Stepping out on faith

As a homeschool mom, I feel like I have learned a whole new level of stepping out on faith.  Between praying about what curriculum to use, finding the right friends and family for support, and praying most of all that as the mom I'm not completely messing up my children.

We learned a LOT from homeschooling.  It has brought our family closer, it has allowed us to deal with our health issues from a more controlled environments, and it has allowed us to have complete oversight of our children day to day.

Homeschooling has taught me lots of things.

1) Greatly improved planning and organizing.

The first couple years, we did "preschool" fun, and nothing too intense.  This last year teaching 2nd grade down to preschool made me learn quickly the need for planned out, and organized papers.  Also, I learned how to meal plan MUCH better (after the fourth night of Little Ceasers Pizza), and it also helped me to establish a firm budget (to help from all those shiny new curriculum and toys!).

2) Learned to be flexible.

I am OCD, and struggle a lot with not following the lesson plan, or not getting it all done that day!  With homeschooling it helped me to learn the balance of what did my child need that day.  There were days we all needed a fun trip out of the house, and there were days we were needed to buckle down and get our work done.  Some days, were just to help mommy clean and reorganize so she didn't go crazy over clutter!  As a family we learned to balance what we needed without overdoing it.

3) Explore and learn to love learning.

I have never been a big fan of classrooms and testing.  As a homeschool mom it helped me to see things from a new perspective and how to engage my children to LOVE learning!!  Even if it was a "boring" story or a hard math problem, we found many creative ways to make it fun!!  Museums the kids thought might be boring, we would find the stories and adventure behind it.  Over the last couple years, my children learned to take the most mundane thing and turn it into an exciting adventure.

4) Keep the focus on God

For me this has been the most eye opening part of homeschooling.  Before I would do devotions, and learn at church, but as a homeschool mom I have had to learn DAILY the intense need for God's guidance and grace in my life.  On day 579348234 of being home with small children, it can be overwhelming, on the days my husband was too sick to function, it can be a lot, and on the days my illness shut me down, I learned very quickly just HOW much I needed God's grace.  Homeschooling allowed me the time to dig in, study, pray, and learn just how much I depend daily on God and his Word for encouragement.  Friends are good, but will sometimes fail.  Family is helpful, but not always there.  Everything else around us can fail, crush, and overwhelm us, but God is always there.  I am forever thankful at the chance to step out of the "real world" for a few years and learn the importance of daily and personal close walk with God to help me deal with the many trials we have had to learn.



Though ALL of this, it also has helped when life needs to change.  It is easy to make an excuse to say our health is bad, our friends are upset, and our kids need us home 24/7, but when God opens up an opportunity to serve him and creates the grace and opportunity to do it, then DO IT!  I cannot always see how things will work, and I definitely do not know how things will turn out, but I do know that God opens the doors, and allows the grace to get me through.

Our family made a choice to step out on faith and change up how we are schooling our family this year, and so far God has FULLY provided the money we invested, the questions we had, and the help we needed.  Do I still have worries some days??  Definitely!!  But, I also know this is a new opportunity to step out on pure faith that God will provide and take care of our family like he always has.  Through thick and thin, sickness and health, God has a plan and he knows much better than we do how to get through it.

It's hard to let go of the "planner" part of me, and the OCD need to have a 100% outlook on every area, but it's another new lesson on trusting God and following him in faith.

Are there still concerns some days?  Yes!  Are there still hard days?  Yes!  Are there still days I doubt the choices I"m making? Yes!  The point is, not to worry about what "I can do", but give it to God, and trust the next step.  It's not easy, but it's what is needed!

I am forever thankful for the opportunity we have had in our homeschool journey, and cannot wait to see where the next step takes us!

here's a few "flashbacks" of a few fun days!  (from the many hundreds to choose from)

Our 4th of July weekend

This year for the 4th of July, we decided to go back to Mississippi and visit my husband's family.  We haven't been back in a few years (during the summer) and it was a fun adventure!

The boys thoroughly enjoyed the hot air balloon show, boating with Pawpaw, and visiting all the friends and family around.  They though the fireworks were great, and had a good weekend of eating way too much food, and lots of fun. :)

We made it back just in time to go to our church's Annual 4th of July bluegrass and BBQ event!!  Full of fun times with horse competition, fast draw shooting, kid games, great music, good preaching, and of course AMAZING food!!!  Being part of the pie competitions, and other events make for great memories with our family.

I am forever thankful for the soldiers and others that fight to keep our country free and I'm also thankful for a great church community and family to spend these memorable times with!

Here are a few photos of our fun Independence weekend:

Family Fun and Elijah turning Five!

This year we decided to do something very different.  Instead of  big birthday parties (which we are pretty good at) and a big lavish summer, we decided to focus more on family time and quality!  This is the first summer in a while we haven't been doing moving, trips, babysitting, homeschooling, etc.  We do like to stay busy, and we LOVE doing stuff with other people, but this much needed "us" time has been wonderful.

