Homeschool Is Cool

   

We are officially halfway done with our first year of homeschool. YAY! 

Now that I have a few months of homeschool under my belt, I feel that I can give some opinion and have some perspective on it. It has been an adventure, and there are tough days with tears, but mostly it has been a HUGE BLESSING to our family.

First of all, the flexibility is exactly what we need while living out this crazy military life. Since we started school in early July, we were able to take a couple of days off in September to spend time with Bill after his deployment. We were also able to take some time off during our recent move – and then we picked right back up where we left off without concerns about new schools, etc. And on the days that Bill has off, or is home early, the kids are here and able to have the much-needed time with him.

Second, I am so proud of how well the kids are doing in school. I’m not an easy teacher. I know my child's potential and I won’t settle for anything less. I realize now that no one is going to push my kids as much as I do.

But, having said that, they really love school. I see passions lighting up in both of them and I’m able to gear my curriculum in that direction. And, most important, even through the struggles we are growing together and bonding in an entirely new way.

Speaking of passions, I love this quote...

“Passions weaken, but habits strengthen, with age, and it is the great task of youth to set the current of habit and to form the tastes which are most productive of happiness in life.” -The Map of Life, William Edward Hartpole Lecky

I hope to achieve both with our homeschool time. I want them to learn productive life skills while igniting passions. Yet, as this quotes infers, passions come and go but good habits last a lifetime. 

Finally, I love that I am able to point things out to them when we’re out and about and tie it back to something we learned a couple of weeks ago. No errand or outing is “safe” from a learning tidbit.

So, having come this far, it felt necessary to celebrate. On Friday we ordered pizza (kids’ choice), made and ate cupcakes, presented awards and made fun crafts (thank you, Kiwi Crate).

Lastly, if you’re interested, I highly recommend watching this commentary video about our current school system. Bill watched it as part of his class and then shared it with me. It’s entertaining, informative and thought-provoking. 

I'm so glad I decided to homeschool the kids. It works for our family right now. It was a huge leap of faith and has required so much from all of us but the rewards of seeing the kids learn and grow has made it so worth it.

My Favorite Books of 2013

Today I’m linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy’s blog to discuss the best books of 2013 (the best books we read in 2013, not necessarily published in 2013). According to my Goodreads account, I read about 20 books this year. You can see the complete list here.

I really enjoyed most of the books I read this year. But, for the purpose of this blog, I’m going to narrow it down to my Top 5 books. I’m not ranking them in order of least to greatest because they are all so different and hard to compare. 

I’m including a quick note on each book rather than a detailed review because I believe it’s better to go into a book with a fresh slate than with expectations from what others have said about it.  

Here they are...

Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe by Bill Bryson – I laughed on almost every page of this book. The author’s witty commentary on the people and places of Europe are spot on. Reading this book was like being on a European vacation – without the expense of airfare! Hands down the best travelogue that I’ve ever read.

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp – I hate to sound dramatic or cliché but this book changed my outlook on life. She has such a unique writing style, and because of it, she’s able to bring stories and ideas to life in a new way. Her heart for the Lord is inspiring, too.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain – I kept seeing this book pop up on “Must Read” lists this summer but I was skeptical. I don’t really care about Ernest Hemingway or his life, so I wasn’t sure if I’d like it or not – but it grabbed me in the first chapter and didn’t let me go until the end. It’s an intriguing story in a fabulous setting. Having a glimpse into these iconic lives – good, bad and ugly – was utterly fascinating. Plus, his first wife was a diamond in the rough and I enjoyed “her” perspective of the story.

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls – Need a hero? Look no further than the lead character of this book. The author did an excellent job bringing her grandmother to life – all her spunk, sass and tenacity. Her life story is amazing, shocking and bittersweet. You’ll be cheering for her the entire time. Overall, an uplifting and inspiring story.

