FUN IN THE SUN...

My dad joined us fishing this past weekend. It was a beautiful, sunny day on the Fox River. We trolled up and down the river. We didn't catch any fish but, we had fun trying! I even got my fishing license! I really enjoyed casting (when I wasn't about to hook my kids, better watch out).


Anna is checking her bait. Yuck, here is a close up below.


We are heading out for our summer vacation up north! We are going to Minnesota, then camping at Copper Falls, then up to Bayfield, Madeline Island and Duluth.

Have a great week!!!!

There must be some mistake!

88 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

I took this test, twice! It still said I was superior. Boy, I have come a long way. I think even 5 years ago I may have failed this test miserably. I must make my husband very happy according to the score above. What was your score?? Go ahead, take the test!

Boys will be boys...

Let me start out by saying, "I love Joshua's hair long." I kind of like the 'surfer/hippie' look. Karl on the other hand has been working on Joshua, that he needs to look like a 'man'. I told him no, but Joshua has been looking forward to his haircut for about a month.

This must be one of those, 'male bonding' moments.

His beautiful locks...gone :(

Does he look like a man, now????? NOT!

Anna had to get a turn shaving daddy's head.

As you can see above, Karl really didn't need a haircut. I love watching Karl with the kids. Anna had fun shaving daddy's big head ;).

Making memories...

Last Night...

Last night 3 things happened...

1. Anna wanted to start her own blog. I wonder where she got that idea. Hmmmm. Here is her link to her blog: http://annasanecdotes.blogspot.com/ I particularly like the title ;) I can't promise how often she will write. But, please do visit.
2. Joshua learned how to tie his shoes!!! I can't believe it. I have been trying to get him learn how to tie his shoe and he would get frustrated. Last night he asked my husband to help and guess what???? He got it!!!!! This is exactly what happened with Anna. I try and try and try. He comes along and voila, they get it. He tied and retied his shoes over and over last night. He really knows how to tie his shoes at 4 years old!!
   
3. Now for me...I dreamt my brother last night. I have not dreamed him since he has been gone (five years next week). It was an amazing dream. HE was so much bigger, brighter, happier. He looked good. All I could do in my dream was to run over to him, jump up on him and give him a great big hug (and cry), then I woke up. I wanted to go back to my dream. You know how hard it to try?? It was such a great feeling. I hope to dream of him, again.

Have a wonderful Wednesday! God Bless You All!

PRAY 365 times

Did you know the word 'pray' (prayer, praying, prayed) is in the bible 365 times?? I heard this sometime ago and decided to look it up. I sometimes like to do 'word' searches at Biblegateway and read my verses from my computer. I was looking up a few words this morning. I typed in 'pray' and there it was, the word 'pray' appeared 365 times! Wow. God continues to surprise me. One for each day of the year. Go ahead, reach out to our Father and pray. Try one verse a day. Then move on to chapters. You will quickly see the Lord working IN you. You will begin to see HIM around you. The feeling HE gives me unexplainable. I do know that I feel at peace when I take the time for our Father. I love to see how HE blesses YOU each day.

Take the 'prayer' challenge! Join me and pray with me each morning for a year. Try to be more thankful, mindful and learn the word with me. Join me today!! I would love to hear from you!

Dear Lord Jesus, Continue to work in each one of us as we come to you in prayer. Bless us, lead us and show us what you have created us to be as we become true prayer warriors. Amen.

Psalm 54:2
Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.

2nd Year of Home-Schooling!!

IT'S OFFICIAL...WE ARE DONE WITH 2ND GRADE!!

YIPPEE, HOORAY!

The joy of homeschooling is so relaxing that we didn't NEED to finish along with everyone else. We can study a specific subject longer. We did take a month off in December and I think that is where I got thrown off. I did plan on schooling year round. Just don't tell the kids!!!! They don't complain and I don't want them to know any different.

Anna has worked hard this past year (and so have I!). You can see her working on her math (Math-U-See). She wanted to learn cursive and I found a wonderful program to encourage her through those tough days of...I don't want to do this...now say it with your face scrunched up and with a whiny voice. You got it! It was hard at first but now she does everything in cursive.