For Elijah's fifth birthday we decided to let him pick the location of our mini vacation.  Since he wants to grow up and be an astronaut, NASA it was!!  We had a wonderful trip with our family (and my parents) doing the Houston Zoo, NASA, and relaxing evenings on the beach.  Instead of a hotel and crazy plans, we took it easy, rented a house on the beach, and got to enjoy a very good vacation.  Elijah also preferred this over a house of friends and overwhelming day.  I'm so thankful that we had the opportunity to get away, and have good quality time.  The boys got to learn a lot, explore things they loved, and got good memories as a family.  I am thankful that my husband was healthy enough to enjoy the trip as well, and watching him with three boys following is one of my favorite things!  He is an amazing husband and father, and I'm so thankful that our boys love to follow their daddy.

Among the fun was also the Flying Pizza place (where yes, they THROW those Pizza's high), and walks on the beach.  Samuel got to practice riding the waves on the boogie board.  Elijah worked on being brave and got pretty deep in the ocean waves.  Ezekiel had a blast swimming in the ocean, and Mira learned that she did NOT like sand, or dirt!  These are the memories we will remember and cherish as a family.  I'm glad we've done big friends activities in the past, but a toned down family summer is just what we needed.

We are embracing the simpler things too!  Instead of a fancy cake, we got fun clearance cupcakes that were JUST as much fun!!  Instead of a big themed party, we had the fun adventure of NASA.  Instead of a stressed out mommy trying to keep up with everything else, we had a great family weekend!!

ON another note:  We took the boys in for eye checks and learned the Samuel needs reading glasses because he is far sighted, and Elijah inherited mommy's lazy eye and nearsightedness!  I am very glad we caught it early and they think it's "so cool" to have glasses like mommy and daddy now!  They were so excited to pick their own frames, and experience the eye doctor.  Once they are in next week they can't wait to show everyone their cool new look.  

Hope everyone is having a great summer so far!   We definitely are enjoying our new adventures all the time that range from eye doctors, to water parks, to lazy days, to NASA!  Focus on making life an adventure!  Your kids will remember how happy you were, not how many toys they had.  They will remember the good of a close family, not who had the biggest parties.  Focus on the important things, because we only have one shot at raising these amazing kids.

Ten years later.

Looking back, ten years ago I graduated high school.  That part of my life had lots of ups, down, and in the middles, but one thing I do remember was writing about "What do I want to be in ten years?"

In high school between health, homeschooling, private schooling, and lots of other things, my life was constantly changing!  I had grand ideas, and BIG plans, and a very detailed way of how to get there.  At the time, ten years away felt forever away, and now I can't believe just how quickly it came!!

Now, it's already ten years later!!!  Wow!

In high school where I saw myself in ten years was:
1) Career military (preferably officer)
2) Homeschooling mom (as a second choice)
3) Happily married with up to 4 kids
4) Serving in church ministry
5) Raising my children for Christ.

Now, that is the short of it.  There was a lot of details in the middle of how I would accomplish this, and things like that.  Throughout the last ten years there have been times where I honestly did not see any of this coming true.  I saw the extreme problems and trials I was in, but through it all God has blessed us and ended up fulfilling everything I had wanted!

I did end up briefly in the military.  I did end up in college.  I did end up a homeschooling mom!  I am happily married, with my four children and serving in ministry, raising them for Christ!!  All of my major "what I wanted" did come true.

I want to encourage and remind everyone that even when you look around and don't see how it can possibly work out, trust that God has a plan, and when you put your faith in him, he will end up giving you what you want and more!  It may not happen HOW you want it to, but the end it can still happen.  I could go all day on the situations I was in and how I saw no way out, but every single time, God ended up taking care of it in ways I never could imagine!

I can't wait to see where God puts us in the next ten years, and to see how our family grows and changes even more!!

Here is my graduation speech from ten years ago: check it out here!

Little bit of Grace goes a long way.

This last month has been a good reevaluating month for me.  It's the first time in two years I haven't been in college, having a new baby, or have a house full of other people's kids.  Now, yes, I do love and enjoy doing ALL of those things, but it makes for a very busy season of life that is constantly changing.  This summer I have been needing a HUGE break.  Break from friends, break from homeschooling, and overall break from life.   As many know, I struggle from depression (especially post pardum), and lots of other things.  Most days I manage it well, but this past year it has been helped that I have had an amazing group of moms that encourage and are there for each other.

