Thoughts For This Week

Out My Window... I see our little "nutty" dog trying to catch a squirrel. Buddy has not been blessed with the gift of finding things or catching anything. He will actually "lose" his toys while sitting right on top of them! Too funny...

In Our Homeschool This Week... We have of course been working on Saxon Math and my little guy started reading his first little chapter book to me! Our two girls have also been working on some stories for their entries in a writing contest.

Places We've Been...We went a lot of places this week- grocery shopping, our local amusement park, to our girls' piano recital, swimming at a friend's house, to name a few!

People We Saw...I always enjoy seeing our Keepers Club friends each week and talking with the moms. I also got to attend our H.E.A.R.T. Homeschool Group meeting and we really had a productive discussion, with lots of planning for the new school year!

Things I Heard... The beautiful sound of our girls practicing for their piano recital. I especially enjoy hearing them play duets together. Move over, girls- in the fall their little brother begins his lessons too!

My Favorite Thing This Week....Watching our oldest daughter being interviewed on live TV, promoting her new book Tampa Bay From A to Z. It really brought tears to my eyes to see her so calm, so composed and so well-spoken. I know this is a dream come true for her.

Things I'm Working On... I have received all our shipments of homeschool materials, and so now I am thrilled to be going through all of the various books and curriculum, and coming up with some lesson plans!

I'm Reading...Crazy Love by Francis Chan. An absolutely amazing book!

I'm Grateful For...A husband who works so very hard so that I can be with our children and homeschool them.

I Am Praying For...the next few weeks to go smoothly and for none of us to become ill before we leave for our trip.

Wow, It's Hot!

It has been really hot everywhere this summer. Where we live, it is usually hot most of the year. We really enjoy heading out to our local pool for some cool fun! The pool near our home has several slides, as well as diving boards and a rock climbing wall that is in the water!

The kids enjoy all those things, but I think they like the ice cream they get at the pool just as much!

Summer is such a fun time for our family!

There's A New Sheriff In Town!

Our little boy is obsessed with anything related to police, hunting, and guns. Now, I will be the first one to admit this: before I had a little boy, I was one of those moms who said I would NEVER ever allow any child of mine to play with any sort of gun- period.  I remember sitting at the park, gawking at "those moms" who had little boys running around with sticks playing guns and swords and as sad as it is to confess this, I would say aloud how they must be terrible moms to allow such horrible behavior! My my- how things change.

This little boy of ours, at the age of two, before he ever had a toy gun, saw a gun, or heard of a gun chewed a piece of toast into the shape of you guessed it- a gun! I remember just sitting there staring at him and wondering how in the world did he know how to do that? Of course, he couldn't call it the correct word, but he called it "that shooty thing".

Anytime he saw a police officer, he wanted to know exactly what their gun was used for. He almost died of excitement, the day he received the book pictured above Police Patrol.  He will sit there for an hour and just look at all the pictures, and I must have read it to him over a thousand times by now.

I think though that the highlight of his short life has been getting a nerf gun. He loves shooting those little foam darts out onto anything they will stick to. And he "patrols" our backyard daily, looking for anything he can hunt. Daddy has been really good at teaching him some basic rules about guns- real or not: never ever point them at any person or animal that is a pet. We have been extra diligent about that and even when he has mistakenly pointed at someone, the nerf gun is taken away for the entire day.

So, we've got a new little sheriff in town, although as you can see from the picture, sometimes its fun to be the criminal too!

Thoughts For This Week

Out my window... I see a beautiful blue jay! We have several birds that call our backyard home.

In our homeschool this week... we are continuing on with Saxon Math. The kids spend a lot of time reading each day and my little guy particularly enjoys looking at his Civil War magazine and having me read Sam the Minuteman to him daily.

Places we've been... We took the kids to a local amusement park at the beginning of the week. It is always a fun time there! My little girl is at VBS this week and is having a blast. I also took advantage of the great sale at Office Depot this week and stocked up on some great school supplies!

People we saw... I was glad to see my friend Ruth again! Oh, and the UPS man is fast becoming a daily visitor, as all our homeschool materials have started arriving!

My favorite thing this week...listening to our oldest playing on the piano. She plays with such gentle hands and I genuinely enjoy listening to her throughout the day.

Things I'm working on... I am reading through some of the various textbooks that have come this week and I am getting more things printed out for next year.

I'm reading... The Tree of Freedom

I'm grateful for...air conditioning!

I'm praying for...the Lord to give me an answer to some questions I have and for Him to provide me with the right words.




5 Minutes of Fame

This morning, our daughter had an exciting experience! She was the guest at one of our local TV stations, promoting her new book, Tampa Bay From A to Z. We got to see the book for the first time today. It was such a neat moment for me as a mom, to see her name on the cover and to know she is a published author!

Here she is with the PR representative from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida (the book sponsor) discussing some of the possible questions she may be asked during the TV interview.

Here they are, being fitted for microphones and Lissette Campos, the news anchor going over her questions and information regarding the book.

Places everyone! It was so interesting to see what goes into making a news segment. Our daughter did awesome and although she told me after it was over that she was very nervous, you couldn't tell!

After the taping was complete, Lisette Campos was so kind and took us on a little tour of the TV station. This was such a fantastic day for us and I know our daughter will remember this for the rest of her life! Words can not describe how proud we are of her...

Thoughts For This Week

Out my window... it is raining. I just love watching the rain!

In our homeschool this week... we have continued working on finishing our Saxon math. My little guy has also been reading daily to me as well as doing some random activities.

Places we've been... we took a nice trip to visit family this past weekend. We have also gone to church, grocery shopping, to Target, and to the library.

People we saw...lots of family!

My favorite thing this week... watching our 2 youngest play out in the rain!

Things I'm working on... I am trying to get all the vocabulary cards created for my children for next school year. I also have a TON of laminating to do!

I'm reading... my Bible and a book called The Five Love Languages

I'm cooking...carne guisada which is a beef stew-type of dish served over rice. Yummy!

I'm grateful for... being able to be home with my children on a rainy day!

I'm praying for... our oldest daughter's back to be healed.

Road Trip!!!

This fourth of July weekend, we took a nice little road trip to celebrate with family. It took us about 3 hours to get to our destination. This is what I saw while driving:

Finally we arrived- yippee! Then the fun began. We spent 3 days with 5 different families. The kids had a blast! We went to some springs and enjoyed snorkeling, boating, and swimming.

Back at the property we stayed at, our little guy really enjoyed being a farmer and riding around on the tractor.

Everyone really likes riding around on the quads- its great going over the jumps and getting "down and dirty".

My favorite part of the trip was when we went to the lake. We took 2 different boats out and had a really fun time cooking out and riding on the tubes.

It sure was exhausting having all this fun!

A great weekend spent with family- it doesn't get any better!