Devotionals and priorities...parting thoughts...

The time has come for me to say goodbye to this blog. It has been a great source of personal journaling and connection with family and friends. I have also met several incredible ladies through blogging and am so grateful for all I have learned and continue to learn from them.

I've reached that point in my life, however, where something's gotta give. It's impossible for me to be the mother I want to be, homeschool my three energetic boys, care for a new baby girl, cook healthy meals three times a day, keep a clean house, serve in my church, date my husband, have a growing relationship with Christ, mow the yard, weed my garden, grocery shop, fold laundry, scrapbook, travel, AND try to document it all through this blog. This season of motherhood will pass much to quickly and I don't want to look back and read about it, I want to look back and remember it and know that I gave my children my very best.

Chores- training little helpers

For the last few years I have hired wonderful teenagers to help me clean house because I was too overwhelmed with my small children to keep on top of it all. Since we have been in Germany I have not found anyone who lives close enough to help me and have been forced to go it alone.

I found that keeping everything picked up took so much time and these little boys could make messes faster than I could clean up, I knew I had to either teach them to help or hire outside help. After reading several helpful blog postings like Operation Chore Training, The Unlikely Homeschool and Confessions of a Homeschooler, as well as some great advice from my facebook friends I finally got my little guys trained and my house has been clean every day for more than a month now! Really!

Our {current} homeschool schedule...a day in the life...

I am a big scheduler. I love to write out everything I need to do and manage it all in little blocks of time. But sticking to that schedule? Well...that's another story. As my family changes, the house, state or country we live in changes I have to adjust our schedule to accommodate and am constantly trying to figure out what will work best for us. I've finally figured out a routine that works for the current phase we are in. It may change six months from now, but as of today it is working fabulously!

Prague City

We enjoyed our trip into the beautiful city of Prague, the castle on the hill had the most amazing views...

Prague, Medieval Knight Show

We visited Prague over the fourth of July weekend and had a great time. It was definitely an adventure since we don't speak a word of Czech (other than hello= Ahoj). They are part of the EU but you must still use Czech crowns in most places and 20 crowns is equivalent to 1 dollar. While most people in the city speak English or German, few people in the suburbs or country do.

The boys are getting a bit tired of city visiting cities so we thought they'd enjoy a knight tournament. It was about an hour outside of Prague (click here for the website) and it was very well done. The show runs from 2-4pm and was well worth the drive.

Week in review (last week, that is...)

Here are a few moments from last week. This week we're in Prague. Happy Independence Day!

Guest Post: Homeschooling multiple children!

I'm so excited for this article by Courtney over at Ordinary, Happily Ever After. I have been following her blog for several years now and she doesn't know this, but I was first drawn in by a political article she wrote. I was truly impressed by how well written it was- intelligent, articulate, and right on point. She inspired me to be more involved in educating myself about issues rather than just hiding behind the "I'm just a mother" shield. She seems to be able to write exactly what I am thinking but cannot put to words.

Now that I have a new baby, the thought of teaching four children over the next 18 years is extremely overwhelming. She was the first person I went to to ask HOW can I homeschool more than one child when they are all at different levels??? As a veteran homeschooling mother of five, she has some great words of wisdom. Take it away Courtney!

First of all I want to say a big THANK YOU to Cari for asking me to write today! I've been a fan of hers for a while and now I feel like I'm playin' with the big dogs :)

As a homeschooling mom, one of the questions am often asked (after the obligatory "Oh, I could never do that" comment) is, "How do you teach so many different ages/grades at the same time?" In a five minute conversation it's difficult to convey what homeschooling even IS, let alone how I manage to juggle the educational needs of each of my five children and myself. More often than not I give them my rehearsed answer of how I do A, B, and C; and while I'm sure they can sort of understand what I'm saying, they don't really get it. I'm assuming though, that if you are reading this you are interested in more than the 10 second sound byte. So here it goes...

Bern, Switzerland LDS Temple Pictures

The protectors

The little princess at four months old, and her protectors. Just look at those chubby little legs!

Maison Cailler chocolate factory & Gruyère factory and castle tours

This day was definitely the highlight of our trip. I was excited to take the boys on a tour of the cheese and chocolate factory but did not anticipate how awesome it would really be. First of all, the way to reach these towns from Interlaken was through a seasonal mountain pass (very narrow and winding!) which had THE most amazing views.

This was taken with my iPhone, yes it really is THAT green here

Interlaken, Brienz wood carvers, Jungfraujoch and Paragliding

Switzerland has moved up on my list of most amazing places on earth. I had been to Zurich several years ago but it gave me no preparation for the beauty I would behold driving across the country. Unfortunately the drive from Zurich to Interlaken is a series of tunnels with just a few glimpses of the countryside, however those few glimpses are completely breathtaking. I wish I could have taken photos of the first tunnel we came out of, it was the kind of scenery movies are made of, incredible mountain cliffs and green valleys. I'm convinced that a person could drive every day for a month in Switzerland and see something totally magnificent each day.

Zurich, Switzerland a taste of local culture

We had so much fun in Zurich. There really aren't many tourist sites and that's what made it so fun. We took a few pictures of the churches and the beautiful river then wandered through the town to see what locals do. 

Neuschwanstein Castle and Iron Kids Switzerland

Part 2: Salzburg, Austria

I'm not sure which was more enjoyable, touring around Salzburg or the beautiful drive there. Here are some photos I took from the car on the drive over.

Garmish and Nördlingen {and photographs for sale}

My husband's parents came to visit us for several weeks and we hit the road on another trip to one of our favorite places- Garmisch-Partenkirchen. On our way we visited the medieval town of Nördlingen which sits near the impact point of a meteorite that hit the earth 15 million years ago. The boys climbed the treacherously old steps to the top of the cathedral for a bird's eye view of the town.