This last month, so much of that changed.  Most of my moms I had been bonding with had other life changes as well, so it quickly stopped.  This makes for feeling isolated, alone, depressed, and other hurt emotions.  The problem with all of this is, as moms, we NEED encouragement and love and grace.  I read a quote earlier that hit me hard:

"Most of the time, moms who are on the verge of burnout are afraid to say so because they live in fear of being judged by others.  Oh that we would be known for our grace toward one another!" ~Heidi St. John

Moms spend so much time judging, opinionated, and making it hard to be gracious towards each other.  When we feel attacked and judged, we isolate, which often ends up to the detriment of our relationships, our health, and sometimes our sanity.

Realize that we all do things differently, we all react to things differently, and we all are going through struggles differently.  Instead of comparing, attacking, and judging, let's all be gracious and loving and lift each other up!

Dig into your Bibles, and pray for your friends.  When a mom is struggling alone, it is so much easier to fall into temptation, drift from church, and lose accountability in our life.

Lean on the Lord for strength and comfort, and as a mom, also pray and support your friends who are struggling and hurting!

2 Corinthians 12:9King James Version (KJV) And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Matthew 7:7King James Version (KJV) Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Psalm 18:1King James Version (KJV)  I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

Galatians 6:2King James Version (KJV) Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

I am so thankful for the moms that stick with me and are there for me during my hard days.  I'm also thankful for the moms that let me be there for them as well.  Even when we go through different griefs, losses, and struggles, it's important that we show love and grace to each other.

I am taking a much needed break from most of our "crazy" life, but learning to slow down and enjoy my family and pray and love on those around me more is much needed.  I didn't realize just how long I had been running non stop!  Thankful for the opportunity to do this as we pray and reflect on our past year as a family, and start making changes to make this year even better with our homeschooling and our family relationship!

Our life this week and new stuff

The past few weeks I have been struggling with depression, our family has been sick (on and off) and a lot of life changes with our friends, school groups, etc were happening all at once.  This put me into a introvert avoid people lately.  This week we started getting back into a routine (from our off kilter "summer" so far) and it has been helping a lot!

We found a Summer Bridge program that is ten minutes a day of school that reviews what they learned last year, and introduces what they are learning next year, hence the name "Bridge program."  This also came with a great book list!  40 books, per child, all different books!  We took this as a perfect opportunity to explore and learn our library better and the kids have enjoyed it.  

We also have some new board games to help explore the National Parks, and we have been using Early Explorers Little Passports to give us some fun activities and learning for the summer.  The boys also wanted to learn a new foreign language, Hawaiian!!  I was glad to find it from Dino Lingo and between the books, the games, the geography, and the language, we have some great summer plans to keep us structured!

Building new forts, making new friends, taking new trips, and keeping with a calmed down home is going to make for a great summer!!

Redecorated our "homeschool" area so it's not in my kitchen.  Added a much more kid friendly living room and we are loving the relaxing, but educational area for our family.  We change it every year based on what we need, and I am thankful for the flexibility we are able to have with our school and family.

Lots of changes this upcoming year from last, and it's going to be interesting.

step one of our 120 books!

Coloring our chameleons like the books!

Exploring the National Parks

Hawaii here we come!

New school setup

Redecorated with fun bean bag chairs

Playing outside and making new imagiation worlds

Gotta take our friends to the zoo

Mira's first time in the pool!

Learning about Space and Planets with Little Explorers

Trampoline fun!

Getting to know our teens from the teen auction

Before we got it all organized!

The end result!

Every year our church does a teen auction.  This is a great way for families to "buy" a teen for work for a day, and then in turn they earn money for teen summer camps!  Last year we did this and we learned a lot from getting to know teens we normally would never spend time with.  This year with better planning we were able to "buy" the teens we needed and had a lot of fun!  I got my big projects done with lots of help, and then I also got a chance to talk with and get to know some of the teens.

Ending our hard work with Half off Frappes!!

As a mom of toddlers and young children, I oftentimes never speak to or spend time with the teenagers.  It's never intentional, but our paths rarely cross.  Last year when doing this I got to spend time with and get to know teenagers that I had never even spoken with and over the past year we developed a friendship.  This year we were able to do even more and get to know them better.  The bonus was I also had a chance to show these girls some fun stuff like "how to prep 40 freezer meals, and shop, and organize for it."  Another group of girls helped me sort through 8 sizes of clothes, multiple buckets of clothes and reorganize and label it all.  These are important skills they will eventually need, and even though I'm still learning some of it, it's fun for me to teach and show them something I'm learning as a mom!  I never learned how to meal plan, prep and plan that far in advance.  I never had to sort through and organize 4 children's worth of clothes ranging from sizes 1-8!  All of this I am learning and I'm so grateful that I'm able to teach these things to new teen girls.  Also I make some pretty special memories and make new friendships.

As an "older" (cough, cough) mom, it's important for us to reach out to the teenagers and get to know them!!  Too often these young ladies would love an older woman to talk with, and learn from.  Every girl I spent time with these past couple weeks through the auction was a sweet hearted girl, and they truly appreciated the encouragement and time from someone new.