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker – Don’t’ let the title of this book scare you. This book isn’t a guilt trip. Actually, it’s more like meeting your friend at Starbucks and catching up on the latest antics. Through her excellent story telling, I was able to journey along side of her – while laughing and learning. I think about things from this book often. I can honestly say it’s still working on me. 

Again, I enjoyed so many books this past year  - and still feel "connected" to most of them - so it was hard to narrow it down to these Top 5 picks.

Finally, although I’m not a fast reader, I’m hoping to double the amount of books that I read this year. That would put me at about 40 books in 2014. Let’s see if I can do it!

What about you, what were your favorite books in 2013?

Counting My Blessings in 2013

When I think about 2013, the first word that comes to mind is HARD. Just-keep-putting-one-foot-in-front-of-another-and-get-through-this kind of hard. I think about a year filled with sickness, pain and heartache.

Yet, that isn’t the entire picture. When I really stop and think about this year, I see a year filled with blessings, God’s provisions, and a whole lotta grace.

I’m going to choose to focus on that part as I send this year off into history. So, for fun, I’m going to highlight some of my favorite parts of this year.

1) We are blessed with some amazing friends, and even if I don’t call as much as I should (sorry), don’t think that I take one of you for granted. I count my friends as one of my biggest blessings. Here are just a few fun memories we had with friends this year….

Sienna's Valentine's Day "Tea with Dolls" Party

Our monthly Deployment Countdown Celebrations. Here we're celebrating Bill's birthday on our "3rd month done" celebration.

CFA meals with friends

2) Another highlight to the year is the visitors we had this year. Want to earn some extra “treasures in heaven”? Go visit a military family. It means SO MUCH to us. Honestly, you have no idea how happy it makes us when you come visit.

This year, both sets of our visitors braved the El Paso heat to come visit us. That’s dedication and love!

My aunt and uncle came to visit in early summer…

And I enjoyed a girls’ weekend with Shaena and Suzanne in the late summer…

3) I can barely type these words with out tears filling my eyes, but here goes (please excuse typos at this point)…God was so good to me this year. I read a Sally Clarkson blog article recently and she basically outlined how when we’re going through a tough season of life, God is actually holding us tighter and caring for us more, just as a parent tends to a sick child a bit more than they might with a child that is well. (Shout out to Sally for ALWAYS speaking to my heart right where it’s hurting) I can give many examples of how God cared for me in His own little way through out this year, but the one that first pops into my mind is this one….

At what I’ll call my “darkest hour” of the year, when I was just surviving the days and calling out to Him for help and hope, this beautiful rainbow was waiting for me right outside my back door. I let the dog out in the morning and – BAM! – this huge, beautiful rainbow.

You could say it was just a rainbow - a work of science/atmosphere/whatever - but I KNOW that God gave me that rainbow as a visual sign of the hope and promise I have in Him. (I can appreciate the whole Noah’s ark rainbow so much more now!)

4) Another huge boast in morale was adding two adorable kitties to our house. They are a pain but they bring us (us=me and Sienna) so much joy and happiness. There is something quirky about cats' personalities that I love so much.

5) Sienna’s baptism was a huge blessing to us too. The fact that she took the initiative and pushed to be baptized all on her own, encouraged my heart and soul a million times a million. I wish Bill could have been there in person (thankfully he was able to watch online) but I know that it was all God’s timing and I'm happy to see my little ones grow in their walks with God.

6) Sometimes getting out of the daily routine and exploring a new place is necessary to feel rejuvenated. Traveling to Albuquerque and Santa Fe this summer with our friends was exactly that for me. Although it was exhausting to travel outnumbered (2 Moms, 5 Kids), it was a lot of fun and will always be a fun memory for me. 

7) The turning point in the year was when we welcomed Bill home from the deployment. We are so thankful to have him home safely. I pray we don’t have to do that again anytime soon!!  Even though it was “only 9 months” it was incredibly hard and I’m happy to put it behind us. 

8) I started homeschooling the kids this year. I love it, the kids love it, and I'm so glad I took the plunge and did it. 

