Today is actually day 2 because the challenge started yesterday, but I got so busy that this is my first post on the topic.

I am joining my need to loose weight with my desire to blog everyday. If you are a mom blogger and you are interested in joining this community you can get the details here @ Mommy Blogger Weight Loss Challenge.

Personally I am always looking for encouragement to loose weight and inspiration to blog everyday. I have been trying sense I birthed my daughter to get back in shape, and slowly but surely its happening. I am trying this challenge because I love a game, I want a reason to blog everyday, meet people of similar challenges and share our journey of overcoming two huge goals.

Here is to day two. Stay tuned for more.

What’s happening in the Sierra’s?

Mom:

• I have had 2 interviews thus far with 3 more to go for an awesome job opportunity in the Homeschooling field. I would love to share more but if I get it you’ll be the first to know.
• I am no longer the Board President for our preschool co-op and my daughter is now home with J and I. I have been dreaming of this day for months, and now we are all under the same house schooling around the table. Sure it’s not perfect but it’s pretty close to it.
• Fireman, the kids and I came home last Thursday from visiting our new niece. She is beautiful and her parents are a joy to watch be parents themselves. He’s my older brother and this is baby number 1, so its safe to say  that I have been waiting a log time to visit his baby.
• I am so happy that maybe we have sneaked under the radar of “old man Winter” and we will not have to dig out this year. I know we need water…la te da, but after last winter I am so ready for a long hot summer, and fire’s are a bonus check around these parts.

J

• He is having a hard time these past few weeks. School has been a mixture of academics and a lot of discipline. He wakes up screaming in the night with no obvious reasons why and cannot remember the next morning. I refuse to have him see a doctor for a medication that has more side affects then healing qualities. For as long as he’s been alive I have been determined to make his life work.
• He excels in math, and is a joy to watch on a mountain bike.
• He has a great relationship with our puppy and greats her every morning with as much energy as she does. If we lived without neighbors I would send the two of them outside first thing to run.

L

• Like I mentioned earlier she is now home everyday for pre-k homeschool.
• Her vocabulary can stop me in my tracks. She reminds me everyday that she is listening to everything.
• Unlike number 1 she wants to sit at the table with a crayon in her hand. She is ready to soak it all in.
• Sometimes she will be missing in the house and I will find her quietly playing in her room and talking to her babies. If I don’t bother her she could stay there for some time.

Fireman

• Is busy working and saving people
• He bought himself and I a new IPhone 4S for Christmas. I think sometimes he loves it more then me. LOL!!
• He has taken and interest in J’s homeschooling and is ok helping with math or bible study.
• I love him more today then when I said “I do” how does that happen?

My life is full and wonderful. There are many moments that I am pulling my hair out but at the end of a day I know I am blessed.

Me and my new niece

It has been a slow start into the New Year here at our house. J’s homeschool does not officially start until the 9th, and L’s preschool does not kick off our new curriculum until the 9th. Which means it is slow moving around here. Just this morning for the first time all vacation we all slept in until 8:30am. I could hardly believe my eyes when I read the clock, but knowing we had no where to go meant enjoying both kids in bed while fireman made coffee.

I love slow. I was created to be at a slower pace then most. My metabolism runs slow, my mind processes information longer then average (which is not to say I am not an above average learner), and I would like nothing more then to sit. I have been in a battle over this reality my entire life, but this week I am enjoying the pace.

Forcing myself to become faster takes a lot of effort. I get up before the rest of my family, shower, dress and make sure I’ve had one cup of coffee. I workout endlessly to boost my slow metabolism and drink gallons of water to fight off fatigue, I read books teaching me the techniques of fast paced people and in the end after one week of just being me I like being slow and steady.

Next week will come and I’ll wake up before everyone, and life will resume it’s not so slow pace, but I’ll have a wonderful memory of this week. A week where no one had to be anywhere and I did not need anything.

How is your first New Year week going?

Did you really think I would miss the opportunity to post on the first Monday of the New Year?? Well I almost forgot, but then I saw this great Maxine comic.

I love the truth in this. Can you relate by now?

I can honestly say I have not made any New Years resolutions but to say that I have not. I still remember all the resolutions from years past that I did not complete and the thought of making a new one in a new year makes me sick. I would rather stick to the goals I have been working on and keep moving forward.

• Keep my bible close by and well read
• Keep loosing weight (isn’t that without saying???)
• Spend more time playing with my kids
• Be a better friend to my husband and to my friends
• Practice more generosity
• Read the books I currently own instead of buying new ones to add to the pile
• Blog everyday…..hahahaha!!! no really I would love to have the motivation but I lack commitment to post. Most days I feel like a distracted fly going to every window in the house except the right one. Busy being busy but not accomplishing anything.

No I’ll stick with this on going list of goals and hopefully by next year I’ll have a new list.

