School Talk

A good friend at http://justanightowl.com/and a woman I seriously admire for soo many reasons asked several moms to tell their story of why they chose homeschool and what their days look like. It's been encouraging to read everybody's story and see the uniqueness (i made that word up I think :) of how each family operates. So, here is our story.:)

Honestly, I have typed out this blog probably a dozen times and deleted it, started over, delete again and so on... I feel there's not much really for me to contribute besides our story and how we got here.

Hopefully, somebody can walk away feeling encouraged or not alone as we all dive in!!

Almost 12 years ago, husband and I had the conversation about kids and schooling. I claim the word"homeschool" never came up and he says it did:)) The one thing we have always agreed on though was that we wanted our kids to receive a solid Christ-based education. The picture in my head was me dropping our 3 kids off at this really quaint little Christian school and me just doing mom stuff until it was time to go pick them up and listen to the day's events!!!. :) Now, as the season approaches I realize "me dropping our 3 kids off at this really quaint little Christian school" just isn't reality right now in more ways than one:))) I have never thought of me capable of homeschooling our child, but God has placed me in a family that is experienced, have alot of resources, and full of love, patience and grace. I know I don't have to do it by myself which has always been a fear with schooling my child.

The word "homeschool" has always intimidated me,, the thought that my child's education lies in my hands seriously makes me stop breathing for a minute. Here are a few examples why....

1. I really believed Chicago was a state up until about 10 years ago:)

2. I recently misled my daughter in what a baby horse was called.

3. This past Sunday, I was sounding out the letter "F" for my daughter and husband had to correct me:)

4. and just now while typing this blog, Ryan was reading it and telling me where to put my commas and correcting my grammar!!!!!!!!!

So, I am always constantly dramatically saying "see that's why I should'nt be homeschooling!!!!!!":))

I'm not really that patient and have never had the desire to teach, especially children. Just being for real--I have no problem doing anything non strutured, like playin in the hose or painting or play doh,,, but to teach.. huh!!!!! I'd rather do something else:) I have'nt even started homeschool yet and while I'm very very excited about my little girl starting school, feeling selfish is already a HUGE challenge and I'm feeling inadequate and overwhelmed thinking are'nt there any other options????????????, I have always been reluctant to cast myself in the role of a "homeschool mom."

So, I'm pretty thankful for my sister in law Danette opening up her schoolroom for Micah. We don't have all the details ironed out just yet, but I do know that Micah and I will go to Danette's for school where we will join her cousins, Lydia, Abigail, Calvin, and Lincoln. Lincoln and Micah will be doing preschool together as well as another little friend, Kaia. Micah is ecstatic, she adores her aunt Nette Nette. Some days, my other sister in law Misty http://findingmyway9598.blogspot.com/ and rest of the cousins will probably join us. Between myself and my sister in laws, we all have strengths where the other may lack skill or interest, so I have a feeling the kids probably will not be the only ones to learn something this next school year! :)

I know the days ahead will bring challenges, Micah's sunday school teacher just reminded me of that yesterday at church. :) sigh:))))) I wanted to be a Mom years before God finally brought Micah to us so I've had alot of time to imagine and daydream about the firsts of the school years. Here is just a few.. these are sooo not in order:))))

1. 1st day of school eve:)-I think I'll be more excited than Micah.... and again, I know we are just traveling to Aunt nette nette's house, but that's like Disneyland to Micah.:)

2. Hearing Micah repeat the Pledge to the American Flag, Christian Flag and the Bible after me. I have no idea how I'll get through that without sobbing.

3. Singing all the silly songs with Micah to help us learn our letter sounds.

4. Watching her sit still with her cousins as she just soaks it all up.......... I know.. the sitting still part needs to be worked on...

5. the excitement of learning something new and completing it and being proud of herself and hearing over and over "Mommy I did it!!!!!!!!!!"




Parenting is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges for most of us, I think :) at least for me it is. I constantly worry, am I doing it right, is she going to remember everything she has been taught and apply it,, is she going to always pursue God, is homeschooling the right thing for her,, is she missing out and it going to affect her in a negative way, is what I'm doing going to JACK her up?????????????

Seriously, I constantly have to give her up to God. I have been reading a book called Revolutionary Parenting and I looooooove it. This next paragraph is from that book, and while the book has nothing to do with homeschool-I find it reassuring that God has it all in His hands.