9) Speaking of learning, I learned how to knit this year! It's something I've always wanted to learn how to do. Be warned, I foresee lots of scarves as Christmas gifts next year. 

10) Finally, to me, the entire year has been redeemed in this one month of December. We have had so much fun setting up our new house (which has everything I’ve ever wanted and so much more!) and we’re enjoying all the nature (snow, birds, etc.) and having lots and lots of family time to create new and happy memories together.

Despite the hard times, I will look back at this year fondly and be thankful for all the blessings.

And now…Happy 2014!!!

The Gs Hit DC

One of the best parts about moving is exploring the new surroundings and finding places to go and eat. Everything is new and exciting and thrilling. It’s like a restart button on life. As for places to eat and things to see, we are completely spoiled here. If we lived here our whole lives, I don’t think we’d be able to cover it all. I love it and I keep pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. I can’t believe I get to live here.

We’ve been good about exploring locally but we needed to go explore some of THE city. So we decided to go into the city yesterday to explore and see some sights. We didn’t have an official timeline or agenda. We were just planning things as we went. It was awesome! We had a great day and everything worked out well.

We live about 45 minutes outside of the heart of DC. For our California friends, it’s about the same as the trek from Eastvale/Corona area to Los Angeles. But unlike California, we have public transportation options. So yesterday we decided to take the Metro. Even though I love good public transportation, I was dreading the trip. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly the drama I thought it’d be. Every thing was rather easy to figure out (with Bill’s help, of course!) and an uber-friendly attendant at the Metro stop helped us figure out the tickets and fees, etc. And the kids, oh my goodness, they LOVED it. I think we could have just taken a ride on the train and the kids would have been happy with that. 

It was a beautiful sunny day. There was still a chill in the air but not nearly as cold as it’s been here lately. 

We decided to go to the National Museum of Natural History (say that five times!). Entrance was FREE. It was busy but not overwhelmingly busy. It did become more crowded in the afternoon but by then we were almost done seeing everything we wanted to see.

It is a beautiful building with lots to see. The exhibits kept the kids' interest throughout the day.

The exhibits were family-friendly and they had just opened an exhibit especially for kids - with lots of hands-on activities - and both our kids had fun going through. 

Here's a picture of Grant with his favorite animal - a Giant Squid. 

My favorite part of the museum was watching the show “Jerusalem” in the IMAX theater. Some of it was probably over the kids’ heads, but I still think it’s important to expose them to things they might not fully understand. I haven’t looked up any scientific evidence to prove this but I do think that we absorb a lot in our subconscious before it actually registers in our brains. So, we dragged the kids into the show when they really wanted to see the ocean IMAX instead. But it was a very interesting show – and even the kids were engaged in it.

And yes, homeschool friends, I'm counting this as a Field Trip! 

We left the museum in the late afternoon and walked to the Capitol building. 

The sun was setting and everything was “glowing” in the late afternoon sun. It was truly beautiful. I’m a person that gets inspired by my surroundings and nature, and this setting made me want to go “conquer the world” …but then I realized I can’t even “conquer” my kids, so I better keep my work at home for a little while longer. Still, it was inspiring and I felt rejuvenated by time we headed home.  

T'is the Season ...to Bake!

This week I started one of my favorite parts of the holiday season - baking!! 

I thought I'd share the recipes I'm cookin' up this holiday season, in case you need some inspiration. These recipes are tested and approved by everyone in my family! 

Saltine Cracker Toffee - Over the past few years, these have become a family favorite at Christmastime. They are super easy to make and so delicious. 

What does Ginger do when she gets mad? She snaps! 

That's a joke that someone I used to work with told everytime he saw me. Well, with this recipe, Ginger (cookies) won't snap but instead melt in your mouth. I like it better this way. 

