it's time to work and they do the traditional whining "NO!!!" "I don't like school" etc...I've even heard them practicing for this over the summer.  Every day.  To each other.  Out loud...They must really love this part of our tradition.

What sort of traditions do you have?

It's a blog hop!

Don't forget to stop by to visit my fellow Crew Mates. We are all sharing Back to Homeschool from our own perspective, so enjoy the varied subjects and views this week. Below is a list of 11 of my friends with links to their blogs. Each day I will be sharing a different group of bloggers. If you would like to see the full list of participating blogs, I encourage you to check out my Back to Homeschool Blog Hop introduction post. 

Erin @ For Him and My Family

Lori @ At Home: where life happens

Margaret @ Creative Madness Mama

Nicole @ Some Call It Natural

Crystal @ Crystal Starr

Bonnie @ Write Bonnie Rose

Shawna @ Tenacity Divine

Carol @ Home Sweet Life

Kelli @ Adventure Homeschool 

Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning 

Leah Courtney @ As We Walk Along the Road

Let's Celebrate Back to Homeschool with some giveaways:

I happen to be hosting what I feel are some great back to homeschool giveaways. Each of these giveaways feature products related to school and learning. Just click on the link and you will be directed the the giveaway.

Enter to win:

A 3-month membership to A+ Interactive Math's Adaptive Placement Test w/ Individualized Lesson Plans
Don't miss your chance to enter this giveaway. It ends on August 15th!

A Classroom Friendly Supplies Pencil Sharpener
Ends August 22nd!

A copy of  The Reading Game
Ends August 22nd!

Dad's Role in our Homeschool

The Homeschool Village is hosting a linky that this week is asking what role dad plays in our homeschool.  I decided that this subject deserved a post here at Tots and Me, for if it wasn't for the blessing of my husband and his agreement to go the homeschool route our children would be headed to public school and the same problems my older children have dealt with.  

My husband is a great encourager in my decision to homeschool.  He was hesitant at first, worrying about the financial aspect.  How would we afford to buy curriculum, etc?  After doing quite a bit of research this past year I have shared with him that homeschooling doesn't have to cost a fortune.  We do not have to buy a bunch of curriculum.  There are many free resources online, many of which we are already utilizing.  I realize as they get older I may want to have some more structure and guidance, opting to use a curriculum (I am leaning toward the Weaver Curriculum used by a couple of families at our church, just because I like that it can be used by multiple age groups at the same time.  I figure by the time we need to be "official" here in Pa Tabitha will be in 3rd grade, Amelia in 2nd grade and Hannah in Kindergarten, I will need some organization, a way to keep everyone involved and doing things at their age level.  Oh, and I also like that it is a Christian Curriculum based around a Bible theme daily.).  We will cross that bridge when we come to it.  

Currently it is very difficult for my husband to have a lot of time with the children, whether homeschool related or not.  He is an LPN working at a Long Term Care facility on the night shift, 6pm to 6am.  He wakes up, eats dinner, leaves for work (usually while we are still eating), works all night, comes home and spends some wind down time on the computer or watching television (usually while we are still sleeping), eats breakfast and goes back to sleep.  His days off are spent catching up on his rest.  Don't get me wrong, he does find time to spend with the girls before going back to dream land and on his days off.  Sometimes he will let me sleep in and plays with the girls before I wake up.  He is the one who plays board games with them more often, especially Green Eggs and Ham and Candyland.  He is also the one who chases them around and lets them crawl all over him.  He is also very good at noticing when a subject comes up that is worthy of more instruction and taking the time to discuss it.  He also has some great ideas for units to study as they get older.  Even now he has contributed with crafts and printing worksheets out occasionally.  And of course he is there for the girls to showcase their works of art to.  

I couldn't do this without him.  He is adamant that I will stay home with the children where I am needed.  I missed out on that with the older children because of the divorce and needing to have a job.  I am looking forward to this journey of homeschooling with him at my side.

What role does dad play in your homeschool?  Link up at The Homeschool Village to share.

