Plain Dress! part 2

Belts or Suspenders?

        Truly this is a matter of preference. But suspenders do offer certain advantages. We find them to be versatile in the pants they can hold up,and easy to use..

Plain Dress! part 1

Plain dress is practical!

        Plain dress is relatively easy to achieve and should be practical too. But simple dress does not mean shabby or shoddy. Plain and simple dress is more about reducing the time we waste on clothing maintenance, laundering, and coordination.

       

Baby Blessings!

     The joys of children! Truly, I can't think of a greater gift from the Lord than the gift of a child-biological or  adopted. Children bring joys and tests. They bring accountability and vision to our lives...for them and us. They teach us patience, organization, mediation, and cooperation. The list goes on. We see the world stripped of pretence when we look through their eyes. The ordinary becomes extraordinary when we get down to there level and explore.
     Truly we are blessed to experience the bliss of new life coming through us. With glad rejoicing we present, Gideon.

Good Deal! Great Blessing!

      Lord willing, we will grow out of our mini van by the end of the summer. As we were approaching this new child's birthday, we have been watching for a larger van. We did not know exactly what the Lord would provide, but we felt strongly that it would be inexpensive.

Homeschooling with Teaching Textbooks

Disclaimer: We love Teaching Textbooks but this endorsement was not paid and we are not connected to the company in any way.

      We love Waldorf style learning, especially for the younger children. But it is very time consuming, both in planning and execution. As my boys are growing older we need to devote more time to science experiments and life skills. We are really flexible with most subjects on assignments. We mix and match many curriculums.  
       But for math I have found that my children do best with steady, incremental lessons that build on each other. I don't have a strong enough grasp on math to design those myself beyond a certain point. I have been really hesitant to use the computer as a teacher. I would rather my children experience learning in a more holistic manner, but I have given in on this particular point for this particular subject.
        Teaching Textbooks is both a workbook and computer based learning system. It is very well paced and the children can manage all aspects of their lesson without me. (This is very helpful as Karson needs more of my time as he is learning to read.) It takes them about 30-45 minutes depending on the lesson. Then they are done with math! They love that they can do it themselves and love it when they get a perfect score.
       

Lead Your Children Through The Day!

   When we listened to Denny Kenaston's  Family Life Series, we gleaned many good tips for building a happy family life. The lesson I have been most blessed by and struggled with the most has been the lesson, "Lead your children through the day!".  This means being a presence in their lives and living every day with purpose and vision.

Wood Cookstoves: Pros & Cons

     Have you ever considered using a wooden cook stove in your house? It heats, cooks, and makes hot water for only the price of the wood you fill it with! We love ours. With a family of this size, it sure saves on energy bills.

You Can Do A Lot With A Little!

     My dear husband has shown me how to stretch a dollar time and time again. We began building our house almost 2 and a half years ago. I always new he was a saver but I had no idea just how much until he started assembling our "new" home out supplies he had been collecting over the years from different sources.
   

The Beginning

Welcome to the Showalter family blog! We look forward to sharing our lives with you!