Brown Butter Soft Batch Ginger Snaps 

Christmas isn't complete without Sugar Cookies and cookie decorating. I let the kids go to town last night. There was sugar and frosting everywhere - counters, floor, foreheads, etc. At the end of it, I was so proud that I was able to suppress my clean-freak tendencies so the kids could have a fun time. Memory making in progress! 

This year, I let Trader Joe's save the day on the Sugar Cookies. This kit was too cute to pass up. We added M&Ms, mini chocolate chips and colored/glitter frosting to the decorating line-up. 

This is a lot of cookies even for us, so we're planning to package them up and bring them to the neighbors this afternoon.  

I came across a recipe for Almond Shortbread that looks pretty tasty. I haven't tried this recipe yet but I'm hoping to make them soon.
 
Finally, I also like to make pecan pies during the holidays. I tried this recipe (Trisha Yearwood's Pecan Pie) last year and loved it and everyone I shared it with loved it too. I'm planning to make it again this year. Maybe for New Year's Eve? 

What are your favorite holiday recipes? I'd love for you to share them! 

Happy Baking! And may your holidays be merry and bright! 

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends (and a whole lotta prayer!)

It has been a very hard few weeks for me. I’ll save the specifics but I will say that it was the final hurdle of this deployment and the first time I was completely emptied out and clinging solely to God for help. I really thought my battleship was sunk. 

The following verse sums up so much of what I was feeling and dealing with emotionally, spiritually and physically.

^8-11 We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don’t want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God’s deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part.

2 Corinthians 1:8-11

The Message (MSG)

Obviously my circumstances weren’t as terrible as what is being referenced in this verse but I was definitely in my own “Asia province” -- and I feel confident that He sent me this verse to guide me and encourage me when I needed it the most. The first thing was that I needed to trust God completely. And since I had no more strength left – I had exhausted all of my “control” and effort and work – it was pretty easy to give it all over to God. It was basically my only option.  Second, I had to remember all the other times God had rescued me in the past. How? Well, I set out to make my list – and guess what?! The list was very long. Third, like a lightening bolt to my brain, I realized that I really needed to call in the prayer reinforcement of my friends and family. And I did. I asked several friends and family to keep me in their prayers. I love the last half of this verse: “I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God’s deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played a crucial part.” It’s so important to lift each other up in prayer and this situation reminded me of it more than ever. Prayer works!

And I want to greatly thank every one who did lift me up in prayer, who sent encouraging notes, made the time for a “pep talk” phone call, sent “just checking in” text messages and even mailed me chocolate (bonus points for the chocolate). I was on the brink and your prayers were the rescue mission. I see that so clearly now. So a million times thank you. And because of the prayers and God’s grace alone, I can happily report that things are finally on the “upswing” for us. Hooray and hallelujah! 

Our First Week of Homeschool in Photos

This week we started our homeschool adventure. Eeks! I was geared up for a hard transition but the kids were very excited and eager to learn. A welcomed change from the usual back-to-school drama we experience leading up to the first day of school. I loved being so involved in curriculum choices, the flexibility and, to my surprise, I felt a lot less rushed and stressed during the day. And we all loved having NO HOMEWORK.

First Day of School

I'll be homeschooling Sienna full-time and Grant will be joining us part-time. He starts back at his private school in a couple of weeks. He'll be there for a half day in the morning and then we'll cover some science and history together when he's home in the afternoon. I want to include him in the homeschooling fun but I don't think I'm cut out for teaching ABCs and the fundamentals of reading. I'll leave that to the professionals! He'll continue there until we move and then I'll homeschool him full-time the rest of the year. 

US History

Wrote letters to our "adopted" Compassion International kids for Language Arts and then learned about their countries for Geography!

We haven't come up with a name for our school yet (any ideas?) but we do have a mascot. We are the Dangerous Dogs! And here's our fearless mascot...

Speaking of animals, the kitties were less enthusiastic about school. 

Something you wouldn't see in public school!

 

We had a great first week of homeschool. I'm hoping and praying this trend continues. I’m excited to see where this year takes us.