God tells us that if we have surrendred our lives to Him and are listening for His guidance, then we may give Him and our children the best effort we can muster and confidently leave the results to Him. The Scriptures remind us that while we have free will, we do not possess control over reality.

Nothing drives that point home harder than our experience raising children. Our job is not to succeed but to be obedient to God's calling and principles and allow Him to produce the outcomes according to His perfect will. With that in mind, perhaps we can take a deep breath and relax. As much as you love your children, God loves them more. As deeply as you desire to do what is best for your children, God wants it even more urgently. As we rely upon Him rather than our own ideas and wisdom, we can be assured that our young ones will experience the best that God has to offer, through us and others.




xox

Jada

Love via Blog

Love from Darcy@ justanightowl.com. 
Just another way to receive love.. love via blog... Thx Darcy! xox

You are to tell 7 things about yourself and pass it on to 5 other Blogging Queens…

1. I LOVE the ocean!
2. This year is all about forgiving and restoration for me!
3. I still hate Walmart :)
4. I love good ole hostess cherry pies 
5. I just bought a sewing machine, used but new to me. We'll see what happens:)
6. I can't be without chapstick EVER!
7. I got the worst pedi this week ever:( sorry I was getting desperate what else to say:)

Passing this along to…
1. Gina@ beyondtheplanner.com
2. Tiffiny@ anthandtiff.blogspot.com

3. Shawna@ Crazy, Devoted Mama, Say What?
4. Leah@ My Great Adventure
5. Misty@ Finding My Way


xox

Spontaneous Photoshoot

Yesterday's weather was amazing!!!!! Perfect picture taking day and a drive down the river with my family in the Land Rover. I never want to ride in that thing:) but, Ryan cleaned it out really good so off we went with the sunroofs and windows down and Micah singing "all the single ladies" combined with "O happy day"???????? crazy girl, have no idea where she gets that from!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)))))
Our first stop is this property that has a whole side of their garage painted an American Flag.........We had seen it before, but every time Ryan stops to ask if we can use it for a background, nobody answers and usually there are 3-10 cars piled in front.. not kidding:) Today there was only one car and the owner said we could snap away.  Flags waving in the air make me tear up, and now this huuuuuge at least 10x18 site of a flag was overwhelming!!!!! My sister in law commented that  my brother was very proud of the pic, but it was missing a few things (a nascar hat and some guns) nice bubby:)))hahaha
It turned out to be a very relaxing day, all day long I just kept noticing how big Micah seemed to me particularly yesterday. She looked older, we were having conversation, she was actually doing what I told her to do, she laughed with me and at me as I climbed some rugged old ladder.
Even though I am with her everyday, every hour, every minute, every second:))))))))), there are just some moments that I can't believe she's my little girl!! I'm her mommy and she looks up to me.. YIKES, and she's not a baby anymore, this day will only come once!!!!!!! it's crazy to me!!! and I'm sooooo crazy in love with her!!!

fur, paisleys, and chandeliers are some of my fav things

California houses and their layouts make no sense at all whatsoever.. Actually, there is alot about Cali in itself that does'nt make any sense, but that's another blog for another day!:) Back to my house, somebody asked me the other day how many bedrooms do you have. I answered 3 bedrooms, 3 bath and 4 living rooms!!!!!!!!!???????? I mean really,,,, most california homes go like this. You walk through the door, there's a room to the right, there's a room to the left, you walk down the hall a couple of feet, and there is your real living room/kitchen if it's like ours and u become confused cause you remember just passing 2 rooms that could be living rooms????????????????????. Then we walk up the stairs and there is another room besides the bedrooms and bathrooms. The problem with all these rooms are they are wide open and most of the time the size is an issue. We are'nt formal people at all, so no need to have a formal dining room, their are only 3 of us, so need to have more than 1 living room. So, while i'm kinda re-doing each room, mainly moving things from this room to that room with a fresh coat of paint and that kind of stuff, I become frustrated with the arrangement of our house... I hate spreading out, ryan having his own office, me having my own for I have no idea why, but we have the extra room so why the heck not, Micah has her own huge loft playroom, and there is still a wide empty room that sits alone with just a rocking chair. Oh and don't forget about Micah's room of course there are toys in there too........AND NOW MICAH HAS ANOTHER PLAY AREA, becauuuuuuse:) a 12x14 room just isn't enough apparently. Another common feature of the newer 2 story cali homes is the huge upside down L shaped closet downstairs. Ours has always sat pretty empty and Micah likes to go in there and first of all walks straight into the ledge that sticks out, comes out screaming and then returns to her normal happy self and says "mom, pshhh" (u know the whispering come here kind of "pshhh".) and she loves to tell me secrets in there and always asks if she can nap in there and all that fun stuff. I love the color red although it's nowhere to be found in my house now that I look around,, humm weird:)  I actuallly don't even like to wear red anything, it looks horrible on me. Not sure why I like red, but I do. I had a red kitchen years ago thinking it would make me want to spend more time in there slaving over hot meals for my family:), but after a while I felt like my walls were screaming at me and they were going to attack me. Seriously, it's kinda over stimulating maybe....but anyhow, me and my love for lots of fabric all over the walls drove ourselves to joanne's and found some cute RED and pink paisley material and RED fur trim. Found wall decals for 70% off... HALLELUJAH FOR CLEARANCE!!!! Used Micah's chandelier from her very first room and Daddy gave the room a face with this wood, I threw a few coats of a pale pink paint I found for cheap cheap:))) and threw together a little secret place for Micah and her friends. Pulled down some of her dress up baskets from her playroom and jewelry boxes and now we have this:))))

