Busyness and a Birthday

In my life the past couple of weeks…

There seemed to be a lot of busyness. Just regular errands, grocery shopping, doctor's appointments, helping my husband in the yard, laundry, etc. It seems like we were trying to get things back on track after having lost power for so long. We finally got someone to come out and cut down our tree that was damaged during the storm. The great thing about it was that the tree company shredded the tree and gave us all of the wood chips from it. My husband was thrilled about that because that saved us a good chunk of change that would have been spent on buying mulch. The pile of wood chips was HUGE!

We all pitched in to help my husband lay the mulch around the various bushes and trees in our front and back yards. After that there was still enough left over for a friend of ours to load up the back of his pick-up truck so he could use it in his yard. After that, there was still enough for my father-in-law to take 3 loads in my husband's pick-up truck to use at his mother's house. After that, there is still enough left over that my husband's friend wants to come back for another load. We are thankful for the way God has blessed us to give and share.



We also planted a new tree in place of the old one. We planted a Crepe Myrtle that will blossom pink.

In our homeschool this week…

We are progressing well considering many of the interruptions over the past few weeks. My oldest daughter is resuming Latin, which is fun. She is also taking flute lessons and she is super excited about that. My younger daughter is eager to begin reading Peter Pan. We listened to it on CD earlier in the year, but she wants to read it herself. My son is having a ball! What I am pleased about is his increased interest to read on his own. We are also beginning to memorize the books of the Bible.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

1. If it works for you and your family, stick with it!

2. Consider joining online groups for homeschooling, such as Yahoo Groups. I joined one for a group in my area so I could know about local homeschool events and resources. I also joined another for Biblioplan, which we used for Ancient History. It's great because I can ask the authors questions about the materials before I make a purchase.

I am inspired by…

My children, who have learned at an early age how to swim. This is big for me, someone who is not a strong swimmer and who did not learn until adulthood. My son is still learning how to do rhythmic breathing, but he has no fear of the water. My girls just blow me away. Both of them are now able to swim the length of the pool, freestyle and backstroke, without assistance, in deep water!!!  I don't think they realize how much they are teaching their Mama about swimming and conquering fears. I am so glad that they have a life-saving skill.

My favorite thing from a week ago was…

My son turned 5!!!!!! His only request: a dark blue birthday cake! LOL So we certainly obliged. Did Mama make a cake from scratch? Nope, not this year! My husband picked out a dark blue cake that even had the Avenger's superheroes on it!

The Avengers decoration actually lights up!

Now my son plays with it all the time.









My sweet boy, JR. . .











being goofy. . .











and really silly! LOL











This is one of the shirts my parents sent him for his birthday.

He ran upstairs to change into it, and asked me to take a picture.

This is the pose he struck! Funny!

What’s working/not working for us…

We do bible study at breakfast, before school starts. We've been using a book called The Wonder Devotional Book 1, that our church gave to my girls upon accepting Christ and being baptized. It's good because it covers meaty topics which is great for the girls' developing faith, but it is given in bite-sized pieces so that my son is not totally lost. (I don't know why I'm using food metaphors, but you know what I mean!) Anyway, what isn't working is that as soon as I begin to read from the book, the baby starts babbling. Loudly. And it is hilarious! So, we're working on that!

Things I’m working on…

Still finalizing my curriculum for the upcoming school year. I have most things squared away, just trying to find the best deals so the budget remains under control

I’m reading…

The Resurrection of Nat Turner by Sharon Ewell Foster

It is not an easy topic, the subject of slavery in our country. But it is one that must be told, in truth, in the Light of God's Word. Ms. Foster does that quite well; so far so good.

I’m cooking…

I made deep dish pizza for lunch today, using my cast iron skillet. Yummy!

I’m grateful for…

Prayer with my husband.

I’m praying for…

The people of Colorado.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." -Romans 12:2 (New Living Translation)

This particular translation of this verse really struck a chord with me.