Completing Him Challenge: Praying for and admiring my hubby!

I am quite ashamed that I have been slacking on this Completing Him Challenge.  I feel like I am being pulled so many directions and am really trying to prioritize.  Sometimes I get so overwhelmed that it's like I am shutting down.  I really want to do my job well.  My job as wife and mother and homemaker and teacher of the children.  I am going to try to be much more diligent in getting, not just these posts out in a timely manner, but actually completing the challenge to 110% of my ability.

Anyway, I completely neglected my post last week.  So before I mention anything else let me paste what I just copied from over at Courtney's site describing last week's challenge:

Prayer changes things - do you believe that?Then let's get started! Here's a list of items you can begin to pray through for your husband (taken from Stormie's book):

1. His Wife -that's a good place to start right? lol!

2. His Work

3. His Finances

4. His Sexuality

5. His Affections

6. His Temptations

7. His Mind

8. His Fears

9. His Purpose

10. His Choices

11. His Health

12. His Protection

13. His Trials

14. His Integrity

15. His Reputation

16. His Priorities

17. His Relationships

18. His Fatherhood

19. His Past

20. His Attitude

21. His Marriage

22. His Emotions

23. His Walk

24. His Talk

25. His Repentance

26. His Deliverance

27. His Obedience

28. His Self-Image

29. His Faith

30. His Future

Challenge: Print this list out and pray through this list daily. Also, do not forget to ask your husband each morning for any specific prayer requests he has for the day.

Let's put it this way, I have never been confident in my prayer life and this week was a challenge in more ways than one.  I never did get over to Courtney's site to even realize she had this list available.  Right now, going out to buy the book by Stormie Omartian titled "The Power of a Praying Wife" is not financially feasible.  And I don't think we have it in the church library (though it does sound like a good investment), so I will not be able to borrow it.  However, I am pledging to myself that I will at least use this list, not just this week, but from now on, to pray for my hubby.  Now, I did ask him a couple of times last week how I could pray for him, and I got a couple of general responses.  And as I know he will be reading this post, as he does show support and read my posts, perhaps he will be able to think of some more specific things to be asking me to pray for him.  Though I am not very good at this I figure if I remain faithful my prayer life will improve.  I did notice, in some other posts that linked up, that there were some other good prayer pointers for praying that I would like to try out.

As I mentioned above, my hubby does read my posts, which I am so thankful for.  It means a lot to me that he cares about what I do.  This leads me into this weeks challenge.  

1) List all the flaws of your husband.

2) List all the things that you admire about your husband.

Grade yourself: Which question was easier to answer?

There will be some women out there who find it easier to admire their husband than list his flaws. But I would venture to say that most of us find it easier to list their flaws. It's a part of our sin nature!

So let's break out of that mold - go against the grain of the world and praise our husbands!!!


This weeks Marriage challenge is: Admire Your Husband. If you are a blogger write a post all about your husband and what you admire in him and then show it to him! He will smile! If you are not a blogger, list the things you admire about your husband in the comment section and show it to him!


Showing it to him is so important. You may THINK he already knows the things you admire about him - but I'm afraid we don't tell our husbands often enough how much we do.

Wouldn't you love it if he did this for you? Luke 6:31 says "Do to others as you would have them do to you." So here's your chance to selflessly gush about your man!

It does mean a lot to me that he reads my blog, because this blog contains information that is extremely important to me, mostly what I do with the children.  I know he is extremely busy and when he comes home from work he is extremely tired, but he takes the time to check up on what I write.  In addition to this he finds time to play with the children and even help get them dressed and breakfasted at times.  See, he works night shifts, 6pm to 6am as a nurse and when he comes home he has to unwind before going to bed.  But for the longest time now (first because of pregnancy, then because of newborn and sometimes because of just plain tiredness) he comes home to a sleeping wife and wide awake children.  He plays with them, he's been known to get out a board game and play with them.  He lets them exercise along side him when he uses the Wii Fit Plus. He has special tickle time rhymes he made up just for them.  There are times when, tired as he is I don't know how he keeps himself upright, he is allowing the children to climb all over him.  He reads to them.  He changes diapers (even the dirty ones).  He is the one who usually gives them a bath because of my itchy skin problems.  In fact that is a family time as I sit there and watch, we talk, the children play if there is time and then I dry and dress the girls.  He will even help with brushing teeth before bed at times. (These night time activities are only on days when he doesn't work obviously).  