Monday cuteness

So many blogs, so many ideas, so many options,  so many projects I want to accomplish TODAY....:)))))) awwwwwwwwwwwww it's inspiring, but a little itsy bitsy overwhelming for me!!!! This morning I woke up, cleaned a little and got spray paint happy. Seriously, if you have a few dollars you can turn blah into "retarded" in just a few minutes... Oh, retarded means amazing, cute, gorgeous, beautiful, etc....

Here is what the spray paint attacked,,, nothing major at all.. My turquoise spray paint is still sitting there all lonely just waiting to be used.... very soon turquoise, very soon:))

this was black,,,,Micah requested pink, so I said,, ok pale pink:) and I seen the idea of using it to hold bows on another blog.. can't remember which one though... I know,,, HUGE blog no no:)

Candle Holder was silver, used to be black a long time ago and I made it black again.. I know,, real original huh??? light blue crystal candle holders hold my earrings.... 

Their already spilling out, but I thought it was a good temporary place until I think of something better.:)

Burlap Flowers-my latest obsession... Trust!!!!!!!..... Micah will be wearing one daily, she's in love with them too as I've been letting her pick out fabric she likes.... First one i'll use as a pin, obviously second one is attached to a headband, but I used an alligator clip so it's totally removable and I can stick it on anything,,, scarf, clutch, clothing, etc....... I seen these on this cute blog  and "OMG THOSE ARE RETARDED" loudly:)  I plan on playing around with different fabrics and different ways to set mine apart from tidy nest,, I hate to copy copy:)))) but these are worth it for now!!!!

Seriously, I'm constantly searching for ways to keep Micah's toys all in one place, but in pretty boxes, containers, cans, buckets, whatever has a bottom really:) These baskets are from dollar store, and i glued the ribbon on just to "doll" them up some. They are perfect for these dolls and their magnetic clothing which happens to be Micah's latest obsession:) so yeah for cute baskets!!!  xox

"Your the devil"

I have one brother, Derrick and we are 22 months apart. He's older:) We were not together every day growing up because he lived with our precious Grandpa and Grandma and I went back and forth from their house to my mom and step dad's place. Big mistake, HUGE mistake on my part I must say:)
 I have absolutely admired and adored my brother since I can remember.  I never ever wanted to be apart from him. He made me feel safe, he kept me cracking up all the time, he protected me when strange men at amusement parks tried to pick me up:) played the weirdest foot game with me which he probably does'nt remember:), and he urged my now husband to make a move the minute after I ended another relationship!!!!!!! ohhhh and I can't forget all the time spent in the backyard playing cowboys and indians or cop and robber,, ohhhhhhhhh or the time when he wanted to tie me up around the tree and I did'nt want to be tied to the tree, so he threw his rifle at me, straight on the right side of my forehead. Aww I remember that day well, Grandma came running out with her good ole house shoe:) sat me on the couch with a rag to soak up all the blood. and while laying there in pain, I heard my brother get the worst spanking of his life!!!!!!!!!! So, i laid there applying pressure on the wound and just smiled:)))
If you know me well, u know that I am pretty much obsessed with him. I once asked him, "Derrick, if I was'nt your sister, would u want to marry me?????" " cause I would totally want to marry you".... I'm still waiting for an answer actually:)))))
  I am so overwhelmed with emotions when I think of my brother and our life together as 2 kids who did'nt have the whole mom and dad thing going for us. My brother probably without knowing absolutely filled the many empty parts in my heart in so many ways. He's so much more than a brother to me. Besides my husband of course, I can with all my heart say he is my best friend, he's that "no matter what" person. No matter what happens, no matter what I've done, no matter what is done, no matter how unfair and ugly things are he never sways, He is always strong and confident, encouraging, supportive, understanding, compassionate, accepting and an incredible man of God-he is always there.
Tomorrow, he and his wife Vanessa will be welcoming their first baby, Jamisen into this beautiful world. My heart is ready to burst for them because I know what is in store for them. They have so much love and laughter to give, Jamisen is one blessed little girl to get to grow up with my brother as her Daddy!!!!!!!