Has you can see on the side bar on the right, all the books we have completed this past year. Some of them we will continue to read for another year or more. We read a lot (or should I say, I read a lot) and I follow Ambleside (Charlotte Mason) year 2 curriculum.

This is our 2nd year homeschooling and I am changing it up a bit for next year. I think we had too much 'book' that the core stories were forgotten. I am adding more hands-on learning and activities for both of the kids to go along with all of our readings. I really enjoy it but I think we ALL needed a change, especially now that I am adding Joshua.

Next year (this fall) Joshua will be doing kindergarten (Sing, Spell, Read and Write Level 1) and Anna will be in 3rd grade. Both kids are excited for the new year and I am excited to take a whole month off in August!!!! Lets celebrate.

Joshua pretty much taught himself to write. He asked me how to spell 'skeleton' and he wrote the letters down. As you can see he did an awesome job. He even drew a picture of himself swimming. The note was for his swimming instructor. Don't ask why the word skeleton. I don't have a clue.

I did not do any formal teaching with him this past year. We are training/teaching our children the day they are born. I think I may teach him a little more eclectic/Charlotte Mason/Montessori style this upcoming year. I will be playing by ear.

PIANO

Miss Allison has been doing a wonderful job teaching piano to Anna. For all of her first year students she put together a recital. It was nice to see how excited the kids were to play in front of us all. Great job, Anna!!

READING CO-OP

Cast Members: Veronica, Audrina, Octavia, Anna, Alexis, Jacob, Grace, Christina and Joshua

Through my homeschool support group that I am a member of (NPLH - No Place Like Home). I am on a committee with my friend, Lena, where we organize bi-monthly books to read. One of the books we chose, Tale of Three Trees, we decided to create a play for the kids to perform for the group, their family and friends.

Veronica sang a soloist, all of the kids had a speaking part, the little ones were Mary and Joseph, we had two narrators, myself and another mom helped out during a storm on the boat where Jesus slept.

It was really nice and rewarding to be able to this and share this with other families.

SWIMMING

Joshua and Anna has been taking swimming lessons year round. We will take a break in this activity in August. We will resume when school starts after Labor Day. They both have progressed tremendously this past year!!! Great job!!

READING CO-OP

We planned a 'Safety Day' for our reading co-op. Whomever wanted to participate needed to read a book on a specific topic to share with the group. I wish I had taken more photos. We had to specialists come in to speak about bike and fire safety. We brought our dog, Starr and spoke about dog safety. Jacob spoke about airport safety. Whitney spoke about tornado safety. My mind is foggy and I can't remember what else we learned. I hope the kids have better memories!

ACADEMIC FAIR

This is something the Tri-Cities Co-op and NPLH gets together and do annually. This is our first time participating and as you can probably see some the kids really went all out. We shared our first lapbook on Thanksgiving. Anna's cursive writing, a list of of bible memory verses and a list of books we have read. Next year we will be more prepared (now that we know what to expect). Oma came along and quizzed the kids on their projects.

KEEPERS AT HOME / CONTENDERS FOR THE FAITH CLUB

The Keepers/Contenders club completed their first year!! We had fun this past year getting together monthly and doing projects. Last year we covered: decoupage, baking, pets, letters, prayer warrior, horses and stenciling. The kids were able to complete other badges on their own throughout the year.

My kids really enjoyed it that they want to do it again!! I like this so much because we start with prayer, learn daily skills, life skills, outdoor skills and so much more. Each month a mom picks a topic to teach and we have about 2 hours to complete the project or we can take it home to finish. The kids receive award certificates when they complete a specific task and at the end of the year we have a ceremony and they receive their badges.

TAE-KWON-DO

Joshua has been taking Tae-kwon-do for about 4 months and loves it! He is showing the board he kicked apart. Great job, honey! Anna started Tae-kwon-do, maybe about a month ago. At first she didn't even want to try it but, we didn't give her a choice. Now, she loves it!!! The both of them will do this year round. Joshua will go 2 times a week for a half hour each class. Anna will go 3 times a week for one hour each time.

