Happy 15th Anniversary!!!

15 years ago today the Lord blessed me with a wonderful man. I consider it a real blessing to be married to him. I love him so much.

I'm back......

I apologize for the long blogging absence, priorities and life just got in the way. Many have asked what had happened to me...it was as if I fell off the face of the blogging world. I will try to blog more regularly once again. Many have shared that they have missed my posts and my home school ideas and secrets. My family has missed the picture up dates and ramblings of our family as well. Not too sure how often I will be able to post but I will try to do my best.


Around here we are gearing up for some big changes...God has been leading and directing us to take some BIG leaps of faith. It has been scary but I would rather be walking in obedience with Him than to be giving in to my fears. More of this in blog posts to come.

Sad to even fathom that summer vacation is just about over. I finally managed to clean out the files and get the school room spruced up for the new year. We will be filing independently this year. The name of our home school was voted by the family and decided on Infinity Christian School (shaping minds for an eternity.) This is another big leap of faith for us. Something I have wanted to do for so long but felt like I needed the assistance of a Christian PSP. It turned out that our money was being spent just for them to keep our paper work, something that I can do just as well on my own. The kids are excited and a bit nervous but with so many homeschool support groups out there that we know of, we will be taken care of with social play dates, field trips and mom encouragement time (so need that).

Our curriculum has been ordered and I am still waiting on a few more packages to arrive in the mail. I have been spending many evenings researching and researching curricula that would be just the right fit for each of my kiddos. I will be hitting some uncharted waters, homeschooling a now 7th grader, 5th and 2nd grader. Uncharted meaning, way back before I had kids I did my student teaching in a 5-6th grade combination and occasional substitute teaching in that grade level as well. Now that our eldest is in 7th, I am feeling a little anxious to have everything covered academically. I know deep down that God has been there in our homeschool since the beginning and He will continue to carry us through these junior high and high school academic years as well. Speaking of that I should do a post for new homeschool moms on blessings. Great topic and encouraging too.

Here are a few picks from our summer activities to share with family and friends...

Racer having some 4th of July fun. What a firework show that was. Always lots of fun.

This is our Lady in Waiting..Dancer was in a summer play of Cinderella. She had so much fun that she was ready each morning, without any need to be reminded. As a mom you know it when your child does this, you found their passion. She has the theatre bug now and can not wait for the next one.

Sport got his feet wet in volunteer work this summer. He volunteered at the local library in their summer reading club. He enjoyed it and it gave him a time to learn how to put others first. To our surprise the library gave each volunteer a $10 gift card to Barnes & Noble, such a sweet surprise. He looks forward to spending it.

More pictures and posts to come...

What we have been up to....

For Christmas our family rented a cabin in the mountains. We were hoping for a white Christmas for the kids. Living in Southern California we are spoiled with having 70 degree temperatures on Christmas morning. Most people travel to get away from cold weather, here in California we travel to see and experience cold weather. Sadly, the kids didn't get to see snow falling but we did get blessed with lots of white powder on the ground. The kids had so much fun playing all day on Christmas Eve outside.

On New Years Eve we did our traditional celebration we do every year and have been since the kids were just babies. We set up our living room into a elegant restaurant complete with a fire in the fireplace. Each year it is the same menu, steak, seafood, vegetable and yummy Clearman's cheese bread. This year we enjoyed eating crab legs. After eating, playing games, watching movies the kids enjoy staying up late to watch the NYC ball drop. I was quite surprised that my youngest Racer,6, stayed up to welcome in the New Year.

New Years was a day for naps, games and watching the Rose Parade. A relaxing day for all.

Right after the holidays it was time to hit the books once again. We have been enjoying our history studies of learning about the Middle Ages. While I type this we are enjoying a fire on a rainy day and watching Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Once I get more time I will share with all of you what more we have been up to.

What Kind of Soil are you Working With?

