THEME: This week I'd like to invite you to share what YOUR "Mom" help is.

When I take a break, I like to get a big glass of Pepsi, some kind of chocolate, and sit down in front of the computer and read my favorite blogs!

          Scripture Share: Please share a Scripture that gives you a "mom"  help when you're spirit is feeling overwhelemed.

Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Mat 8:11-13

The Assignment: The time will be changing again. Anyhow this is our 10th Homeschool Memoirs so this week it's going to be about 10 timely facts about you! Write 10 interesting, crazy, weird, fun facts about you! Include facts about you as a woman, a wife, a mommy, a homeschooler, a homekeeper, a taxi-driver, a cook, etc . I only put 10 facts because I didn't want to overwhelm you, but you're welcome to do more! I just posted 101 Facts about myself on my blog, which you can take a look at if you should like.

OK, Here goes:

1. I can remember every phone number I've ever had.
2. I love Ford Mustangs.
3. I have 2 step-sisters, 1 half-sister, and a full sister.
4. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 18.
5. The only "D" I ever got was in Home Ec.
6. I enjoy taking notes.
7. My first job was at a McDonald's, where I mostly worked at the drive-through.
8. I caught the stove on fire once because I put aluminum foil on the broiler pan.
9. I repeat lines from movies over and over until it drives everyone crazy.
10. The first album I ever bought was Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet.

This week share your favourite spot to study with your kids. There are many places you can sit down to teach, learn, and work, but where do you prefer and why? You're welcome to include a photo of your study spot!

We are lucky to have a room designated for school. Well, the kids also use that room to play in and watch TV, but we do not have to have school in another room in the house. In the school room, each child has a desk with their computer on it. This is where we sit, when we are reading a lesson from the computer screen, or the kids are working on Study Island (or other educational game) or typing.

This is Butterfly's computer desk. That little card attached to her monitor is a sign to remind her to get a drink on her break before she comes back to work. (It doesn't usually work, though :) ).

This is Firefly's computer desk and a picture of her on her computer. I'm not sure that is school work there though, lol.

For written work, we all sit around a table we have in the middle of our school room. It gives the kids more room for their books, and it's easier for me to move back and forth between the two of them as they are working. Where the big book is open is where I sit. Here' s a picture of that:

Another place we often do school work is in the car. :) Happy studying!

The girls like to take frequent breaks throughout the school day - and that usually means that it's time to grab a snack! I can't say all of our snacks are particularly healthy, but we usually have a pretty good mixture. We usually snack during the evening while we watch TV also. Here are some of the snacks we enjoy:

Yogurt

Pudding

String Cheese

Snack cakes

Apples

Bananas

Applesauce

Fruit cups

Chips

Crackers

Granola bars

cereal

Pop tarts

Cereal bars/Fruit bars

Cookies

Grapes

I'm sure there is more, but that's all I can think of at the moment. As you can see, these are all grab 'n go type snacks - not much preparation or cooking. With our busy days, I'm all for convenience :)

You can join Homeschool Memoirs at www.homeschoolblogawards.com

This week I hope you'll share something new you're using, why you've decided to use it, and if you have used it how you like it. Make sure to include the publishing information and where you got it from so others can look into if they like.

FOR THE KIDS

http://www.macmillanmh.com/math/2003/student/factdash/popup.html This is a game called Fact Dash that allows kids to practice their facts in an interactive drill. You can set the time for them to answer 30 questions (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing or mixed). I love this one because it keeps track of the ones they have missed for you to review at the end.

http://www.studyisland.com/ This is a website that helps kids get ready for their state standardized testing by giving them blue ribbons as they progress. It also helps reinforce skills you're child is learning at their grade level. They learn by playing games, so it makes it a little more fun.

www.kidzone.ws This website has fantastic handwriting lessons. I used them a lot last year. All the lower case letters are available.

http://www.zaner-bloser.com/educator/products/handwriting/index.aspx?id=4296 Another handwriting site. This one you can make your own using spelling words or whatever you'd like. I like the format and how it looks once it's printed.

FOR THE MOMS

http://highland.hitcho.com.au/teacherforms.htm. These are my favorite record keeping/organizing forms. The have weekly lesson planning sheets, calendars, etc. I guess what I like best about them is that they have big squares so there is lots of room to write. They look nice, too.

http://www.thehomeschoolmom.com/ This website is great! It is where I found the one above. It has more planning pages, free menu plans, and lots of other stuff.