To summarize my experience as a teacher and a mom...a blessing. A wonderful gift that God gave for my family to experience, to learn, to share and to grow. I truly can't put it all into words but THANKFULNESS comes to mind. PEACE. LOVE. FAITH. BLESSINGS.

In Jesus' Name, thank you for this wonderful year. Thank you for the lessons we have learned not only in school but by your words, by living by your word. Please continue to show us what you want us to do for YOU. Give us the strength to be examples of your word. Give us the strength to be obedient. Show us YOUR path to follow. In Your Glorious Name, Amen.

SIMPLIFY

I was ready to sit down and talk about organizing. Or least what I have done to try to be organized! It seems (I did not get this gift) that it is something I am learning and relearning on a daily basis. There are days that everything is perfect and then there are months when it looks like I haven't done a thing.

I was looking for images of my pantry (that I did reorganize) to share with you. I found this image above instead. As some of you know, my husband has a sign in the kitchen that reads; SIMPLIFY. It isn't hanging anywhere but it is on a window ledge where my husband can pick it and go, "Lisa, (pointing to the sign) don't forget our new motto." I smile at him and reply, "I am doing my best with the gifts I was given." It use to make me angry that I couldn't do it all. It makes me sad to think that I wanted to do it all. Who was I kidding. HELLO LADIES, we are not meant to do it all. Who says we need to do it all?? God, did not create us to be robots, or lets see how many activities I can squeeze in one day. Boy, I am SOOO guilty of this!

Perfect example of this is Mary and Martha, Luke 10:38-42.

38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed.^[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

We just read this over the weekend for family devotion. I guess as I am writing this I had no idea I was going to refer to this exact scripture. I love it when I see God in action! He knew! I am Martha. This is why we need to turn to the word. To learn from the bible. What we are doing today is truly no different from the bible times. The only difference is convenience. Really, how important is convenience??

I am meeting lovely ladies everyday who are changing their lifestyles to a simpler time of living. I am seeing that firsthand AND I love it!!! Back to the image above. This is my backyard with my towels hanging out to dry. I love going out in the mornings to hang my clothes. I have noticed the birds singing, peace, found perfect prayer time, a thankful heart that each day we are renewed, and relaxation. Ladies, did you know by line drying your clothes that God made a natural starch??? I would call it, wind. What a wonderful gift!

Thank you Lord for your son, Jesus. It still amazes me the life He gave!! I am in awe of YOU.

Have a beautiful day!

Further Still With God...

If you never heard of Proverbs 31, go check it out. I have signed up to receive their daily devotions for about 1 1/2 years. I don't always read them (daily) but I do try to read them on a weekly basis.

Today's devotion 'Further Still with God' is a reality check for me. My faith/walk with the Lord has been increasing these past 5 years. The last 2 years being the biggest changes in my life and in my families life. Starting out with my personal walk with the Lord, homeschooling, learning (and am) a helpmeet to my husband, reading the bible, prayers, and the list goes on. It is a great reminder to remember to look to the heavens and pray. God has nudged me so hard that now all He has to do is look at me. You know the look your parents would give and you know you have to listen. This is where I am with the Lord. I am little hard headed (but not anymore!). When God wants me to do something, I jump (most of the time). Then there are times that i do ask, "why?", "What are your plans?", "I don't understand?" and "I need your help."

I do know that I can lean on God. I do know that I will continue to grow in my faith each day. I do know that when I start my day with our Lord, my day is so much better. I am at peace. I pray for patience each day and to show me what is important. Sometimes, the laundry does need to pile up so I can sit and laugh with the kids. The dishes can wait so I can hug my husband when he comes home from work. Time management is my worst and I am getting better with the Lord's help.

Life happens a lot. God happens 24/7, He gave this life! Without God, we wouldn't have all the blessings that we have been blessed with.

These are my goals:

1. Each morning to spend time with our Father and in His word.
2. To be an example and remember how to turn our daily life to be like Christ.
3. To be a servant of the Lord.
4. Family devotion.
5. To stop and breathe.

To stop and breathe, I think is my biggest thing that I don't do. To stop and breathe and say, "Thank you Lord!"