He even helps around the house.  He has been known to do dishes and help cook.  He cleans the counter off for me occasionally.  He mows the lawn.  He helps with laundry, starting loads and even folding.  The majority of the time I don't even ask for help, he sees that it needs done and he does it.  At times I feel bad.  I mean I am home, I should have gotten to it.  I don't expect him to do it, he just does because he knows I need help with the three little ones.  This means so much to me because these are the same things my ex would complain about and I had three little ones back then.  And knowing he is willing to help actually motivates me to try harder to make this house a haven for him to come home to  and not have to do those things.  

It means a lot to me that he doesn't complain when those things don't get done in a timely manner.  I know, even if he doesn't admit it, that he would prefer that I got the cleaning done.  But he can see I have my hands full at times with the baby and with trying to get "lessons" done with the children.  

I am proud of the fact that he has a job where he can help people and he has been told by different people in different ways, that he makes a difference.  (He works in a nursing home type environment and I would love to have someone like him, someone who is looking out for the residents comfort and well-being, take care of me when I am at that point in my life.)  

He has a great sense of humor and we joke that it is a compliment when someone is called weird as then you are definitely fitting in with this family.  

I am so glad that the Lord brought us together.  

Completing Him Summer Challenge: The Wedding

I am participating in the Completing Him Summer Challenge hosted by Courtney over at Women Living Well. This weeks challenge is simple.   Remember Your Vows - post pictures of your wedding day. We will review the sacredness of this day.

Our wedding was really simple, we were as frugal as we could be.  With our families and friends working beside us we prepared a simple, yet meaningful ceremony.  We had known each other a little over 6 months, but one of the songs that was popular at the time said it so well, "When God made you He must have been thinking about me."  We feel we were brought together in God's timing.  After we stopped speaking "hypothetically" and decided we were to get married, we began to plan.  We enlisted the help of a friend at church to make a slide show which was to be shown during the ceremony.  He skillfully put together the pictures of us (recent pictures, growing up pictures, pictures of our children) to the song "When God Made You." by Newsong.  Here is a link to a copy of the lyrics.  I was fortunate to find a wedding dress on sale at a small wedding shop in the small town where I used to go to church.  My friend and I created our bouquets with artificial flowers.  I made hair clips (finished them the day of the wedding, so like me).  A friend from church styled my hair and all three girls' hair as a wedding gift.  Harold's sister prepared the food.  Someone who Harold knew owned a bakery and gave us a deal on the cake.  And we had the ceremony at the church I attend;  there is no charge for church members.  And to top it off, the church was already decorated for Easter in the light purple color I wanted for our wedding.  We arranged the furniture the night before the ceremony, along with the Rehearsal.  The wedding went off almost without a hitch.

We had my and Harold's mother light the candles and be seated by Harold's boys (Chris and Alex) to the song Wind Beneath My Wings.

Harold, Harold's dad (who was his best man) and Pastor Wally entered to Fun Zone by Weird Al (I believe my hubby has to be Weird Al's number one fan).

The processional was set to the song "Two Less Lonely People in the World" by Air Supply.

I was escorted down the aisle by my two sons to the traditional music.

Looking back on the wedding DVD today as I was trying to remember details (and I also just took the majority of these pictures by pausing the DVD and photographing the screen) I was so touched by all Pastor Wally said about marriage.  Christ is to be our example.  He quoted Paul as the teacher of what love should be from 1 Corinthians 13, part of which we had printed in our wedding programs (which I can't find or I would have included).  Pastor Wally used both the traditional wedding vows and then allowed us to use the vows we made ourselves.  It is by God's grace that we have come together, so his girls, Amanda and Candice sang Amazing Grace.  He also talked about needed Christ in the middle of our marriage to avoid the friction that would come with out him. 