What have you been resolved to do this year?

I have a new online obsession!

For those of you who have been in the dark (like I was) let me explain Pinterest. It is an online pin board where people can “pin” there favorite pictures which link to the website they “pined” from. There are categories for  gifts that range from 0-$1000+ dollars, diy & crafts, holiday decor, clothes, books & movies, and many many more to choose from. If you love to look at beautiful pictures and dream of a more craftier life then this is the place for you.

How do you get there?

You can click on the link above and follow me but you’ll need to be invited first. Invited by someone you know or like myself I tweeted my need and someone took pity. I must give a warning! If you think Facebook or blogging is time-sucking then watch the clock when your on Pinterest because you might get lost down the rabbit hole.

Happy Pinning!

I’m on the fence with homeschooling this week more then ever before. I spend so much of my time disciplining my son for this thing and that thing that we rarely ever have fun with school. I am beginning to dread the time we have to take for Math and Phonics, but he and I both love Classical Conversations. Am I asking to much of a 6 year old boy to sit and write numbers , letters, and code words he forgets from one day to the next? What am I really asking from him?

A friend of mine recently asked if a homeschool coop would help, but unfortunately even if it would help there would not be one until next year, and I need help now. There are just to few of us who homeschool around here that it makes it hard to cry on anyone’s shoulder. This is darn hard work raising kids and teaching them their ABC’s 123′s. I wish there was a magical answer to fix the dread.

At the core of our family I know public school is not an option, but do I really need to sacrifice my sanity for the next 13 years? Someone please offer their support I am hanging on by a thread.

Happy 2 years,

The Sierra Home Companion!

Actually its a belated happy birthday, but I can hardly believe that it has been 2 years. I started The Sierra Home Companion because I felt I had a lot to talk about and no one to listen (housewife’s understand), so I discovered the community of bloggers. I loved reading blogs and found myself getting lost in the archives of many who eventually inspired me to start my own. I wanted to be a part of this secret club where people seemed to be real, where hurts were published and joys shared, where life happened and someone took the time to write it down. Some people hate know others business like what they ate that day or how they were feeling as they watched Glee, but I love it. I tell people blogging is like reading someones diary, and sure your online life can be anything you want it to be, but there are people who I believe to be genuine in their blogs.

I know that over the past 2 years I have had moments of consistency followed by long absences, but each year when I am facing the renew option I can’t imagine not being here. Everything on this site has taken time to build and some friendships that have been formed from this blog are a God sent. Therefore I want to thank each of you, my readers and friends for being here to read, comment, and tweet about this blog. It has been a journey with some days having more words then others.

Here is to 2 years may they only be the start.

My mother-in-law had the kids over night last night, which was a wonderful surprise. Fireman and I had a potluck to go to with our bible study, and it’s always fun not to have to get an extra plate or have to cut up meat. Instead we were relaxed and let everyone else attend to their kids. We left later then normal because we had no one to tuck in but ourselves.

This morning Fireman woke up and left for work while I made a fire, enjoyed fresh coffee and watched my new addiction, Brothers and Sisters. I told myself that at 9am I would get my act together and give this house a deep clean. Having the kids gone is not a new thing, however I usually find myself watching movies and convincing myself that I can clean the house when their home. However when they do come home I am grumpy because I have not done anything but watch tv all day. Today was the day to do what I had to do, clean.

Being a homeschooling mom I have finally resigned to the fact that this house will never be a manicured home. It will never look like the ones I see in pictures, because it’s lived in. 24/7 we live here and I realize that I would never want it any other way. Sure having hours a day to myself while the kids are at school is tempting. Think of all the work I would get done! But the reality is; houses will always need to be cleaned, but kids will not always be teachable. And having said all of this when my kids came home today, yes I was more peaceful, but they managed to mess up their rooms in minutes which means that I still have my work cut out for me tomorrow.

Here at our house J, my 6 year old is in his first year of Classical Conversations.

Classical Conversations is based on the classical approach to learning combined with a biblical worldview. The classical model divides learning into three stages: 1) the grammar stage which is the introduction of memorizing facts, 2) the dialectic stage is where those facts are discovered through more in depth research, and 3) the rhetoric stage, the stage where you apply the facts and where you become a master of an area. Using these three methods of learning while combining a biblical worldview the parent and the student will be able to succeed in any subject.

The class meets once a week where a tutor (I myself am a tutor this year) will organize the class time into New Grammar, Presentations, Art, Science, and Grammar review. The class moves fast which is beneficial for young kids who have a hard time sitting or focusing. The tutors use music, rhythm, hand motions, and any other trick to help the memorizing of new matierial.