Derrick- There are not many days that go by that I don't think of you, miss you, miss your big butt dancing,  miss laughing with you. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have a brother like you and I just want you to know I love you and wish nothing but God's best on you this new year.
xox

I was 14 months and Derrick was 3 years old...

Look at him placing his hand on my cheek and givin me kisses:)))) March 1979

Sept. 1979.. I was 20 months and Derrick was almost 3 and a half.. again he wanted to hold my hand:))

me, Derrick, Janae and Blake with our Uncle Larry... This face is totally my brother's laugh still today!!

Easter of 1982,, I think.... hahha I get this face more NOW as an adult when I say something inappropriately:))))

and I don't expect anybody else to think this is funny, but one of my best memories was seeing this skit with Derrick and we both thought it was soooooooo funny... and just laughed forever....and this was where we started saying "your the devil"

http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z1/sambazz07/?action=view&current=SNL-PhillipTheHyper-HypoKid-MikeMye.flv

What a wonderful world

Our family is blessed to have the opportunity whenever we want, well most of the time anyway to go to Oregon and stay in Uncle Wayne and Aunt Judy's cabin.  We don't go often enough, but every vacation spent there is fabulous. There is no radio, no tv,  and sometimes you can get a signal on your phone for a few seconds. The nearest smallest little grocery store where they have one of everything which "everything" to them is not much :))) is about 45 miles away.... it's just splendid silence all around and there are no city lights to block the hundreds of stars!  It's breathtaking! The cabin sits on about 300 acres (I think) :) and a huge pond sits to the side of the cabin. This last trip in November of 2009, the pond and the little creatures inside it became quite popular with the adults, not just the kids anymore. The kids since the first time we ever visited would spend days catching salamanders, fill their buckets up with water and take care and play with them... They are cute little things. It's a sad last day when we all have to say goodbye and the kids release them back to their home, the pond. 
WELL, this year was a little different. While the kids were trying to rescue the salamanders, we (the adults:) were shooting at them. We had a 12 gauge shotgun, a 22 caliber and a couple of glocks!!!! Richie, Ray and Ryan were yelling "Pull"  as salamanders are being thrown in the air and Ray just nailing them... Way to go Ray!!!!!!! :)     

Misty, Danette and I both became pretty excited about the whole gun thing too,  finger on the trigger ready to go, zoning in on the pond just waiting for a glimpse of one to come to surface and then BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If u are reading this and thinking,,, omg how cruel.. well just remember the last time u stepped on a spider, or caught a fish and took it home and knifed it to death, or u swatted that annoying little fly, or slapped the mosquito on your shoulder,, i could go on for a while:))))))))))))) Whew, i'm sorry that was the midwest talking:))     

Danette shootin on tin cans..

Let me warn u! First shot and this is what happened.............

:))))) I can't help my talent!   

 Here is a video of me shooting the 12 gauge which about knocked me off my feet!!!!!  facebook.com/video/video.php?v=

Overall, our days there are so relaxing, alot of bonding time and before we leave, we usually are making plans to already come back. Looks like May of 2010, hopefull we will be going back!!

                            

Dutch Bros, Coffee.. Its the best!!!

Shore Acres. Breathtaking!

Girls getting ready to hit the trails!!! There is always a fun story to tell after we are done:)

little salamanders in a temporary home...:)

alot of coloring happens while at the cabin

Noah got an early Christmas gift while there! and here he is in action!!

and who does'nt love a bonfire and roasted marshmallows????? :)

Ryan while taking care of sick me on Sunday and put together this video of this trip. It's a beautiful reminder of our time there and the love in our family!!!