We then showed the "When God Made You" slide show.  After that we joined the separate candles together and lit the unity candle.  As stated by Pastor Wally, "It symbolized how we are made one, our thoughts are to be for each other." And blowing out the individual candles symbolized that we are now united and are not divided anymore.  We then sang "Bind Us Together" which was a song we sang at Koinonia and at my old church and new church.

We were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. 

Then we took pictures while the food was prepared.  These are the only pictures I had until I decided to take pictures of my tv screen today:

Completing Him Summer Challenge: The Dating Days

For this week's challenge we are going back to where it all began.  Our dating days.  This is the first challenge in the Completing Him Summer Challenge being hosted by Courtney over at Women Living Well.

Harold and I met when I decided to get into his mother's car to talk to her at a Koinonia event.  I had never met him before but we soon realized we had a lot in common.  His mom and another friend were coming over to my house that night as Harold needed his mom's car for the next day.  He says we can thank his love of football and the Buffalo Bills for our meeting.  Anyway, we spent some time together at the Koinonia meeting and then I followed them until we got to a place that was familiar to him so he could take his mom's car while she came with me.  I remember wondering if there were any future possibilities, but figured he wouldn't be interested.  I later found out that his birthday was coming up.  So I emailed his mother and asked her to tell him Happy Birthday for me.  Still too chicken to contact him myself.  I was ecstatic when he emailed me back.  And we exchanged emails for a while, getting to know each other better.  I was nervous about letting my older children know I was interested in another man, even though their dad had left me several years earlier and was remarried.  I wasn't sure how they would deal with it.  I had met some of his children when we went to the Family Life Network's fall sharathon.  We actually had been emailing for almost a month and had just met face to face again at another Koinonia event. We decided we could get together the next day and I could meet his kids in a friendly atmosphere with his mom along.  Our first real "date" which wasn't really a date, was a trip to Wellsville to choose carpet for my son's room.  The first time he came down to my home I cooked dinner and we went out to see the third Left Behind movie that a local church was showing.  I was still hesitant to introduce him to the children. But when I told them about him Steven's response was, "Are you going to get married?"  

Anyway, we actually started spending more time on the phone in the middle of the night than on the computer.  He lived an hour away and we both worked so getting together was a little tricky.  I started going with him on Thursdays to have breakfast with his dad and then over to the auction, if I didn't have to work.   We started "hypothetically" talking about getting engaged and I don't remember when it turned into a definite.  We didn't have money for a ring at the time, but we went looking together and chose a set with crosses on them. Guess I forgot to mention the first place we went out to eat together was Ponderosa.  That is important because the day we went to pick up the rings he wouldn't let me have it right away.  He also wouldn't tell me where we were going.  He took me to the same Ponderosa we first went to.  Sometime between purchasing the rings and sitting down to eat he had palmed the ring and "surprised" me by officially proposing and putting the ring on my finger.  Of course I said yes. :)  The remainder of our dating days was filled with late night phone calls, or 1 hour trips to each others houses.  And of course, planning the wedding.

We decided it was God's design that brought us together at the right timing.  We later found out we had both been at a Koinonia Cross Walk in the past, but had never met.  

And now for the challenge from Courtney:

Consider: How much time do you spend on a daily/weekly basis cultivating your marriage now? In what ways can you regain some of what has been lost in the daily shuffle of life?

We have been married 4 years.  With daily stresses of being part of a blended family and having 3 young ones to chase after, we have definitely lost some of that spark.  I had thought I wouldn't let that happen.  Harold works night shift as a nurse, so even his days off (like today) are spent sleeping.  Most of our time together is with the children present.  So, I am embarrassed to say I haven't spent a lot of time lately cultivating this relationship.  That's why I said I feel this challenge is God's perfect timing for our relationship, once again.  Even though we can't go back to the emails and the phone calls I definitely think I need to go back to the notes I wrote to him at the beginning of our marriage.

Sorry there are no photos.