What are we memorizing? Each year you as the student and parent will memorize

• 160 events and people in chronological order
• 24 history sentences, including the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights
• 44 U.S. Presidents
• 120 locations and geographical features in North America, U.S.
• 24 science facts, including the first 12 elements of the periodic table and the parts of 8 body systems
• Latin rules and vocabulary, including the text of John 1:1-7 in Latin and English
• English grammar facts, including the principal parts of 11 irregular verbs
• Multiplication tables up to 15X15, common squares and cubes, as well as basic geometry formulas and unit conversions

That’s over 400 pieces of information!

Not to mention their exposure to drawing techniques, music theory, great artists, an introduction to the orchestra and classical composers, 12 science experiments, and 24 oral presentations.

This is just one Cycle of 3 that you move through each year, so this year we are cycle 3 (U.S. history emphasis), and the following years will be cycle 2, and cycle 1.I feel so blessed to have been introduced to the classical style of learning, and then to find a group of people to work with. I know that in the first 3 weeks of CC my son who is in the class, my daughter who is not but plays in the classroom, and me who facilitates it all are quicker and sharper in our memory and speech.

If there is only one day of class what do we do with the rest of our week? Each day we review our new grammar as quickly and efficiently as it is done in class which means it should only take about 30 minutes. Then we move on to our geography, learning the new states and capitals. I have purchased The Story of the World volumes 3 and 4 which have added stories and activities to our history sentences. NetFlix has a great program called Liberty’s Kids that we have started watching which gives the kids their history lesson in animation. Altogether it takes about an hour of our day to review for Classical Conversations.

If you are interested in learning more about CC or to find a local community near you,  you can visit there sight at www.classicalconversations.com. I will periodically be writing about our CC journey here, and I hope you follow along.

In my life this week:

I have had a week of roller-coasters, with some being gentle and rolling and others making me want to throw up. With the addition of Classical Conversations these past 3 weeks J has not been excited to do anything school related, so its been a battle of the wills most days. However I am enjoying the fullness of my life. From an outside perspective it might just look busy, but I am enjoying everyday roller-coasters included.

In our homeschool this week:

After 2 weeks of Classical Conversations behind us I finally was able to “touch” a little of it each day with J. He loves the history songs, and being able to jump around while skip counting is a bonus for a 6 year old boy. Math and phonic has taken a back seat to make room for Classical Conversations. I have yet to integrate all the work we need to do in a day, but most of the time I’m not to worried about it.

We (mom, J, and L) are part of Community Bible study one day a week, so J and I need to make sure we make time for his lesson each day or by Wednesday we are cramming 5 days into 1.

L still attends a local co-op 3 days a week, which has made her the busiest of the family, but she loves her time.

Helpful homeschooling tips to share:

During CBS this week the director of Moms in Touch was asked to share a little about the organization, and specifically what they are doing each Thursday morning. I admit that I have seen advertising for Moms in Touch before and I horribly thought that I prayed enough for my kids that what could a “meeting” once a week do to change anything? Well after listening to the testimonies I was convicted of not praying enough or praying scripture. I never prayed scripture over my kids before, and I can only believe what a transformation that would make if I did.

My advice is to pray, pray for your kids specific scriptures, and meet with other moms who will stand in agreement with you. As a Christian homeschooling mom I am swimming up stream with 2 little ones on my back, and I need to speak as much protection over them as possible.

I am inspired by:

One of my dear friends has been training for the Nike Womens Marathon next Sunday and I’ve been watching her train so diligently that it got me thinking “what could I be so diligent about?” She has inspired me to look at what I am doing now, and how I could make any of it better.

Places we are going and people we are seeing:

We’ve had a pretty full week this week, but we have not gone anywhere unusual as a family. Last Saturday was a date night for mom and dad. We went and saw Courageous, and I cried through most of it. The kids spent the weekend with Nana, which they always love, but are excited to come home. This weekend is a bit more relaxed. J has golf, and L and I spent the morning watching Caliou.

What’s working or not working for us:

I love being a part of L’s co-op and teaching, and I am enjoying tutoring J’s Classical Conversations class. My week is flanked with these opportunities to interact with young minds eager to learn, which make the middle of my week with a stubborn boy seem a bit more tolerable.

Questions/thoughts I have:

I want to know what you moms do with a child who refuses day after day that they do not want to do school? How much of it do you discipline them for? I really do find myself angrier then I want to be and I know that is not the right answer. If you have advice I would love to hear it.

I am reading:

My bible is the only book lately that I’ve picked up to read, which for a lot of reasons is a good thing. I read a lot of Facebook posts, and blogs in my feed. If there are any wonderful books out there you can suggest pass them this way.

I am cooking:

My friend who is running the marathon is also a Wildtree rep, so right now I am cooking shredded pork with her Enchilada sauce for homemade enchiladas.

I’ll leave you with this:

Its not a really new change but for many of you it is, new. I love my darker shorter cut.