As moms, are we reaching outside our comfort zone and getting to know the next generation?  Are we willing to be patient and teach them important things?  Are we going to be there when they need someone to talk with and get spiritual help from?  I'm so thankful for these girls, and I'm grateful to watch them grow to love God and mature in sweetness as they grow.

I cannot wait til the next teen auction when I get to meet even more new teens!!  Plus, it's great to get a month's worth of big projects done in just two days! :D

Getting our back porch retiled

Shopping for 40 meals!

40 freezer meals completed!

Doing stuff when you need to be low key.

Lately our family has been struggling with health.  My husband was very sick for several weeks, my children all got sick, and my energy became majorly depleted.  Normally I'm going 110% and hate to slow down, but the last few weeks we have been taking it nice and slow.

This is very hard for me when life forces me to go slow!  I like to always be out doing things, making fun memories, seeing new friends, etc.  The past few weeks I'm learning to be okay with slowing down for now and finding the good in each day.  

Today, for instance, I felt like I did almost nothing all day, and it was making me feel depressed.  So I did a break down of how much we really did.

Studiously working his hand writing

8:00:  The kids let me sleep til 8!!  This NEVER (or very rarely) happens.  This let us all have a quiet easy morning, and eat a warm comfy breakfast.

9:00:  We finally all got dressed, did a load of dishes and laundry, and then the kids played outside while I did some quiet Bible time, and "me" time of reading.  We also worked on cursive handwriting and each boy did their ten minute of "summer work."  This was our compromise of not starting our homeschool til August (for mommy's sake) but keeping them with some school work each day.

10:00:  Figured out what to do for lunch, and the kids worked on their 200 piece puzzle, and I got to work on my piano music a bit.  We also learned a new game called Rangerland!  This is a similar game as candyland, except you explore national parks around America.

11:00  Started our easy lunch of chicken nuggets and sweet potato fries, and the kids picked up their morning mess.

12-2: QUIET time!  The boys all did quiet reading, napping, and left me alone to rest.  This is where my guilt start to creep in.  I just realized I haven't done much at all with my kids today, because I've been low energy all day.  So I look back and realize, my boys love to read and play independently, and they know mommy is there every time they need to show me a new castle they built or page they colored.

200 piece puzzle to get done today

The rest of the afternoon was spent making banana bread, doing a delicious crockpot chili, and playing in the rain with our mud boots!  Even the days it's low key and quiet, it doesn't mean nothing was done, it just means that for now mommy needs to slow things down and enjoy the break.

For health, sanity, and refreshing, we all need these "down" weeks.  It's hard to remember there are seasons to everything.  This season is my older boys being less dependent on me, and sleepless nights due to teething babies.  It all has balance and I just have to remember to not beat myself up about not being the "perfect" mom.  All my kids will remember is the quality time and the good memories of today, not the mom guilt I was feeling. 

What do YOU do on your quiet do-nothing days??

Elijah making his Banana Bread ALL by himself!

FRESH homemade Einkorn banana bread

Snuggles with my sweet baby girl

Elijah explaining the rules to Zeke!

Family time with Fun, Fish, and Forest!

This past week we had to cancel our very fun trip to California because of health reasons.  This was a big bummer for us and the kids because we had saved, planned, and looked forward to this as a family.  Even though we couldn't do our big trip to California which included Legoland, we made a mini vacation locally instead!

Today we ALL were finally feeling better enough to do a family day!  We found Legoland in Dallas with tickets on sale, so we decided make an adventure of it!  Even though it's not as epic as Legoland California, it worked our perfectly for our age group and time frame.  The boys got to see R2D2 out of legos, a full Star Wars city, giant figurines made of legos, and they also got to go on their first real amusement park ride!  Everything there was perfectly aged for Samuel and Elijah.  Zeke and Mira thoroughly enjoyed the toddler town with slides, duplos, and a big foam lego pit!

The morning was spent riding the rides, playing legos, building race cars, and having a good family day.  For lunch there was a Rainforest Cafe and since we were on a week day there was no lines!  We got to have a great experience watching the fun animatronics and hear the "rain" as we ate!

In the afternoon we enjoyed exploring the SeaLife Aquarium!  It has the largest selection of sea horses we have ever seen as well as an Octonauts room!!  The kids thought it was so fun to go in the the "Octopod" and play out their adventures.  Although it is not the largest aquarium we have been to, it was sell decorated and set up.  I enjoyed the ambiance of the aquarium more than most I have been to.

I am so thankful that my husband was well enough to go, and we were able to enjoy a "mini vacation" as a family and a couple extra friends for fun!

Take time to plan and enjoy day aways with the family.  We look forward to many more great mini adventures this summer!

Warning:  Lots of fun pictures ahead!

Tell me what are some of the best "getaways" you have done with your family?