Showing posts with label Telos Living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Telos Living. Show all posts
Who Am I?


Hi! I am Nicole, wife to one amazing man, mom to three beautiful, inside and out, kiddos, and most importantly, a sold out passionate follower of Jesus Christ. Once upon a time I had this blog...and then life, kids, homeschooling, self doubt, and everything else crept in and I stepped away. But God has been so faithful! He continues to faithfully and painstakingly mold me into His image every day. As the days, months, and yes, years have passed, I have often missed sharing what is happening in my heart, family, and homeschool . . . so I am back and we have a new look . . .

What is Telos Living?



The name of our homeschool is Telos Christian Academy. Telos is the greek word for end, goal, or purpose. Basically it sums up in one word what I and my family are about. We believe in living life-- all of it-- family relationships, friendships, church, activities, sports, homeschooling...all of it, to the Glory of God. Like most families, we are busy, I spend half my day in the car chauffeuring children to one sport or the other, but it is my heart's desire that whether my kids are practicing gymnastics or memorizing Scripture, that they know that every breathe we take should have a purpose in advancing the Kingdom of God. This idea is the foundation of everything we do-- every parenting decision, every homeschool lesson, every field trip...every step we take should take us one step closer to Jesus. We live our lives everyday with the Telos at the forefront of our minds. Living to the glory of God is Telos Living!

Thank you for joining our family as we walk the bumpy road of life and I share our journey of homeschooling, parenting, and Telos Living. Some days are amazing, and others we seem to get stuck in a ginormous pothole...but our goal is that all of them are lived to the Glory of God!
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Chlorine, sunscreen, laughter, and smiles. The sights and sounds of summer.



During the school year, all too often I am "homeschool" mom. Focused on math and reading, history and science. I tend to be task oriented in nature and work hard to overcome that for my kids. I can often overcome by making relationship a task. I know that sounds crazy for those of  you who are relationship oriented, but I have to schedule things like forts and baking . . . I know it is important to my kids, so I make it important to me. It doesn't happen naturally. I have to be intentional. And it is easy to be distracted from that which is important...

We are in our first full week of summer. The older two have swimming lessons every morning for a few weeks. How we spend the beginning of every summer . . . swimming and playing with friends. Movie nights, read alouds, those projects we didn't get to this year (that crazy model castle I am wishing we still hadn't gotten to!), staying up late,  lazy mornings, free bowling, $1 movies. I love summer time. Not just because my to do list isn't full of "school," but because the first and foremost priority on my summer to do list is "enjoy my kids."

Yes, that is always my priority. But summer tends to put everything in perspective. It's time to breathe. Less distractions. Time to smile at those precious little people that are mine. 

 I am ignoring the messy house today. It can wait. This summer I will paint with them, I will get in the pool and not sit on the side. I will bowl with them, laugh with them, read to them, get messy and sweaty with them, put the iPhone and iPad down, and take advantage of the relationships of summer.

The Relationships of Summer

by on 10:43 AM
Chlorine, sunscreen, laughter, and smiles. The sights and sounds of summer. During the school year, all too often I am "homeschoo...
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Stop the ride! I want to get off! Those were the words I spoke to my dh last Friday. And those words explain why I have been absent from blogland the last couple of months. After a family tragedy, a missions conference, a week of teaching ESL, a tragedy adventure I have nonaffectionately named the licecapades, out of town family visiting, and numerous other events of both positive and negative nature. . . I am getting off the ride! 




We have been schooling, but in the midst of chaos there have been far too many weeks of just getting the basics of math and LA done. We are having a history heavy week this week and trying to catch up on some read alouds. Next week we will do the same with science.

A few highlights from January and February!

Math:
C finshed RS A in January and began MM1


E began MM 3A

 LA: E just finished All About Spelling 3 and started AAS 4 this week. We dropped Writing With Ease 2 in January in favor of using the WWE text to implement writing across the curriculum and mainly using narration/dication/and copywork from our current read aloud. (I am still trying to get my feet under me with this.)

E is loving using the Kindle Fire in homeschooling. I have loaded games and videos, but also just put on Writing With Ease passages, and First Language Lessons so she can follow along on her own and use the PDF annotator when applicable. She loves it!


History and Science: oh goodness we are behind here! I am currently trying to make it so we can finish in May but not rush through anything...all while still trying to enjoy the ride! (yeah, not easy, but I am doing my best!)


We had a trip to the Orlando Science Museum which was a blast! 
C particularly enjoyed the Star Wars exhibit.


We visited downtown Disney while in Orlando and went to the kids Orlando faves: 
 T Rex Restaurant and the Lego Store! 


Always the gymnast! 