What kind of soil are you working with? No, this is not a post about gardening techniques but rather teaching techniques. I have always used the parable of the hard clay and soft clay of the potter as I taught my children. However, that parable focuses more on the students we are working with and not on the instructor.

However, after reading Hebrews 6: 7-8 I am reminded of what type of land are we working on. What are we starting from? Are we beginning our homeschool morning frazzled..or are we beginning our morning in the word of God? There have been days that I have sheepishly done both (just in this past week). I've started the day in the word of God alone and/or with my children and other days not at all. There is a BIG difference between the two. My behavior between the two is the difference between night and day as well as in my children.

If we begin our mornings with the Lord we will "produce a crop useful to those whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God." Who doesn't want to be this farmer? This can also apply to your homeschooling. We can produce children that will please and honor our heavenly father. As we take in the word of God it prepares and sets the path for our day.

If we foolishly don't begin our day in the word of God...and believe me I have had a few if not many of these with my children the "land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned." Have you ever had a day where you just want to go back to bed and begin it again all over? I know I have. Or throw the towel in and give up on homeschooling? Or thought there must be something wrong with your kids??? There isn't anything wrong with your kids...it's YOU! What did you place at the top of your To Do List today?

Try beginning your day with God's word. I tell you it will make a world of difference.....

Halloween 2009

A Fall Hike and a Whole Lot More..

I decided last Wednesday afternoon to take my kids outside for a hike to do some nature learning. Their task was to find anything to show that autumn had begun. This indeed would be a challenging scavenger hunt. Living in southern California we miss out on having four complete seasons.

We headed up for a local hiking trail about five miles away from our home. It was a pleasant day to escape the books and just get some cool fresh air with the kids. What I hadn't realized or expected we were in for much deeper learning than I had thought would happen. You see, what I didn't realize is that we would be hiking on the same trail that a young man in that neighborhood went missing. Sadly, it had a tragic ending the young man had committed suicide just over a month ago. Had I known this prior to the hike I would have hiked a different trail location altogether but the Lord used this moment for something else.

It says in the word that we as parents are to instruct our children when we walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up. We are to use every opportunity at any given time as a learning tool. Pressing His truths into their hearts. This trail opened up a flood gate of discussion about suicide. My oldest Sport wanted to know what would make a high school senior want to do this sort of thing. I explained that they believe that their life is so miserable that it is simply not worth living anymore. Sport replied is it then better to take your own life to spend an eternity in hell? I replied that they fail to see the big picture they are caught up in the here and now. More questions followed from all three of my children. I proceeded to answer each one of their questions and fears.

As we continued to hike and find different things on the trail, Sport suddenly bursts out "Mom, thank you for giving birth to me." I had tears in my eyes. "You are welcome..and I would do all over again in a heartbeat!"



Take advantage of those hidden opportunities. You never know how the Lord is going to use those Divine appointments with your kids. I know I will.

A Game to Remember

Last Thursday we took the two boys to a Dodger playoff game. It was memorable event for all of us. Three out of four of us had never been to a playoff game before. It was quite an experience. It is like a regular game on an adrenaline rush. The atmosphere and energy from the crowd is amazing to witness.

What made it more excited is that we witnessed a potential losing game get turned around in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs. In a playoff game some fans believe that they are the reason for getting the scores to change in their teams favor. They will yell louder and from what I witnessed turn their baseball caps completely inside out. Some even turned their glasses upside down and their t-shirts inside out.

A funny story to share about this is I discovered near the end of the game that our youngest son, Racer's shoes were on the wrong feet. I corrected them and went back to watching the game. Shortly after the Dodgers tied the game up, a man seated two rows behind us told me that I was responsible for getting the Dodgers to win because I switched my sons shoes. Now to have that kind of power or influence over a game I do not claim to have.

It was an awesome game to be at. Truly a priceless moment to witness. Here is a short video that I took during the event. Sadly, I missed the winning run in. I had my camera in hand to capture my family's expressions. Just to catch the expressions on my boy's faces was so worth it.