C started Upward basketball, and LOVES it!!!


A trip to LegoLand and the County Fair. All three continue to be adrenaline junkies!!!


A few dance parties on the table and counters...I mean, why not?!? 




AND J TURNED 3!!!!!!
Happy Birthday J!!!!



She was excited for her pony/camping birthday party!


Her aunt made her a crazy awesome cake! 


The kids were in a commercial for their Papa's company...


Phewwww.... a whirlwind start to the new year! I was more than ready for some structure and stability this week, and am thoroughly enjoying it! You should hear some more from me as I dust off my blog and join you all back in blogland! I have missed it!

Stop the Ride!

by on 4:09 PM
Stop the ride! I want to get off! Those were the words I spoke to my dh last Friday. And those words explain why I have been absent from...
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I can't be the only one that struggles with the blurred lines of mom verses homeschool mom. How much of my time do I spend planning, researching, preparing, teaching, and doing projects. I have even come to view regular childhood activities like the park, children's museum, cooking, baking, and read alouds as part of the "curriculum." The amount of pressure mom's already put on themselves is absurd, then you add on their child's education, socialization, college options, and future career options to the list -- daunting is an understatement.

I wake up with the goal of getting the children moving to start school in a timely manner. We move through the day checking off the planner, going to the activities on the calendar, check, check, check...

I often fail to get laundry done during the week or leave a load long enough in the washer it has to be rerun the next day, and most of the cleaning happens on the weekends. My toddler gets way too little attention, and my mind is never still. By the time I have researched and planned curriculum for one year it is time to start planning for the next! I strive to teach and correct, but I still want them to know I am their biggest fan.

Sometimes homeschooling can seem all consuming. Sometimes, I just need to focus on being a mom. This week we had regular schoolwork, Operation Christmas Child packing, Lego class, music class, gymnastics, piano lessons, play dates, meetings, and a few doctors visits thrown in. However, in the midst of the scheduled chaos, I tried to find time to just be a mom. Time to play with friends, cuddle, read books not on the schedule, play at the park, cook together, paint finger and toe nails, make some new Pinterest recipes, dance and sing at music class and enjoy it instead of thinking ahead to all I have to do when I get home.


Yes, we still homeschooled. I still taught. We did math, language arts, history, and more science than we have done in awhile. We finished a math chapter I have been avoiding like the plague because of all the mess it would entail. It got done, and I enjoyed so much of it.

Yes, we finished science at 8 pm last night because of a doctors appointment, a trip to Chik Fil A, Spanish immersion class, and dinner with grandma. And I am OK with that. We might not have gotten in all four scheduled days of spelling, but we did progress, and we took a week to remember we are a family who homeschools, not a "homeschool family."  I am a mom who homeschools, not a "homeschool mom." Yes, I teach math, cursive, and how to read; and yes, I correct and assign, but I also love, cuddle, encourage, play, and even cook and clean. Sometimes I just need a break from my role as home teacher, and remember that my students only have one mom and she shouldn't disappear just because there is school work to be done.

Finishing Week 14 at the park!

Mom vs. Homeschool Mom

by on 9:02 PM
I can't be the only one that struggles with the blurred lines of mom verses homeschool mom. How much of my time do I spend planning, res...
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I love the sound of my children. No, not screaming, crying, whining, or complaining... Yes those sounds are present (all too) often, but yesterday as I had a few hours to myself, it was quiet. Too quiet. As parents we often long for quiet. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it. But the moment the garage door opened and the sound of running feet and giggles filled the house, I couldn't help but smile.

All day long I tell them to be quiet, no screaming, and hush. Whining is like nails on a chalkboard and I cannot put a number on how many times a day I say, "I will hear you when your voice sounds like mine." But the truth is those are the sounds of being little, and those sounds just won't last long enough.


As J and I cuddled up this morning and the daddy tickle monster caught us hiding under the covers... These are the sounds of joy. The sounds of giggles and laughter. I want these to be the sounds of my home. Laughter not tears. Giggles not shouts, affirmation not criticism. Feet running towards me, not away. These are the sounds of littles.

I want our home to be filled with the sounds of joy. I know life happens. Children cry and whine, and discipline is necessary. But I want to choose to laugh more. Put down the phone and iPad and choose to play, tickle, and chase. Choose to call them close and not send them off to play. Hold them a little longer, a little tighter. Smile more, laugh more, choose joy more. Because the sounds of littles will be gone before I know it.
"I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow." Jeremiah 31:13

The Sounds of Little

by on 9:44 AM
I love the sound of my children. No, not screaming, crying, whining, or complaining... Yes those sounds are present (all too) often, but yes...
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